Maxims for a happy life

Maxims and arrows Go Premium A hearty collection of the JC’s pithiest adages. Index: Click ᐅ to expand: Maxim Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Requests? Insults? We’d love to 📧 hear from you. Sign up for our newsletter.

Maxims for a happy life.

Coin metaphors. Be figurative.

Be predator, not prey.

It's okay to generalise. It's okay to stereotype. That's how humans work. We apply heuristics. Just be aware that you're doing it. Sometimes generalisations are unfair. Sometimes they fail. Remember they are provisional. It's okay for others to stereotype you too. Deal with it. It's not like you'll be able to stop them.

There are no outsized risks or rewards at the top of the curve. They are down the tail.

It's not just "not all Heroes wear capes". Heroes don't wear capes. Heroes don’t try to be heroes.

Heroes don't seek validation, either. Only needy people need validation.

Don't be needy. Walk up escalators. Give up your seat.

Change direction by 5, not 45, degrees. But lock in the change. Rome wasn't built in a day - but it was built. a 5% change is less volatile, more sustainable, more controllable. see evolution: optimal degree of ariability. If you vary to much, you'll change away the good stuff.

Play two touch football. Make five yard passes. But for god’s sake pass the ball. Don’t try to be a hero.

This time isn't different. The laws of physics, finance and economics still apply. Even with blockchain. Just as they did in the dot com boom and the global financial crisis.

The Dead Poet's Rule: There's no machine for judging poetry.

The pitch

• Do your talking on the pitch. And leave it there.
• Stay on your feet. Don’t dive. Even in the penalty box.
• Don’t be that guy.
• Let it go. In the immortal words of the Eastenders script-writing collective, “LEAVE IT, PHIL. HE’S NOT WORTH IT.”

You

• Seize the day. Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it.
• Harden up. Sticks and stones.
• Be careful in what you wish for - on this score, if you want to get to the Olympics, take up curling.

What you've got

• Don’t be selfish.
• Share. Give freely of what you have and know, to those who need it.
• Use your resources. You can’t take it with you.
• Be useful.
• Don’t judge. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
• Don’t talk your own book.

Confidence

• Back yourself.
• There are other fish in the sea.
• Leave it on the pitch, not the table. (see do your talking on the pitch.)

Mental space

• Go off the grid — sometimes.
• Smell the roses. Take pleasure in beauty. Stop what you’re doing and drink it in. Enjoy what nature — and humans — let you have for free. Admire a wood in autumn.
• "Gee, I wish I spent more time in the office," said NO ONE IN HISTORY.

Learn

• Be open-minded. Never stop learning.
• Find a different way home.
• Write the music you want to hear.

Your nose

• If he gets up your nose, it’s your problem.
• If he gets up your nose, he’s probably got a point. Even Nigel Farage.

Others

• Don’t be intimidated: they’re more scared than you are.
• First question: cui bono?
• Assume they’re talking their own book until you know otherwise. Value people who don’t.
• Insiders have an interest in making what they do seem hard.
• Challenge. Require an explanation. What a professional can’t explain, she doesn’t understand. If she can’t explain it, it’s probably bullshit.

The team

• Disregard rank. Seniors must earn your respect. You must earn it from juniors.
• Your team. They get the credit. You take the responsibility. Deal with underperformance privately: that’s your job. Never sell them out.

Disobey stupid rules

• Walk on the grass. Fuck ’em.

Complexity and order

• Simplify. The Devil is the detail.
• Perfection is the enemy of good enough.
• It’ll do.