While others indulge you sharpen yourself

While others nod their heads sheep-like you pick apart every word, investigate each nuance

Now you stand a chance at mastery

Accomplishment/skill has two components:
1. Work hard/be disciplined/etc.
2. Assassinate the part of you that believes you’re unskilled/unaccomplished to begin with.

Extrapolate to any job (replace nouns as needed): A professional artist approaches his/her work of make-believe (though others may laugh) with utter seriousness, with the strictest discipline. It doesn’t matter if it “isn’t real”; deliver quality results on time, every time. Period.

On writing dialogue: In every exchange, try to inject a comparison/clash between underlying philosophies/viewpoints. (I figured this out the hard way)

$ has value, but $ is only a symbol. It points to a rarer commodity: Awareness of peoples’ desires. Perform a favor that $ can’t buy and you may get something “unaffordable.”

The knowledgeable businessman is superior to the clueless lotto winner, so cultivate this awareness.

It is the truest, rarest form of currency.

There is a great underlying thread between all religions, all philosophies and all spirituality. It can only be touched on by personal investigation and evolution.

To climb the highest peaks, do not satisfy yourself with outward customs and rituals. Study all ways, all paths, until the message beneath them becomes organically magical.

Outwardly, the vicious reptile-brain we all share is routinely useful to a select few: Those who operate on the fringes of society, and those that keep them in check. (Criminals/cops/soldiers/etc.)

But look inward, it’s higher purpose becomes apparent when we are merciless with ourselves; when we hunt our ignorance and shortcomings, when we viciously assassinate our lower tendencies, when we cut away the baggage that holds us back. (a la Bruce Lee). Don’t suppress it, channel it.

I do Me.
You do You.
Smiling, we let the Other Be,
And we both stay True.

Resist the urge to become an echo chamber-a wooden mouth vomiting the words of those you deem wiser. Instead dive deep into life, investigate everything. Become a light unto yourself.

True discipline: beyond forcing yourself to DO what you hate.

In actuality, it is training yourself to LOVE what you hate