Links

"Speculators may do no harm as bubbles on a steady stream of enterprise. But the position is serious when enterprise becomes the bubble on a whirlpool of speculation. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. The measure of success attained by Wall Street, regarded as an institution of which the proper social purpose is to direct new investment into the most profitable channels in terms of future yield, cannot be claimed as one of the outstanding triumphs of laissez-faire capitalism which is not surprising, if I am right in thinking that the best brains of Wall Street have been in fact directed towards a different object." --John Maynard Keynes

Warren Buffett’s Optimistic? Pessimistic? No, Realistic - by Andrew Ross Sorkin (LINK)

Sam Zell on Market Valuations, Real Estate, Post-Virus Economy (video) [H/T Linc] (LINK)

Spring 2020 issue of Graham & Doddsville (LINK)

Content, Cars, and Comparisons in the "Streaming Wars" - by Matthew Ball (LINK)

Invest Like the Best Podcast: Ali Hamed – An Update on Private Credit (LINK)

Against the Rules with Michael Lewis (podcast): The Invisible Coach (LINK)

The Case for Deeply Negative Interest Rates - by Kenneth Rogoff (LINK)

MacroVoices Podcast #217 Dr. Lacy Hunt: The Road Through Deflation Toward Eventual Hyperinflation (LINK)

Hope, Through History Podcast: Episode 3 | The Polio Epidemic (LINK)

The Daily Stoic Podcast: Ask Daily Stoic: Ryan and Robert Greene Talk Plagues, Politics, and Polarization (LINK)

All You Need Are a Few Small Wins Every Day - by Ryan Holiday (LINK)

Our message to the class of 2020 - by Bill and Melinda Gates (LINK)

It is time to take seriously the link between Vitamin D deficiency and more serious Covid-19 symptoms - by Matt Ridley (LINK)

Links

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." --Albert Einstein

Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb Investor Day Transcript (May 2019) [H/T @BluegrassCap] (LINK)

John Hempton on The Jolly Swagman Podcast (LINK)

The Fireworks Over Share Buybacks Are Duds - by Jason Zweig ($) (LINK)

Share buybacks are as American as mom, apple pie and hot dogs on the Fourth of July. 

You’d never guess that given the many politicians on both the left and the right who say share repurchases are a newfangled, evil spawn of deregulation. 

Complexity Investing [H/T @BluegrassCap] (LINK)

My Questions About Negative-Yielding Debt - by Ben Carlson (LINK)

Marketing 3.0: How L’Oréal is embracing new marketing codes [H/T @ivan_brussels] (LINK)

Raoul Pal with a Twitter thread about some of the macro risks he sees in Europe (LINK)

Short Seller Targets Anta in Another Attack on China’s Biggest Sportswear Company ($) (LINK)

Carson Block’s firm takes aim at Anta in report titled ‘Turds in the Punchbowl’

Huawei staff share deep links with Chinese military, new study claims (LINK) [The paper is available HERE.]

Cyberweapons: A Real Worry - by Kevin Kelly (LINK)

Ben Thompson on The Talk Show With John Gruber Podcast (LINK)

Techmeme Ride Home Podcast: The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates? (Part 1, Part 2)

Robert Greene: "The Laws of Human Nature" | Talks at Google (LINK)

TED Talk: Grief and love in the animal kingdom | Barbara J. King (LINK)

Ancient life awakens amid thawing ice caps and permafrost [H/T Linc] (LINK)

Not a Human, but a Dancer - by Ed Yong (LINK)

What Snowball the parrot’s spontaneous moves teach us about ourselves

Links

Brent Beshore's book, The Messy Marketplace: Selling Your Business in a World of Imperfect Buyers, will be released next week. Brent knows that space as well as anyone and, knowing him, I'm sure the book will be filled with plenty of wisdom even for those not selling their businesses. Amazon is also running a promotion for the rest of November where you can get $5 off by using the promo code NOVBOOK18.

***

Selfish Writing - by Morgan Housel (LINK)

Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple - by Ben Thompson (LINK)

Amazon Starts Selling Software to Mine Patient Health Records ($) (LINK)

Amazon May Be Hiding Its Plans to Test New Wireless Tech by Masquerading as a Massage Spa [H/T @pkedrosky] (LINK)

New at Amazon: Its Own Chips for Cloud Computing (LINK)

Inside an Amazon warehouse on Black Friday (LINK)

What’s Next for Marketplace Startups? (LINK)

4 Signs of Short-Term Thinking and Strategies to Overcome Them - by Robert Greene (LINK)

Paul Volcker’s Wisdom for America’s Rigged Economy (LINK)

Related book: Keeping At It

Invest Like the Best Podcast: Hunter Walk – Building Picks and Shovels (LINK)

Chris Voss talks to Cal Fussman (podcast) (LINK)

Related book: Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

Exponential Wisdom Podcast: Accelerating Innovation (LINK)

The Northern Miner Podcast: The year of the lab-created diamond (LINK)

Jonathan Haidt at the LSE discussing his book The Coddling of the American Mind (podcast) (LINK)

The Tim Ferriss Show: LeBron James and His Top-Secret Trainer, Mike Mancias (LINK)

The Tony Robbins Podcast: Do you want to be happy? | Tony, Sage and Michael Singer on breaking patterns and finding inner peace (LINK)

Related book: The Untethered Soul

Beginnings - by Phil Plait (LINK)

“Executive Presence” for Introverts - by Susan Cain (LINK)

Links

"You may delay, but Time will not." --Ben Franklin

Berkshire invests in JPMorgan, Oracle as Buffett puts cash to work (LINK)

The GE End Game: Bataan Death March or Turnaround Play? - by Aswath Damodaran (LINK)

CNBC's full interview with Ray Dalio (~16 minutes) (LINK)

Short-seller Bass says China needs 'reset' as Trump talks tariffs (LINK)

Is there a financial time bomb in sight? - by Sebastian Mallaby (LINK)

Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis (LINK)

Who does Facebook fire after a bombshell New York Times investigation? (LINK)

Michael Lewis, whose books often highlight the growing role of data, sees the opportunity in trucking [H/T Linc] (LINK)

4 Strategies For Becoming a Master Persuader - by Robert Greene (LINK)

Deep freeze impact: Scientists find a huge asteroid impact crater under Greenland’s ice (LINK)

A Bold New Strategy for Stopping the Rise of Superbugs - by Ed Yong (LINK)

"A Change of Fortune hurts a wise Man no more than a Change of the Moon." --Ben Franklin

Links

"Human history is a fragment of biology. Man is one of countless millions of species and, like all the rest, is subject to the struggle for existence and the competition of the fittest to survive. All psychology, philosophy, statesmanship, and utopias must make their peace with these biological laws. Man can be traced to about a million years before Christ. Agriculture can be traced no farther back than to 25,000 B.C. Man has lived forty times longer as a hunter than as a tiller of the soil in a settled life. In those 975,000 years his basic nature was formed and remains to challenge civilization every day." --Will Durant, "Heroes of History"

How mobile phones are helping farmers grow bigger harvests - by Bill Gates (LINK)

How Google and Amazon Got So Big Without Being Regulated (LINK)

Related book: The Curse of Bigness

Record Biotech IPO May Be Worth the $7 Billion - by Charley Grant ($) (LINK)

Moderna is slated to offer the largest biotech IPO on record, and a $7 billion valuation isn’t as crazy as it sounds

Mohnish Pabrai's keynote speech at the 8th Morningstar Investment Conference in Mumbai, India (video) (LINK)

Invest Like the Best Podcast: Cliff Asness – The Past, The Present & Future of Quant  (LINK)

Grant’s Current Yield Podcast: Curated content (LINK)

6 Biases Holding You Back From Rational Thinking - by Robert Greene (LINK)

Related book: The Laws of Human Nature

TED Talk: My journey to thank all the people responsible for my morning coffee | AJ Jacobs (LINK)

Released today: This Is Marketing - by Seth Godin (who also reads the audiobook)

Links

"Controlling risk is the mark of a professional. Anybody can make money when the market goes up. And most of the time the market goes up. And anybody who takes above-average risk can do above average when the market rises. So achieving returns is not a point of distinction in good times. In my opinion, the distinction of a superior investor is achieving returns in good times with the risk under control, because you never know when the environment is going to shift from favorable to unfavorable. And the question is: are you prepared?" --Howard Marks

Why Doctors Hate Their Computers - by Atul Gawande (LINK)

Cycles with Howard Marks, Julio Herrera, Jordon Kruse and Robert O'Leary (video) (LINK)

Greenhaven Road Capital Q3 2018 Letter [with an overview of new holding Box, Inc.] (LINK)

Apple’s Social Network - by Ben Thompson (LINK)

Sometimes, It’s Bonds For the Long Run - by Jason Zweig ($) (LINK)

How Tesla Made a Record Profit - by Charley Grant ($) (LINK)

Avenue’s Marc Lasry Sees Reckoning for Investment-Grade Company Bonds [H/T @ShaiDardashti] (LINK)

Book review: “The Myth of Capitalism” by Jonathan Tepper (LINK)

What’s Staying the Same (LINK)

5 Tactics Used By Passive-Aggressive Arguers (And The Best Forms of Defense) - by Robert Greene (LINK)

The Most Misread Poem in America [H/T @kevin2kelly] (LINK)

Why the Long Face, Extinct Dolphin? - by Ed Yong (LINK)

Bill Gates talks toilets (video) (LINK)

Links

Paul Volcker, at 91, Sees ‘a Hell of a Mess in Every Direction’ (LINK)

The former Fed chairman, whose memoir will be published this month, had a feisty take on the state of politics and government during an interview.   

Related book: Keeping At It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government

CNBC's full interview with Hayman Capital's Kyle Bass (video) (LINK)

CEO of Buffett-owned Brooks Running considers moving out of China with 45% tariffs looming [H/T Linc] (LINK)

The Story of John Mackay – The Bonanza King (LINK)

Related book: The Bonanza King: John Mackay and the Battle over the Greatest Riches in the American West

The City That Had Too Much Money (LINK)

Vancouver was the first place to experience the tidal wave of Chinese cash. Now the city is leading efforts to stop it.

The Outrage Epidemic-II - by Russ Roberts (LINK)

Invest Like the Best Podcast: Howard Lindzon – Fintech and Trend Following (LINK)

Robert Greene talks to James Altucher about his new book, The Laws of Human Nature (podcast) (LINK)

5 Questions to Ask During Your Hospital Stay (LINK)

Related book: An American Sickness

A Climate Catastrophe Paved the Way for the Dinosaurs’ Reign - by Peter Brannen (LINK)

The World’s Most Valuable Parasite Is in Trouble - by Ed Yong (LINK)

Links

How Jeffrey Immelt’s ‘Success Theater’ Masked the Rot at GE (LINK) [In response to a question about assessing a company's culture from the outside, a wise and successful business man once told a small group of people that I was a part of that one of the ways to try and do it is to try and figure out if a company and its leaders lie. See if what they say and write is true. The example given (roughly) was a company that writes about how many new products it is developing, but when you go to a trade show, speak with a company employee and mention how you read about all the new products they have coming out soon and in development, and they say something like "Oh no, we haven't developed a new product in a decade." That's a sign the culture could be a rotten one; or at least an undesirable one in which to put your capital to work.]

The Ski Team That Sleeps Together Wins a Lot of Gold Medals Together [H/T Tamas] (LINK) [From a week ago, but a great example of building the right kind of culture.]

A long Twitter thread (100 replies) from someone who has read Nassim Taleb's new book, Skin in the Game (LINK) [The U.S. release date is next week.]

The Case Against Google - by Charles Duhigg (LINK)

Sergio Marchionne's final lap (LINK)

Retired sanitation honcho pulls in $285K a year in pension — twice his old salary [H/T @jtepper2] (LINK)

How Australia All But Ended Gun Violence (LINK)

What Muhammad Ali Can Teach Us About Success and an Authentic Life - by Robert Greene (LINK)

The Knowledge Project Podcast -- Survival of the Kindest: Dacher Keltner Reveals the New Rules of Power (LINK)

Related book: The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence

Why Is Blue So Rare In Nature? (video) [H/T Linc] (LINK)

Links

Elon Musk's talk on Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species (video) (LINK)

All I Want To Know Is Where I’m Going To Die So I’ll Never Go There (LINK)

Related previous posts: 1) "You have to have a temperament to grab ideas and do sensible things..."; 2) Charlie Munger: This is the way you win big in the world...

Bloomberg Surveillance Primetime: Julian Robertson (video) (LINK)

Julian Robertson, Tiger Management's chairman and chief executive officer, sits down with Bloomberg's Tom Keene and Mike McKee to discuss his thoughts on the U.S. presidential election, the stock market, hedge funds and the global economy. 

Oh, Canada, You Have the Bubbliest City (LINK)

The bubbliest housing market in the world isn’t to be found in Asia, the U.S. or even Europe. Vancouver is the most overpriced city on earth according to an index released by investment bank UBS. Its inaugural Global Real Estate Bubble Index identifies five other global cities that are in “bubble risk” territory: London, Stockholm, Sydney, Munich and Hong Kong.

Quants Do the Math on a New Target: Insurance [H/T Will] (LINK)

Grocery Prices Are Plunging [H/T Matt] (LINK)

In a startling development, almost unheard of outside a recession, food prices have fallen for nine straight months in the U.S. It’s the longest streak of food deflation since 1960 -- with the exception of 2009, when the financial crisis was winding down. Analysts credit low oil and grain prices, as well as cutthroat competition from discounters. Consumers are winning out; grocery chains, not so much. Their margins and, in some cases, their stock prices, are taking a hit.

Marriott Is Using Its Muscle to Fight Off Expedia and Priceline [H/T Matt] (LINK)

Related previous link: The Definitive Oral History of Online Travel

Tom Russo's 2nd Quarter Semper Vic Partners Investor Letter [H/T @jvembuna] (LINK)

Richard Perry Walks Away, Hoping for a Shot at Vindication (video plays) (LINK)

Legendary value investor Charles Brandes on where he’s investing now (video plays) [H/T Linc] (LINK)

Related book: Brandes on Value

IVA Funds Update Call Transcript (September 13, 2016) [H/T @chriswmayer] (LINK)

The Busyness Paradox, Oliver Burkeman Is Busy (BBC Radio 4) [H/T @TimHarford] (LINK)

An Interview with the Master: Robert Greene on Stoicism (LINK)

Related book: The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

What Separates Champions From ‘Almost Champions’? [H/T @DanielPink] (LINK)

The best goal is also the simplest: Get better. Super champions were driven from within. Their primary concern was self-improvement. They held themselves to high standards, but judged themselves against prior versions of themselves, not against others. 

Almost champions, however, were focused on external benchmarks, like national rankings or how they compared to rivals, a mind-set the researchers speculate explains why almost champions got discouraged during rough patches.

Five wild lionesses grow a mane and start acting like males (LINK)

Robert Greene interview

Link to interview: TNM 156: Robert Greene – How to Make a Big Life Change

Are you afraid you’ll have to make a radical shift in your life in order to feel fulfilled?

Have you ever felt tempted to walk away from your career so you could pursue a dream?

And is it really too late to make a big change in your life?

Mastery and 48 Laws of Power author Robert Greene is here to discuss how he wandered through dozens of jobs and being seen as a loser at the age of 37 to reading his name on the New York Times Bestseller list.

.................

Related books:

Mastery (Kindle, Paperback)

The 48 Laws of Power (Kindle, Paperback, Audio CD)

Robert Greene quote

From the book Mastery:

It is never wise to purposefully do without the benefits of having a mentor in your life. You will waste valuable time in finding and shaping what you need to know. But sometimes you have no choice. There is simply no one around who can fill the role, and you are left to your own devices. In such a case, you must make a virtue of necessity. That was the path taken by perhaps the greatest historical figure to ever attain mastery alone—Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931).

...............

I also just noticed that the interviews Robert Greene did with the 'nine contemporary masters' are available for free on the Kindle HERE. 

More than 20,000 hours of research and thought went into Robert Greene's stunning book, Mastery. In a departure from his previous works, Robert Greene interviewed nine contemporary masters, including tech guru Paul Graham, animal rights advocate Temple Grandin, and boxing trainer Freddie Roach, to get their perspective on their paths to greatness. Those interviews are now available to readers for the first time. Interviews with the Masters presents more than 700 pages of revealing insight directly from these contemporary Masters; from how they learn and think, to how they put it all together and create. 

Robert Greene quote

"The need for certainty is the greatest disease the mind faces." -Robert Greene, Mastery

"...the bigger game is being so good at what you do that nobody can argue with your results"

Greene is accustomed to defending his first book, but I suspect he's trying to move beyond it with his latest, Mastery, which studies how talent is developed, using a heavily researched slew of examples including Einstein, Darwin, Goethe and John Coltrane. "I was a little worried that young people would think the only game was being political and manipulative when really the bigger game is being so good at what you do that nobody can argue with your results," he says.

Mastery is an illuminating book but its message (the secret of success is working incredibly hard for many years) is much tougher and more exacting than the follow-your-dreams manuals with which it will share the self-help shelves. "I hate them," he says. "I was under a lot of pressure to write something faster and shorter and easier for people to consume and I resisted that. So maybe this book won't sell because I've loaded the donkey with all that baggage, but I do at least try to debunk the idea that it's all about your parents and education and wealth."

…………….

Related book: Mastery

How To Achieve Mastery (And Why You Don't Have To Be Born With It) – with Robert Greene

There is also a transcript of this interview HERE.


Link

..................

Related book: Mastery

Related previous post: Following the Path to Mastery with Robert Greene

Improvement of the Mind – by Dr. Isaac Watts

Synopsis of the book The Improvement of the Mind:

Link to: Improvement of the Mind

..................

This book is also mentioned in Robert Greene's Mastery as being a book that helped to change the course of Michael Faraday's life:

"Then in 1809 a book came into the shop that finally gave him some hope. It was called Improvement of the Mind—a self-help guide written by Reverend Isaac Watts, first published in 1741. The book revealed a system of learning and improving your lot in life, no matter your social class. It prescribed courses of action that anyone could follow, and it promised results. Faraday read it over and over, carrying it with him wherever he went."

Robert Greene quote on the computer age/hacker approach to apprenticeship

From the book Mastery:

Each age tends to create a model of apprenticeship that is suited to the system of production that prevails at the time. In the Middle Ages, during the birth of modern capitalism and the need for quality control, the first apprenticeship system appeared, with its rigidly defined terms. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, this model of apprenticeship became largely outmoded, but the idea behind it lived on in the form of self-apprenticeship—developing yourself from within a particular field, as Darwin did in biology. This suited the growing individualistic spirit of the time. We are now in the computer age, with computers dominating nearly all aspects of commercial life. Although there are many ways in which this could influence the concept of apprenticeship, it is the hacker approach to programming that may offer the most promising model for this new age.

The model goes like this: You want to learn as many skills as possible, following the direction that circumstances lead you to, but only if they are related to your deepest interests. Like a hacker, you value the process of self-discovery and making things that are of the highest quality. You avoid the trap of following one set career path. You are not sure where this will all lead, but you are taking full advantage of the openness of information, all of the knowledge about skills now at our disposal. You see what kind of work suits you and what you want to avoid at all cost. You move by trial and error. This is how you pass your twenties. You are the programmer of this wide-ranging apprenticeship, within the loose constraints of your personal interests.

You are not wandering about because you are afraid of commitment, but because you are expanding your skill base and your possibilities. At a certain point, when you are ready to settle on something, ideas and opportunities will inevitably present themselves to you. When that happens, all of the skills you have accumulated will prove invaluable. You will be the Master at combining them in ways that are unique and suited to your individuality. You may settle on this one place or idea for several years, accumulating in the process even more skills, then move in a slightly different direction when the time is appropriate. In this new age, those who follow a rigid, singular path in their youth often find themselves in a career dead end in their forties, or overwhelmed with boredom. The wide-ranging apprenticeship of your twenties will yield the opposite—expanding possibilities as you get older.

  

Robert Greene quote on failure and trying out your ideas

From the book Mastery:

“Think of it this way: There are two kinds of failure. The first comes from never trying out your ideas because you are afraid, or because you are waiting for the perfect time. This kind of failure you can never learn from, and such timidity will destroy you. The second kind comes from a bold and venturesome spirit. If you fail in this way, the hit that you take to your reputation is greatly outweighed by what you learn. Repeated failure will toughen your spirit and show you with absolute clarity how things must be done. In fact, it is a curse to have everything go right on your first attempt. You will fail to question the element of luck, making you think that you have the golden touch. When you do inevitably fail, it will confuse and demoralize you past the point of learning. In any case, to apprentice as an entrepreneur you must act on your ideas as early as possible, exposing them to the public, a part of you even hoping that you’ll fail. You have everything to gain.”

Three Steps to Becoming the Master of Your (Office) Domain – By Robert Greene

Mastery is the ultimate form of power. When a person has mastered a field, he or she has attained such a grasp of the field’s complexities that opportunities and trends which are invisible to others are readily apparent to the master.

The power that mastery brings does not come from possessing a higher IQ, having greater natural talent, or being lucky enough to have wealthy parents who can afford the best schools. Instead, this power is the result of years of practice, experience, and experimentation.

A person who becomes a master follows a course that includes choosing the career path that best meshes with his interests, completing a fast-track and intense apprenticeship in the field, working with the right mentors, and learning how to handle the political aspects of collaborating with others. My book “Mastery” is based on my years of research on the greatest masters in history as well as interviews with nine contemporary masters. In it I describe in detail the process that leads to this power of mastery and how anyone can pursue it, regardless of background or what the field may be. The following are three key steps along the way, illustrated by examples taken from the lives of various masters.

………………

Related book: Mastery

Related previous post: Following the Path to Mastery with Robert Greene

Following the Path to Mastery with Robert Greene

Greene comes on around 13:51.


Link

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Related book: Mastery

Related link (6-part article from Robert Greene on Tim Ferriss' site): The Magic of Apprenticeship — A How-To Guide

Excerpts from the article:

From Part III:

What prevents people from learning....is not the subject itself—the human mind has limitless capabilities—but rather certain learning disabilities that tend to fester and grow in our minds as we get older. These include a sense of smugness and superiority whenever we encounter something alien to our ways, as well as rigid ideas about what is real or true, often indoctrinated in us by schooling or family. If we feel like we know something, our minds close off to other possibilities. We see reflections of the truth we have already assumed. Such feelings of superiority are often unconscious and stem from a fear of what is different or unknown. We are rarely aware of this, and often imagine ourselves to be paragons of impartiality.

Children are generally free of these handicaps. They are dependent upon adults for their survival and naturally feel inferior. This sense of inferiority gives them a hunger to learn. Through learning, they can bridge the gap and not feel so helpless. Their minds are completely open; they pay greater attention. This is why children can learn so quickly and so deeply. Unlike other animals, we humans retain what is known as neoteny—mental and physical traits of immaturity—well into our adult years. We have the remarkable capability of returning to a childlike spirit, especially in moments in which we must learn something. Well into our fifties and beyond, we can return to that sense of wonder and curiosity, reviving our youth and apprenticeships.

Understand: when you enter a new environment, your task is to learn and absorb as much as possible. For that purpose you must try to revert to a childlike feeling of inferiority—the feeling that others know much more than you and that you are dependent upon them to learn and safely navigate your apprenticeship. You drop all of your preconceptions about an environment or field, any lingering feelings of smugness. You have no fears. You interact with people and participate in the culture as deeply as possible. You are full of curiosity. Assuming this sensation of inferiority, your mind will open up and you will have a hunger to learn. This position is of course only temporary. You are reverting to a feeling of dependence, so that within five to ten years you can learn enough to finally declare your independence and enter full adulthood.

From Part IV:

By nature, we humans shrink from anything that seems possibly painful or overtly difficult. We bring this natural tendency to our practice of any skill. Once we grow adept at some aspect of this skill, generally one that comes more easily to us, we prefer to practice this element over and over. Our skill becomes lopsided as we avoid our weaknesses. Knowing that in our practice we can let down our guard, since we are not being watched or under pressure to perform, we bring to this a kind of dispersed attention. We tend to also be quite conventional in our practice routines. We generally follow what others have done, performing the accepted exercises for these skills.

This is the path of amateurs. To attain mastery, you must adopt what we shall call Resistance Practice. The principle is simple—you go in the opposite direction of all of your natural tendencies when it comes to practice. First, you resist the temptation to be nice to yourself. You become your own worst critic; you see your work as if through the eyes of others. You recognize your weaknesses, precisely the elements you are not good at. Those are the aspects you give precedence to in your practice. You find a kind of perverse pleasure in moving past the pain this might bring. Second, you resist the lure of easing up on your focus. You train yourself to concentrate in practice with double the intensity, as if it were the real thing times two. In devising your own routines, you become as creative as possible. You invent exercises that work upon your weaknesses. You give yourself arbitrary deadlines to meet certain standards, constantly pushing yourself past perceived limits. In this way you develop your own standards for excellence, generally higher than those of others.

In the end, your five hours of intense, focused work are the equivalent of ten for most people. Soon enough you will see the results of such practice, and others will marvel at the apparent ease in which you accomplish your deeds.

From Part V:

When a machine malfunctions you do not take it personally or grow despondent. It is in fact a blessing in disguise. Such malfunctions generally show you inherent flaws and means of improvement. You simply keep tinkering until you get it right. The same should apply to an entrepreneurial venture. Mistakes and failures are precisely your means of education. They tell you about your own inadequacies. It is hard to find out such things from people, as they are often political with their praise and criticisms. Your failures also permit you to see the flaws of your ideas, which are only revealed in the execution of them. You learn what your audience really wants, the discrepancy between your ideas and how they affect the public. Pay close attention to the structure of your group—how your team is organized, the degree of independence you have from the source of capital. These are design elements as well, and such management issues are often hidden sources of problems.

Think of it this way: There are two kinds of failure. The first comes from never trying out your ideas because you are afraid, or because you are waiting for the perfect time. This kind of failure you can never learn from, and such timidity will destroy you. The second kind comes from a bold and venturesome spirit. If you fail in this way, the hit that you take to your reputation is greatly outweighed by what you learn. Repeated failure will toughen your spirit and show you with absolute clarity how things must be done. In fact, it is a curse to have everything go right on your first attempt. You will fail to question the element of luck, making you think that you have the golden touch. When you do inevitably fail, it will confuse and demoralize you past the point of learning. In any case, to apprentice as an entrepreneur you must act on your ideas as early as possible, exposing them to the public, a part of you even hoping that you’ll fail. You have everything to gain.

From Part VI:

Each age tends to create a model of apprenticeship that is suited to the system of production that prevails at the time. In the Middle Ages, during the birth of modern capitalism and the need for quality control, the first apprenticeship system appeared, with its rigidly defined terms. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, this model of apprenticeship became largely outmoded, but the idea behind it lived on in the form of self-apprenticeship—developing yourself from within a particular field, as Darwin did in biology. This suited the growing individualistic spirit of the time. We are now in the computer age, with computers dominating nearly all aspects of commercial life. Although there are many ways in which this could influence the concept of apprenticeship, it is the hacker approach to programming that may offer the most promising model for this new age.

The model goes like this: You want to learn as many skills as possible, following the direction that circumstances lead you to, but only if they are related to your deepest interests. Like a hacker, you value the process of self-discovery and making things that are of the highest quality. You avoid the trap of following one set career path. You are not sure where this will all lead, but you are taking full advantage of the openness of information, all of the knowledge about skills now at our disposal. You see what kind of work suits you and what you want to avoid at all cost. You move by trial and error. This is how you pass your twenties, thirties or forties. You are the programmer of this wide-ranging apprenticeship, within the loose constraints of your personal interests.

You are not wandering about because you are afraid of commitment, but because you are expanding your skill base and your possibilities. At a certain point, when you are ready to settle on something, ideas and opportunities will inevitably present themselves to you. When that happens, all of the skills you have accumulated will prove invaluable. You will be the Master at combining them in ways that are unique and suited to your individuality.

You may settle on this one place or idea for several years, accumulating in the process even more skills, then move in a slightly different direction when the time is appropriate. In this new age, those who follow a rigid, singular path in their youth often find themselves in a career dead end in their forties, or overwhelmed with boredom. The wide-ranging apprenticeship of your twenties, thirties or forties will yield the opposite—expanding possibilities as you get older.