- Do something significant !
- As far we know we only have one life to live. Why shouldn’t I do significant things with it ? The first step of the journey is for me to consciously decide that I want to do something significant with my life. One thing required to be successful is courage. Once you get your courage up and believe that you can do important things , then you can. Luck favors the prepared mind . In fact , the prepared mind sooner or later finds something important and does it. Plant little acorns from which mighty oak trees grow.
- Put in the reps !
- You would be surprised at how much success comes your way if you work as hard as the people you admire. Knowledge and productivity work on compound interest – if you work 10% more , ask 10% more questions , learn 10% more , you will more than twice out-perform the version of yourself that didn’t. Solid work steadily applied will get you surprisingly far. Hard work alone won’t do , it must be applied sensibly. If two people have the same ability , the one who thinks an hour more per day will win hands down. Commitment > ability. People who have achieved something of value say that the feeling is better than wine, women(or men) and song put together. The struggle to make something of yourself is worthwhile in itself . If you really want to do something , don’t ask , do it. Have an attitude of : I ain’t afraid of nothing ! I’m moving forward !
- Work on the most important problem
- If I do not work on an important problem , it is unlikely that I will do important work. What are the important problems in your field ? What important problems are you working on ? If what you are doing is not important , why are you doing it ? Bring the topic you are trying to solve to the center of your attention, sleep on it every night and you will get the answer. Abstract things to the most basic concepts to understand them better and apply the knowledge to other fields. Commit at least 10% of your time trying to understand the bigger problems in your field , what is important and what is not
- Keep the door open
- Always keep the door open. If you keep the door closed , you can get more work done and you are more productive. But 10 years later , you don’t know what problems are worth working on. He who works with the door open gets all kinds of interruptions , but he also occasionally gets clues as to what the world is and what may be important. Keep the door open to do important work ! Don’t be a sound absorber to other’s ideas , provide thoughtful feedback
- What do you want written in your obituary ? He was a nice guy who did not trouble anyone ? As far as we know we only have one life, let’s do something significant with it !
These notes are from “You and Your Research” by Richard Hamming