p.1 The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people
will be able to give you.
p.7 Your idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours alone. The more the idea is yours
alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing.
p.9-10 Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. Ninety percent of what separates successful
people and failed people is time, effort, and stamina... If somebody in your industry is more successful than you, it's probably
because he works harder at it than you do.
p.15 Good ideas alter the power balance in relationships. That is why good ideas are always initially
resisted.
p.20 Thanks to the Internet, you can build your own thing without having somebody else "discovering" you
first.
p.26 Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. then
when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being
suddenly hit years later with the "creative bug" is just a wee voice telling you, "I'd like my crayons back, please."
p.35-36 Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity...
If you're creative, if you can think independently, if you can articulate passion, if you can override the
fear of being wrong, then your company needs you now more than it ever did.
p.39 Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put
on this earth to climb. You may never reach the summit; for that you will be forgiven. But if you don't make at least
one serious attempt to get above the snow line, years later you will find yourself lying on your deathbed, and all you will
feel is emptiness.
p.48 Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
p.52 doing something seriously creative is one of the most amazing
experiences one can have, in this or any other lifetime. If you can pull it off, it's worth it. Even if you don't
end up pulling it off, you'll learn many incredible, magical, valuable things.
p.70 In order to navigate the New Realities you have to be creative - not just within your particular
profession, but in everything. Your way of looking at the world will need to become ever more fertile and
original. And this isn't just true for artists, writers, techies, creative directors, and CEOs; this is true for everybody...
The old ways are dead. And you need people around you who concur.
p.74 Part of understanding the creative urge is understanding that it's primal.
p.82 Sing in your own voice... No one person can be good at everything. The really
good artists, the really successful entrepreneurs, figure out how to circumvent their limitations,
figure out how to turn their [weaknesses] into [strengths].
p.93 Everybody is too busy with their own lives to give a damn about your book, painting, screenplay,
etc., especially if you haven't finished it yet.
p.99 Don't worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually. Inspiration precedes the desire to create,
not the other way around.
p.100 You have to find a way of working that makes it dead easy
to take full advantage of your inspired moments. They never hit at a convenient time, nor do they last long.
p.120 If you have the creative urge, it isn't going to go away. But sometimes it takes
a while before you accept the fact.
p.140 Start blogging. The ease with which a blog (or whatever social medium
you prefer) can circumvent the gatekeepers is staggering.
