Sometimes Plan B can have the same desired outcome, but a different path for getting there.

Sometimes I have to pause to make the distinction between Ben the teenager and Ben the businessman.

I’m skeptical of passive learning. If you don’t write down what you’re hearing and learning, what the odds you remember it?

Rule of thumb: Be skeptical of things you learned before you could read. E.g., religion.

Expose yourself to as much as possible. Attend conferences no one else is attending. Read books no one else is reading. Talk to people no one else is talking to.

I'm just the smallest dot in a big map of human history.

Talk to people no one else is talking to. Who would have thought that giving a speech at a funeral at age 12 would introduce me to a man who would introduce me to my first business contact who would introduce me to several other important people in my life. That's luck. That's randomness.