A friend asked for life advice on their birthday. This is what I replied with. There is some life advice I live by that I’ve learned from others. Some that I’ve developed myself. From the grandmother on Downton Abbey, my favorite literary character. The dowager countess lady grantham. Take everything as a compliment. It took me years to understand this and implement it. Now it happens automatically most of the time. From Jobs Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. The main lesson there is really courage. Courage. Courage. Courage. It can’t be overstated. And action. The Jobs quote I realized is the other side of the coin of a famous Dostoevsky quote. They dovetail beautifully. Your worst crime is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing. It is in a sense the result of not living the point that Jobs was making. Another from the dowager. No life looks rewarding if you think about it too much. It was her response at a lunch listening to the younger generation talk about taking time to think about their life and find themselves. It’s a point about how life is an act, not an analysis. Action is the answer. Limit the thinking. From Deustsch. The smartest man alive. All creativity requires disobedience. It’s a beautiful and damning statement against suppressing yourself leading to the suppressing of creativity for the sake of obedience or the status quo. From me Make noise. Cause trouble. I’ve always had this motto. I later learned it’s my way of making Deutsch’s point. From me Your gut tells you what to do. Your head tells you how to do it. Your heart tells you why to do it. Often when we speak about the heart we mean the gut. But the heart backs up the gut with the why and the why provides the motivation to do it. And finally from me Your gut cannot lie to you. It can be right or wrong but it cannot lie. Your head can be right or wrong but it can also lie to you. Your heart can be right or wrong and while it won’t lie, it can be deceived. Live life by your gut, with your head and from your heart. Do not contemplate too much. Take everything as a compliment and above all have courage.