Find people who've been there

Jim on learning faster and remembering more“Before you decide you’re bad at learning, look at how you’re learning. Give yourself a method, remove distractions, and practice recalling what matters.”

Lindsay on restarting your routine after three missed weeks“Three weeks off doesn't erase the strength and habits you built; the real setback is believing you have to start over instead of just showing up again.”

Niraj on using breathwork to change your physical state“Breathing is the only autonomic function you can consciously control. It's a direct line to your nervous system. When you exhale, your parasympathetic system engages and your heart rate comes down. A few minutes of rhythmic breathing is enough to pull yourself out of stress and back into your center.”

Alisa on growing from founder to CEO“The habits that made you a successful founder can become your biggest obstacles as CEO. Growth starts with seeing how others experience you.”

Jim on enjoying competition when teammates are more intense“I stopped enjoying baseball when I was chasing what everyone else valued, and I found my game again only when I started competing to raise my own level, not to beat theirs.”

Vanessa on sexual expectations couples never say out loud“I don't believe in a universal normal for any stage, but I do think it's completely natural for that early honeymoon frequency to taper off after about a year.”

Laurie on making a strong start in the first ninety days“Listen, the first 90 days is where careers get made or stalled, and most people waste it being polite and waiting to be told what to do.”

Stanley on finding initial traction“Your first customers don’t need a scalable solution. They need their problem solved. Do it manually until you understand what’s worth building...”

Kit on cutting a huge to-do list to three big things“I used to write forty-item lists and call it ambition, but it was just avoidance dressed as hard work.”

Nick on metabolic health, nutrition, and brain health.Harvard MD, Oxford PhD, Dartmouth valedictorian and oreo experiment cut LDL 71%.

Michael on building for the long term“You can’t build your future around protecting your past. Stay close to customers, keep learning, and be willing to reinvent the business.”

Spencer on life inside an NBA organization“I used to think pushing past your body meant toughness, but the league taught me that the hardest skill is staying on the floor.”

Suzanne on what happens behind closed doors in a layoff“I've personally been involved in laying off well over a thousand people, and the part no one talks about is how fast the dignity gets stripped away: one minute you're trusted, the next a manager you've never met is reading you a script while someone cuts your computer access.”

Brian on scaling a company.“The leadership style that gets you to ten employees won’t get you to a thousand. Your company can’t evolve unless you do.”

Tiago on turning knowledge into action“Saving information isn’t the goal. Organize it around what you’re trying to accomplish, so the ideas you collect become things you actually create.”

Céline on protecting your health in a noisy information world“I protect my health the same way I protect my patients: by curating my information diet the way I curate my food. I go to the source, I follow people who've been right before and correct themselves when the evidence changes, and I stay open to changing my mind. Certainty that cannot bend is not strength; it is a vulnerability.”

Roelof on what separates enduring companies from others“The enduring ones are willing to have what I call multiple founding moments. We have a wall at Sequoia that says, 'We're only as good as our next investment.' You have to stay paranoid. Never get crater-lazy.”

Moses on making it to the top when you started with nothing“I had love for the game, parents who kept me grounded, and a city that taught me how to compete. What kept me going was consistency and curiosity. You control what you can control, stack good days, and let the game reward you when it's time.”

Kathryn on negotiating higher pay and getting it“I watched my own mom retire dramatically underpaid after 30 years, so I teach women to frame the ask around what they’ve already delivered and what they’ll deliver next, not just what they need.”

Madhavan on pricing for profitable growth“Don’t build a product and then ask what to charge. Find out what customers will pay for before you decide what to build.”