Without realizing it, I had stumbled upon something I like to call people-focused learning, the notion that people and their stories are at the center of any learning pursuit. (Location 76)
Kerr had a seemingly contradictory but profound breakthrough: He realized that he wasn’t going to be successful if he idolized his mentors. “The main theme that came across over and over again in these conversations was, be yourself,” he says. “There’s no point in trying to be someone else. You can emulate somebody else, but you can’t be someone else.” (Location 95)
person’s life is never linear. It looks more like a winding, tangled web of ups and downs than it does a straight, predictable line. No matter what life serves up, however, we can almost always extract lessons about what to replicate and what to avoid. (Location 115)
Keep in mind this important distinction: Idolizing traps you into imitating “perfect” versions of imperfect people. Learning, on the other hand, allows you to observe, synthesize, and pave your own path. (Location 117)
Beaty went on to say that the common ingredients for creativity—whether you’re a scientist or an artist—include “flexibility of thinking, the ability to make connections.” (Location 188)
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.” (Location 191)
Creativity is less a fleeting moment of inspiration and more a muscle that can be trained through consistent exercise. “People like to think the creative process is romantic,” Achatz says. “The artist drifts to sleep at night, to be awakened by the subliminal echoes of his or her next brilliant idea. The truth, for me at least, is that creativity is primarily the result of hard work and study.” (Location 245)
Original creators typically have three characteristics in common: They have a unique point of view on the world. They are confident they can achieve an ambitious goal. And finally, they are willing to fail spectacularly in the name of creating something revolutionary. (Location 315)
When you listen to yourself, you hear all the negativity and all the reasons why you can’t go on, she says, but when you talk to yourself, you can tell yourself the things you need to hear in order to overcome the challenge ahead of you. (Location 482)