Talk 10: USC Gould School of Law Commencement Address

the sacrifices and the wisdom and the value transfer that comes from one generation to the next should always be appreciated

• golden rule:

the safest way to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want.

deserved trust

no love that's so right as admiration based love, and such love should include instructive dead

• read Of Human Bondage
• you can progress only when you learn how to learn –> checklist this process and use the Feinman technique
• practice consistently or lose the skill. Opportunity cost on focus.
• know history – a lesson from Marcus Tullius Cicero
• inversion principle
• reliability is fundamental. Without it the other virtues don't help much.
• Extreme ideology leads to poor thinking
• self server bias can cause foolish choices.

; self-serving bias : good for me = good for all. Remember to take this into account when predicting the actions of others

• envy, resentment, revenge and self-pity are disastrous. Self pity leads to paranoia which is difficult to revers. Self-pity helps in exactly zero circumstances
• How to persuade effectively: by interest, not reason
• avoid bad incentives like the plague
• Don't work for someone you don't respect and admire
• Using Checklists: use checklist routines
• maximising non-egality can often work wonders
• identify the people with deep understanding vs. shallow and eloquent
• intense interest in subject required for intense success (see Causes of extreme success
• assiduity: sit on your ass until it's done
• see challenges as opportunities to behave well
• be prepared for setbacks and tough times
• create trust in your personal network by deserving it. Engage with trustworthy people.