Patrick Collison Advice

• If you think something is important but people older than you don’t hold it in high regard, there’s a reasonable chance that you’re right and they’re wrong. What society considers prestigious/important changes slowly—often taking 10-20 years to catch up. Status lags by a generation or more.
• Don’t make the mistake of judging your success based on your current peer group. They’re not the benchmark for your life trajectory
• Having good social skills confers lifelong benefits. Get good at making a good first impression as you get only one shot at most opportunities, being funny, and speaking publicly.
• Nobody is going to teach you to think for yourself. A large fraction of what people around you believe is mistaken. Internalize this and practice coming up with your own worldview.
• If you’re in the US and go to a good school, there are a lot of forces that will push you towards following the train tracks laid by others rather than charting a course yourself. Heuristic: do your friends at school think your path is a bit strange? If not, maybe it’s too safe and normal.
• Figure out a way to travel to San Francisco and to meet other people who’ve moved there to pursue their dreams. Why San Francisco? San Francisco is the Schelling point for high-openness, smart, energetic, optimistic people. Global Weird HQ.
• Find vivid examples of success in the domains you care about. Eg, if you want to become a great scientist, try to find ways to spend time with good (or, ideally, great) scientists in person. Watch YouTube videos of interviews. Follow some on Twitter. Read their writing/commentary. Remember, proximity to excellence is contagious.
• People who did great things often did so at very surprising young ages, often in their 20s, sometimes earlier. So, hurry up! The clock is already running and you can do great things.