E L A I L I M

Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”

1) Every problem is an opportunity for a creative solution. Attitude is everything and you control your attitude. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. No one will pay you to solve a non-problem.  

2) The harder you work, the luckier you get. You need to put yourself in a position to make yourself lucky. 

3) Find the intersection between your interests, your skills, and the market. “Follow your passions” is a cop-out piece of advice. Passions are necessary, but not sufficient. 

4) Try lots of things and keep what works. About risk taking and being willing to fail. If you aren't failing sometimes, you aren't taking enough risks.  

5) You don’t have to wait to be anointed. Write your own business card. Don’t wait for someone to tell you that you are ready for the next level. You do the job and then you get the job. Entrepreneurs don’t wait for others to empower them. They empower themselves.  

6) Don’t burn bridges. There are only 50 people in the world, the rest are wall paper. You are going to bump into these people over and over and over again.  

7) You can do it all, just not all at the same time. Know your priorities. Change them regularly. 

8) It’s the little things that matter most. Look people in the eye. Sit up straight. Write a thank you note within 24 hours of having a job interview.  

9) When you are a team, the key is making everybody else successful.The more you make other people around you successful, the more it comes back to you, many many many fold.  

10) Never miss an opportunity to be fabulous. This is not a dress rehearsal. If you are not going to do your best work now, when are you going to?

"If all the trees in all the woods were men;

 And each and every blade of grass a pen;

 If every leaf on every shrub and tree

 Turned to a sheet of foolscap; every sea

 Were changed to ink, and all earth's living tribes

 Had nothing else to do but act as scribes,

 And for ten thousand ages, day and night,

 The human race should write, and write, and write,

 Till all the pens and paper were used up,

 And the huge inkstand was an empty cup,

 Still would the scribblers clustered round its brink

 Call for more pens, more paper, and more ink."

by Oliver Wendell Holmes