School of Athens

inspired by “principles” by nabeel. hard won life lessons.

1. Your time estimates are always wrong. Always multiply your expectations by 2x at minimum. You always need more time than you think.
2. Regret is an intoxicating force. It can either kill you or push you to prove yourself. Always choose the latter.
3. Get really good at reading b.s. in people. this is often disguised as prestige and status. Cultivate awareness when people are putting up a front, but don’t try to fix it. Never interrupt your enemy when they’re making a mistake.
4. You know much, much less than you think. You only realize this when you start surrounding yourself with the top 1%. Aim for this.
5. Chasing achievement/quick wins is a losing game. Always aim for the long-term.
6. Select close friends with the same criteria lvl of scrutiny as you’d use to eval a romantic partner. Ask: “would i be satisfied if i became them?”. Never exceed 3-4 close friends.
7. Stick with your convictions ruthlessly. If the group does not align, leave rather than conform for the sake of harmony (there’s some nuance in this. the baseline of any opinioin should be a combo of intuition + reason).
8. Sticking with habits means creating artificial routines for yourself: drink the same coffee, wear the same clothes, eat the same thing, run every morning. Most people are too flexible with this, you need to stick to this like military doctrine.