If confidence is about believing in oneself, courage is about believing in something greater. Courage is the most important virtue because it underpins the rest.

Let nothing you do be done carelessly.

Why does this matter? “Working in public” gets a lot of people jobs, and living in public gets people into relationships of all kinds. Some people, who may greatly desire more relationships, end up using social media to do nothing but whine and repeat tired political stuff. The creation of breadcrumbs is a escape route from that end.

Date someone who will always know how to speak to you with respect even during an argument.

The following constraints have given me more freedom with my time, money, and energy:

• Budgeting every dollar. All impulse purchasing has screeched to a halt. I can’t recommend it enough.
• Eating like a dog. Eat pretty much the same things everyday, cheap, quick, real, whole, and healthy but still delicious (think eggs on toast, soup…)
• Dressing for my body. Learning my shape and what looks good on it, sticking to that and forgetting everything else/trends.
• Removing the phone from my hand. Our phones are a portal to a world of human suffering and despair. I put it in greyscale and keep it in a very inconvenient place. Notifications off.
• Exercising several times a week. Best anti-depressant out there. The more I go the better I feel.
• Ruthlessly ridding my life of noise and pointless stuff. Clothes I don’t wear are gone. Products I don’t use regularly are gone. Browser tabs are closed. Apps are deleted. Ambitious projects like learning that language I always thought I’d learn are let go of. Reduce as much plastic as possible.
• Slowing down. Much easier said than done. Even though it seems like I don’t have any time, I actually know I have the time I need for everything important, I just can’t procrastinate or try to do too much (see previous bullet.) So I move slow and do nice things for myself.

Reality is shy—it only reveals itself to those who, like honest scientists, do not wish it to be something else.