30 things learned in 30 years

  1. Jeffrey Zeldman will ruin your current career. He will also help you find the one you were meant for all along.
  2. Home is where you are, not where you’re from
  3. The internet is a popularity contest, just like high school
  4. Your family matters more than anything else (including everything on the internet)
  5. Job unhappiness will very quickly lead to life unhappiness
  6. Life is far too short for bad salads and “French” dressing. The only salad dressing you will ever need contains:  Dijon mustard, honey, red-wine vinegar and olive oil in a  1:1: 2:4 radio. Add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon at the end.
  7. Your values and principles are the most important things you own. You lose something of yourself every time you compromise them.
  8. Fur Packed Action will never release another cd. Doing so would only muddy the memories you already have.
  9. A pension is not more important than your happiness
  10. Do and be what you are
  11. Spend less than you make every year
  12. Be independent. You are the only person out there you can truly depend on.
  13. You should have one primary goal every single day: Be to be nice to people
  14. Knowing what personality type you are will help you all the way along. I’m an ENFP.
  15. Debt is a bad thing and should be avoided at all costs
  16. Spending the smallest amount you can on things that don’t matter (your house, your car, your flat-screen TV, etc) will allow you to spend more on the things that do matter (eating out, travel, good food & wine, etc)
  17. You can’t change someone. You can help make them better in certain areas, but you’ll never change them
  18. The best tool for the job is the one you have in your hand
  19. Don’t ever settle: Not in a relationship, or in a job, or in a town. Long-term dissatisfaction is directly correlated with #23 below
  20. Don’t settle for bad coffee either. Good coffee doesn’t come from the supermarket, and should be ground right before you brew it
  21. “Success is not what you do, it’s how you inspire others” — Gordon Parks
  22. The reason your shoes don’t fit is because you have wide feet. It’s absurd that you haven’t discovered this by now.
  23. Stress is precisely like cancer. If you don’t/can’t get rid of it, it will kill you
  24. Go to your friends’ shows and parties—you’re not being a friend if you don’t support them
  25. Don’t sweat the small stuff.TM It really, really, really is all small stuff
  26. Don’t lend your time or money unless you can afford not to be paid back
  27. There’s magic in long bike rides at the end of long summer days, just as the sun is going down
  28. Being impulsive is better than being safe
  29. Stop spending money you don’t have, to buy things you don’t need, to impress people who won’t care
  30. Figuring out who you are is key to the previous 29 items