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Related aphorisms/folk concepts include: no use crying over spilled milk; the serenity prayer; you're only as good as the last thing you did, and no one gives a

Related aphorisms/folk concepts include: no use crying over spilled milk; the serenity prayer; you're only as good as the last thing you did, and no one gives a shit about the last thing you did. It's not a crazy unique or new thought, but it's a good one to be reminded of from time to time. Fundamentally you have an objective (win games, get more clients, raise money, whatever) and the things you can control to get that objective. Once something moves out of the set of things you can control[0], no one cares about that thing even if they care about you reaching your objective. If a meeting with a client goes way south and they'll never talk to us again, that client is no longer in the set of things we control. It might suck, but the path to our goal of more revenue no longer includes them, so focus on getting the next client right. I think you can apply this on an individual level. Sometimes it can be easy to get slowed down or even paralyzed by loss, regret, anxiety, etc. Our brains are wired such that it's easy to mistake wallowing in those feelings as doing something but it's really not. Energy is better spent on deciding what to do going forward instead of torturing yourself re-litigating the past. [0] Really meaning controlling its impact on you. The fact that you can't control the weather does not mean that no one cares that you decided to send a boat out in a storm it's not suited to handle. No one cares that it's stormy, they care that you make the right decision not to send out a boat.

kriro 11y ago
"""you're only as good as the last thing you did, and no one gives a shit about the last thing you did""" I'd say the second part of this isn't true in general. You'll often be judged by past success weather that's a good metric or not as long as it roughly fits the domain. The mentioned NFL is a great example of this. Coaches that have won stuff get better job offers. It may or may not be a good indicator but that's how it is. Similarly if you've worked for Google it'll probably be easier to land jobs elsewhere (I'd argue even if the reason for your departure is that you'd be considered a mishire in retrospect). In the domain of startups, if you've done one somewhat successfully funding gets a lot easier (which is a good advantage since you won't waste much time on it). A16Z are on record saying they'll fund people that have done startups before more liberally (in the Stanford video series).
- BWStearns 11y ago
  It's a cheeky way of saying don't rest on laurels. So you landed that client? Great, now let's never speak of that again and move on to our new targets! Success or failure, there's very little profit in dwelling on things.

kriro 11y ago

"""you're only as good as the last thing you did, and no one gives a shit about the last thing you did""" I'd say the second part of this isn't true in general. You'll often be judged by past success weather that's a good metric or not as long as it roughly fits the domain. The mentioned NFL is a great example of this. Coaches that have won stuff get better job offers. It may or may not be a good indicator but that's how it is. Similarly if you've worked for Google it'll probably be easier to land jobs elsewhere (I'd argue even if the reason for your departure is that you'd be considered a mishire in retrospect). In the domain of startups, if you've done one somewhat successfully funding gets a lot easier (which is a good advantage since you won't waste much time on it). A16Z are on record saying they'll fund people that have done startups before more liberally (in the Stanford video series).

BWStearns 11y ago
It's a cheeky way of saying don't rest on laurels. So you landed that client? Great, now let's never speak of that again and move on to our new targets! Success or failure, there's very little profit in dwelling on things.