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Think about this every day: "The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me." ~ Ayn Rand If you aren’t comfortable with this at

by rwolf 17y ago

Think about this every day: "The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me." ~ Ayn Rand If you aren’t comfortable with this attitude, it’s hard to be awesome. Sorry. You can be good enough without being assertive, but to a large extent, being awesome requires that you initiate, take action, and chart your own course through the norms of mediocrity. It may sound crazy, but I feel bad when getting what I want hurts other people. Research into things like the Ultimatum Game paints the picture that humans care about fairness as well as personal gain. I stopped reading after the requirement that I subscribe to an antisocial and amoral philosophy in order to be awesome. I'll find some other way.

tetha 17y ago
I guess the articles authors definition and my definition of being awesome differ.. That is just a way of becoming rich.
lanaer 17y ago
Since when does being assertive require that you hurt others?
nekopa 17y ago
It is a real shame you stopped reading. I have no idea why you consider this blog post "antisocial and amoral" can you please expand upon your reasoning? (I really mean this sincerely as I have read through the post over and over, but can't see why you paint it so. Is it because the quote is from Ayn Rand?) Because your comment is first, I think a lot of people may not have read the article/post, so I offer up what I took from the post that I think is relevant to startups: * Working your ass off, at least during specific seasons in life, is also a prerequisite for being awesome. This goes at the top, because if you don’t like hard work, good luck. As mentioned, those first two are prerequisites. They also serve as filters, because lots of people give up on self-determination and hard work. Assuming you can stick with it, it gets easier from here on out. Remember that your goal is to get things done and make other people look good. Take initiative without taking control Overdeliver in your personal relationships. Give more than you get. From time to time, you’ll screw up. This is how you apologize: “I’m really sorry. It was completely my fault. I hope you’ll forgive me, and here is how I am addressing this in the future.” Never be a critic without presenting an alternative. Remember that no statues are erected to critics, and no one is remembered for shooting down other people’s ideas * Though I do think some of his advice is simplistic at times, I feel that there are quite a few good points he mentions. As a side note, I find that it is always good to read something all the way through before dismissing it for a couple of reasons, one being that sometimes (especially on blogs it seems) people like to be confrontational in the beginning to get your attention, and two, I think it is hard to make a judgement on something you haven't read all the way through.

by rwolf 17y ago

tetha 17y ago

I guess the articles authors definition and my definition of being awesome differ.. That is just a way of becoming rich.

lanaer 17y ago

Since when does being assertive require that you hurt others?

nekopa 17y ago

It is a real shame you stopped reading. I have no idea why you consider this blog post "antisocial and amoral" can you please expand upon your reasoning? (I really mean this sincerely as I have read through the post over and over, but can't see why you paint it so. Is it because the quote is from Ayn Rand?) Because your comment is first, I think a lot of people may not have read the article/post, so I offer up what I took from the post that I think is relevant to startups: * Working your ass off, at least during specific seasons in life, is also a prerequisite for being awesome. This goes at the top, because if you don’t like hard work, good luck. As mentioned, those first two are prerequisites. They also serve as filters, because lots of people give up on self-determination and hard work. Assuming you can stick with it, it gets easier from here on out. Remember that your goal is to get things done and make other people look good. Take initiative without taking control Overdeliver in your personal relationships. Give more than you get. From time to time, you’ll screw up. This is how you apologize: “I’m really sorry. It was completely my fault. I hope you’ll forgive me, and here is how I am addressing this in the future.” Never be a critic without presenting an alternative. Remember that no statues are erected to critics, and no one is remembered for shooting down other people’s ideas * Though I do think some of his advice is simplistic at times, I feel that there are quite a few good points he mentions. As a side note, I find that it is always good to read something all the way through before dismissing it for a couple of reasons, one being that sometimes (especially on blogs it seems) people like to be confrontational in the beginning to get your attention, and two, I think it is hard to make a judgement on something you haven't read all the way through.