Andrew Miller

I decided to devote myself to helping other people for three months - doing graphic design and illustration for anyone who needed it, no expectation of return. It was the most fun I've ever had working for other people, and it ended up being very profitable because people wanted to hire me after I did free work for them. Think about that. ...

How do we make video games that serve our audience? How do we turn marketing into sharing, excitement? How do we think about business differently? Self-interest isn't a good motivator, and doesn't even work that well. But pure altruism isn't possible, and attempted pure altruism doesn't work at all. Maybe work for someone else? Why do we share what we love with other people? It's a risk, we might be wrong. Why do we share anyway? Because it could improve their lives, and that's intensely gratify...

Short cuts are for people who know what they're doing, short cuts are for people who have figured out how to save time without sacrificing quality. If you're still an amateur, take the long cut. Do things the hard way. Don't worry about efficiency, don't worry about saving time, don't worry about the new tool that will cut down on your workflow. Just do things the right way. Focus on craft. The work. Don't take a short cut. Take a long cut. ...

has to be directed, constrained, put on a leash. It's a balloon that needs a string to stick around. If you don't make conscious choices about what you're going to pursue, (and, more importantly, what you're NOT going to pursue), the lack of constraining pressure will turn your pursuits from a meaningful something into a nothing. Spread too thin, your enthusiasm will explode into everything and nothing at once, exhausting you and accomplishing nothing. You'll have ruined your balloon, and have n...

I once met a guy named Tyrannosaurus Rex. To be precise, I testified against a fellow named Tyrannosaurus Rex. He had trouble with boundaries and I was helping a co-worker get a restraining order. He defended himself, testifying like a trial lawyer, and was arrested and processed halfway through the hearing. It's a story that sounds too strange to be true, and I love sharing the experience. Once I told the story of my run-in with T-Rex with a relation of mine, and he shook his head and wondered...

I know you're not wrong about anything, but just for the sake of argument: What if you were? What are you most likely wrong about? If you actually are wrong about it, what might happen? Maybe you should make some plans around your faulty assumptions, biases, and blind spots. (And pay attention to near-misses. When you narrowly avoid something horrible, learn something. Make changes accordingly.) ...

Who was responsible for what happened to Randy Weaver's family? The overreacting government? The FBI for setting him up? The U.S. Martials who killed his 14-year-old son? Randy, for spending time with neo-Nazis, for hoarding guns, for not showing up in court? The media, for blowing it out of proportion? Randy's wife, for not curbing her paranoid tendencies? The snipers who killed her? Who was responsible for the catastrophe? Who wasn't? Maybe you're making small, seemingly benign choices that...

Sometimes life is about pruning.Mourning what could be, chopping off branching paths that you could have followed, killing potential selves.To commit to something means adjusting your understanding of your potential: you have to crush and constrain who you might be. If you want to be this, you can't be that.You could try to keep your options open, try to hold on to your adolescent potential, try to always keep your options open - but you end up stunted and under-grown. You're Peter Pan, eternall...

is a habit. If you find yourself always busy, always at your wit's end, never able to devote the time or resources to do anything properly, you've probably acquired the habit of taking on too many projects. When you take on too much, no one can blame you when you fail, no one can blame you when you don't create quality work. You were busy. No one can blame you.It's better to spread yourself thick. Quit something. Quit something again. Take the time to really do things right, even if you do fewer...

At their worst, conservatives seek to return to a past that never was, and progressives seek to advance to a future that will never be.At their worst, conservatives fantasize about the glory days of their race, their country, and progressives dream about the impossible utopia where everything is completely fair and all the good people are completely happy.At their worst, conservatives say "I have rights! I do what I want! You can't tell me what to do!", and progressives say "You don't know the r...

People respect you. They ask for your help when they're in crisis mode. They ask your advice.If you run and avoid when things are difficult, you'll be happier short-term.Keep running, and you'll be a disappointing 40-year-old. Keep running and you'll be a sad 50-year-old. Keep running and you'll be a pathetic 60-year-old.It's better to stick. If you stick, other people will respect you for it. You'll respect yourself for it. That counts for a lot more than you think. ...

Pursuit, pushing yourself, engaging voluntarily with stress, regularly doing that which you are hesitant to do: these things might be the most important actions. They might be what keep you sane, what keep you healthy, what keep you alive.If you don't regularly challenge yourself, life will challenge you. If you won't control yourself, you'll find someone to rule over you.If you won't take responsibility, eventually your freedom will be taken from you - eventually someone will force you to take ...