Adam Savage’s Ground Rules for Success [video]

Here are the 10 rules from his slides, though he goes into a lot more detail in the video (he starts going into the rules at around 14:00):

1. Get good at something Really good. Get good ts as many things as you can. Being good at one thing makes it easier to get good at other things.

2. Getting good at stuff takes practice. Lots and lots of practice.

3. Get OBSESSED Everyone at the top of their field is obsessed with what they're doing.

4. Doing something well and thoroughly is it's OWN reward.

5. Show and Tell If you do something well and you're happy with it, for FSM's sake, tell EVERYONE

6. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING, ASK. If something piques your interest, tell someone, if you want to learn something, ask someone, like your BOSS. As an employer I can tell you, people who want to learn new skills are people I want to keep employed.

7. Have GOALS Make up goals. Set goals. Regularly assess where you are and where you want to be in terms of them. This is a kind of prayer that works, and works well. Allow for the fact that things will NEVER turn out like you think they will, and you must be prepared to end up miles from where you intended.

8. BE NICE TO EVERYONE. Life is way to short to be an asshole. If you are an asshole, apologize.

9. Fail You will fail. It's one of our jobs in life. Keep failing. When you fail, admit it. When you don't, don't get cocky, 'Cause you're just about to fail again.

10. WORK YOUR ASS OFF Work like your life depends on it.