If you judge your worth by your achievements, you feel worthless whenever you fall short of a goal. Stable self-confidence comes from learning to separate your performance from your self-esteem. Excellence is a reflection of effort, skill, and luck—not your value as a person.

Weak leaders blame the messenger. They see problems as threats to their ego. Strong leaders thank the messenger. They see problems as threats to their mission. Great leaders promote the messenger. They see recognizing and raising problems as acts of vision and courage.

Pursuing perfection can prevent progress. Momentum requires lowering your standards for the first draft. Pursuing productivity can compromise quality. Excellence demands raising your standards for the final product. A key to balance is to aim higher as you climb higher.

The world could use more people who think like scientists... or at least more critical thinkers. #ThinkAgain