30 Days of Genius- Marie Forleo

Marie Forleo's words are in bold. My personal comments are in italics. 

• Live your life by intuition and what feels right, not necessarily what is logically right.
• Referencing the "genius" that Seth Godin talks about without naming it, Marie emphasizes how important trusting your intuition is. We all have gut feelings and those are much more powerful predictors of happiness than a logic dictated by the actions, lives,  and opinions of millions of people who you have never before met.

• "That little voice is going to tell you things all throughout your life. And it speaks quietly, but it always is right. And the more you listen to it, the louder it gets and the more you’re going to trust it. Just never betray that little voice." 
• It isn't rare to see someone- with traditional trademarks of success or without- bemoan their younger selves not chasing a dream. And that is often because that little voice inside their head- the one that knows them better than they would like to admit- was stifled in favor of excuses, the opinions of others, or fear. 

• "Everything is figure-out-able." 
• Marie makes it clear that every goal, ambition, experiment, or risk is attainable. There should be no excuses. If you live in want to do a startup but can't afford to while living in NYC- move out of NYC! If you want to spend more time on a hobby but are "too busy"- find activities that make you less happy, and cut those out. Everything can be figured out. 

• "We have to challenge ourselves. We can’t have it all. Can’t be comfortable and start this brave new idea and have it be easy and know its gonna work and know it’s gonna make a ton of money. Dude! Stop crying, go do it." 
• Marie seems to agree with Godin's effort to constantly remind himself "this might not work." Challenging ourselves is the only way to lead ourselves to accomplishments. And the first rule- just go do it!
• Like Stanford's Design School co-founder Bernard Roth says, "Live a life without reasons." Because reasons are often excuses. The only

• "Try it. Try it!"
• Just try it. 'It' being whatever you're worried about trying. Cause if you don't, you won't know what would happen if you did. 

• "I am a multi-passionate entrepreneur."
• Marie calls herself a multi-passionate entrepreneur. Chris Heivly (co-founder of MapQuest) calls it business-ADD. Regardless, it is possible, and often times interesting, to dip your toe in many pools. Marie is a hip-hop dancer, an educator, a writer, a life-coach, and a bartender all at the same time because those are her passions and she found the balance to pursue them all.
• When pursuing multiple passions, you have to realize that each will go slower than it would with your full attention. But starting small and growing slowly over time leads to improvements, specialization, and, eventually, success. 

• Create a Painted Picture, as written in the book Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years or Less. Author Cameron Herald says you can’t change the picture, Marie says the picture should always be updated.
• A Painted Picture is a very specific visualization of what your life will be like in 3 years. What will you be doing? Where will you be living? What will your job look like? The sort of visualization techniques and "Law of Attraction" as described in books like The Secret (Rhonda Byrne) help both Marie and Chase identify goals and chase after them. (Excuse the pun.)
• Herald writes that you need to stick to that goal and not waiver. Marie disagrees, arguing that the Painted Picture is a North Star, but taking a few extra turns on your way there is what makes life interesting and, often, what makes someone continue to develop themselves. 

• "Wouldn’t it be cool if..."
• These words are the basis of an experiment Marie runs with her teams. The concept of "play" is central to Marie's success and happiness, and this is just another game. Go crazy. Be creative. Think as wildly and unrealistically as possible. And then get figure out where you need to start to get there. 

• Create before you consume
• Marie, similar to Tim Ferriss and other voices of creativity and productivity, emphasizes the importance of minimizing consumption in favor of creation. Consuming wears down the mind- more inputs means more distraction, less ingenuity, and (especially in the case of consumption of social media) less self-confidence due to over-comparison. Create first thing in the morning, consume later in the day.