Tom Brady on consistency, lessons from Peter Thiel, and Walt Disney on pursuing ambitious dreams

Welcome back to the Z Fellows newsletter! Every Monday we share 3 ideas - to help you build companies, ship products, and create your life's work.

1: Tom Brady on Consistency

“I would encourage everyone to play football for the simple reason that it is hard. It’s hard when you’re young and to wake up in the offseason to go train and work out, knowing that all your friends are sleeping in and eating pancakes.

But understand this — life is hard. No matter who you are, there are bumps and bruises and hits along the way.

To be successful at anything, the truth is, you don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t: consistent, determined and willing to work for it. No shortcuts.”

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bnd_K3dhRk

2: Nine Lessons from Peter Thiel

Joe Lonsdale is the co-founder of Palantir and a managing partner at 8vc. These are nine lessons he learned from Peter Thiel, which he credits for changing the way he thinks:

1. If there’s no single reason that can cause you to do something, you should think carefully about whether it’s important or not.

2. Don’t divide your attention: focusing on one thing yields increasing returns.

3. In hiring, value intelligence highly. Intelligence yields increasing returns.

4. Obsess over perfection.

5. Use small details as indicators to point to the larger truth.

6. Don’t waste time talking about what you plan to think about; instead, work through it immediately.

7. Take the time to listen to smart people with whom you disagree.

8. Be skeptical of any sort of external allies

9. Return to first principles and act quickly on your new conclusions.

Source: https://www.8vc.com/resources/lessons-from-peter-thiel

3: Walt Disney on Conviction

In 1957, just two years after defying skeptics and building Disneyland into a success, Walt Disney reflected on the conviction he had while pursuing ambitious dreams:

"I went broke twice before I got wise... I didn't have the money to get this thing going, but I found the way to get started was to quit talking and begin doing it... Things like Disneyland grow with imagination plus money.”

Source: https://media.snopes.com/2022/04/The_Lima_News_Mon__Jul_15__1957_.pdf

Best of The Week

See you next Monday,

- The Z Fellows Team

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