Did his ideas change the world? Was he a visionary? Did he pursue perfection like a madman? Was he a jerk at times? The answer to all those questions is seemingly: yes, according to Schlender and Tetzeli’s biography.

It’s easy to want to be like Steve. There’s something alluring about relentlessly pursuing your vision with little regard for what people think about you.

It’s like being Batman–a misunderstood vigilante, rogue, rebel–who still does great things for the world.

But what about you? Is being like Steve truly you?

It’s probably not you. But what you’ve got is better. It’s better because it’s true.

Right now, there’s a mass of people out there who want to consume what you’ve got. They’re waiting to follow you, buy from you, tell others about you.

Put yourself on the line, not Steve Jobs.

So many of the people who want to be like Steve have the asshole side down. What...

The mark of a good entrepreneur is her ability to sell the idea. Can she communicate the idea clearly in all contexts? Can she come up with real benefits and not just features? Can she quickly build a following for the idea?

Some folks just naturally have that right mix of charisma, risk-tolerance and hustle.

I’m not one of those naturals.

But if I ever want any of my ideas to take off, I have to learn. Even though selling an idea goes against every natural inclination, I have to learn.

So I’ll be starting with Dale Carnegie’s landmark book, “How to Win Friends & Influence People”.

There’s also a great list of relevant books by Eric Jorgenson here.

The artist paints in his house all day – making beautiful things. Yet he’s too afraid, too proud, too self-conscious to go out on the corner and ask people to buy his work.

This artist starves. And it isn’t until after he’s dead...

There’s always another article to read, video to watch, tutorial to follow. But at some point you have to stop consuming and start creating. One of the quickest ways give up on your latest project is to log more consumption hours than creation hours.

So cut yourself off. Limit yourself to an hour of research per day, then spend the rest of your time creating.

Pros do the work. Amateurs think about doing the work.

Everyone says reading is important. Researchers, teachers, parents, entrepreneurs, artists, friends, people who don’t even read…they all think reading is important. Society gets it. We should all be reading.

Personally, I’ve developed a daily reading routine. It’s one of the few good habits I’ve successfully maintained during my 20s. Here it is:

In the morning

I read spiritual or “higher-power” books. Historically it’s been the Bible – but recently it’s been Steven Pressfield’s “War of Art”. I like to start my day being reminded that there’s more at work in the cosmos than just my tiny plot of land. It’s freeing to remember how small and truly out of control parts of my life are.

Throughout the day

I read practical articles about my work. Since my full-time job is graphic design, I typically read articles on the design industry, refreshers on design elements, or interview pieces...

Whenever I get an idea, I always start with the name. I never feel like a project can truly begin until it has a name. There’s this obsessive need to give the project a unique, unambiguous folder name on my computer.

This has to be the most inefficient way to start something. I admit that.

On Monday, I spent 2 hours before work trying to come up with the perfect company name. There’s a note on my computer with 32 ideas and 0 of them were serious contenders.

After work, instead of going home to sit at another desk, just to come up with 32 more bad ideas, I decided to wear my body out with 2 hours of basketball.

That night, after a hot shower, I threw my exhausted (yet endorphin-fueled) body into bed. And wouldn’t you know it? The last instant before falling into sleep – when my eyes were at their heaviest – I saw it.

I saw my company’s name on the header of a website that hadn’t...