- When you are working on a project of your own, you mostly engaged and excited. If not happy always, alive and awake, like an animal in its natural habitat, which knows what to do. - If i had to chose between my kids wokring on ambitious projects and getting good grades, I would chose the former - We use competition as an excuse, we should steer kids towards their own projects for an exciting and engaged life. - Andy Hertzhelf in his book on the Mac, describes about how they would come back into office after dinner and work late into the night. People who have never experienced the thrill of working on a project they are excited about cant distinguish this kind of working long hours from what happens in a sweatshop or boiler room - I wouldnt want to work on anything I didnt want to take over my life. - The difference is like skating and walking. Ofcourse people who skate achieve much more. - Remember the careless confidence you had when you were a kid, that would be a powerful thing to recapture. It is important to be deliberate in choosing to work on projects of our own, and carelessly confident in starting new ones.