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I have a picture of Venice as my wallpaper on my work computer. I float off into a montage scene of me living in that picture: me reading Dickens in a little Italian cafe, sunlight pooling over the pages; me riding a gondola down a rusted canal. How do you fulfill an addiction that draws you out of your life?

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It’s okay not to know the answer.

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Everything I’ve ever succeeded at, every network I’ve built, every friend I have, I’ve gained through the things I learned after my formal education stopped.

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It’s not about conquering the world. It’s about conquering yourself.

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Got depressed when I was unhappy in a relationship but we were living together and both of us too poor to move out.

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Every year has difficulties. Difficulties are normal. It’s how you live your life each day that determines how you create a lifetime.

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Put down the ‘how to’ blogs, books and daily helpers and do it yourself! Live a little bit.

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All of the sadnesses along the way are just progress until the end.

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When that opportunity reveals itself, use all of the energy you’ve gathered to strike with such incredible force that passion and purpose fuse into one and you can supply the world with all you have to offer.

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I believe that from the bad things this year brought me, I was able to learn from them and in the best yet most painful way possible: experience.