Mark Cuban has a way with words:

Let me make this as clear as possible:

1. When you work hard at something you become good at it.

2. When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more.

3. When you enjoy doing something, there is a very good chance you will become passionate or more passionate about it.

4. When you are good at something, passionate and work even harder to excel and be the best at it, good things happen.

Don’t follow your passions, follow your effort. It will lead you to your passions and to success, however you define it.

He downplays the value of luck.

Even if you're the best and you work hard, you still need luck.

But then...."The harder I work, the luckier I get."  -Samuel Goldwyn (attributed)

Jason, that's true, but working hard doesn't CAUSE luck. It just creates more opportunity for luck.

I do agree with this:

Time is the most valuable asset you don’t own. You may or may not realize it yet, but how you use or don’t use your time is going to be the best indication of where your future is going to take you.

Be careful how you use your time.

Karl Pillemer interviewed nearly 1500 people ages 70-100+ to see what wisdom they could pass on. Of the ten key things they said, the first on the list is: "Life is short."

More: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/04/learn-life-lived-longest/

I've heard that multiple times. What really strikes me is that there are times in life that feel really long.

Especially when we're suffering or sad.

Research shows time does seem to pass faster as we age. It's not just a saying: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/11/if-life-speeds-up-when-you-get-older-does-tha/

This explains why in general, the older we get, the more it FEELS like life is short.