weekend for fun

AMATEURS	PROFESSIONALS
Have tons of ideas, are excited about all of them and see none to fruition.	Have tons of ideas, pick one and do their best to make it happen.
Think they can do everything.	Know it’s almost impossible to achieve one thing.
Think they know everything.	Are always learning.
Start with no preparation.	Do research, they want to know where the bodies are buried, what the landscape holds. Better to take all these factors into account before you start, because trying to adjust on the fly is so much more difficult, it wastes time and energy and it’s hard to put a fourth wheel on a car you designed with three.
Don’t finish.	Are all about execution. Sure, they occasionally abandon a project when they see further effort is fruitless, but the mark of a pro is someone who begins and ends. If you notice someone can’t complete a task, run from them!
Are worried about image.	Let their work do the talking.
Demonstrate insecurity.	Are extremely confident.
Can only see what’s in front of them.	Are all about the big picture.
Hold those above them in contempt.	Hold no one in contempt, but they haven’t got much time for losers. If you’re an amateur trying to graduate to professional status and you have the good fortune to encounter a pro, DON’T WASTE THEIR TIME! Give just one or two compliments and ask your question. But most amateurs are so busy being sycophants the professional tunes out, or goes on at such length that the professional excuses himself.
Have no idea what dues are.	Have paid their dues, and are still paying them.
Believe in instant success.	Know anything worth accomplishing takes a long time, and what might look like overnight success is rarely such.
Boast.	Never slap their own backs, and are oftentimes uncomfortable with others slapping their backs.
Get nervous.	May be anxious, but they’ve performed the task so many times they let instinct take over, they go on their experience, nervousness never comes into the equation.
Are looking for their one big break.	Know that life is about a series of breaks.
Are afraid to fail.	Don’t like to fail, but when they do they pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get back in the game.
Interrupt.	Listen.
Demonstrate their bile, they get frustrated or angry and it’s easy to see.	Are cool, calm and collected. You may read about the crazy owner/operator/entrepreneur, but if they’re truly nuts, they don’t last, their board replaces them, and the truth is most are not that nuts, it just makes a better story in the press to portray them as such.
Bristle.	Show empathy.
Are always telling you how busy they are and how hard they’re working.	Show up and stay as long as it’s interesting and profitable, bitching gains them nothing, so they don’t.
Believe what people say.	Believe what people do.