An important function of genius education is instilling the capability for self-education. It starts with establishing in the child independent interests. Little by little we can instill in them self-education, independence, and creative work. The pedagogical co-worker cannot always stay at their side. So one of the most important educational tasks is to teach self-education. The latter contributes to, among other things, the child liking what they do, and in their life work is not separate from hobbies.

One should have great patience. We should let the child arrive at a sense of success, but we should not handicap ourselves (we should not give up major pieces or an advantage in pawns), because in that case the structure of the game changes. Preferably the parents or teachers should provide a temporal handicap, or weave intentional mistakes into the game, so that the child can use them for themself. During the game the tutor should organize their position on the board intentionally as is appropriate for the student and the development of the child at their age.

He quotes Frantishek Marek: “Learning foreign languages in early childhood is very important, because without that a person cannot later express themself spontaneously, rapidly, and appropriately”, and I think suggests (though I might be misunderstanding) that languages are one of the easiest things to teach young children, and so a good way to get them into the spirit of learning things. He also thinks languages are nice because they have a defined end-goal (speaking fluently) and obvious progress along the way, so children feel good about learning them.

The main things he does differently from everyone else are the things he’s talked about in every interview and documentary: he starts young (around the time the child is three), focuses near-obsessively on a single subject, and never stops.

“Like an asshole, I took him/her/it for granted.” 

–You don’t have to explain yourself. I read one of Sandra Day O’Connor’s clerks say that what she most admired about the Supreme Court Justice was that she never said “sorry” before she said no. She just said “no” if she couldn’t or didn’t want to. So it goes for your boundaries or interests or choices. You can just say no. You can explain to your relatives they need to get a hotel instead of staying at your house. You can just live how you feel most comfortable. You don’t have to justify. You don’t have to explain. You definitely don’t need to apologize.

“Leave This Place Better Than You Found It.”

–Don’t compare yourself to other people. You never know who is taking steroids. You never know who is drowning in debt. You never know who is a liar. 

This is a good example of a theory I have about very talented people: No one should be shocked when people who think about the world in unique ways you like also think about the world in unique ways you don’t like. Unique minds have to be accepted as a full package.

“Apparently I’ve underestimated how willing people are to maintain a charade.” Irrational trends rarely follow rational timelines. Unsustainable things can last longer than you think.

As Carl Richards says, risk is what’s left when you think you’ve thought of everything.

Your competitors can probably innovate and execute as well as you can. So every time you uncover a new talent you’re proud of, temper your thrill with the acceptance that other people who want to win as badly as you probably aren’t far behind.

because people don’t like to be told they’ve been doing things wrong.

(3) Get something out, even if it feels like gibberish. Starting is often half the battle, primarily because everything is so uncertain. But what’s great about painting your first brushstroke is that your starting point is no longer a blank canvas. You have a new foundation to work off of, and while that foundation is small, it represents progress because it’s a product of your creative energy. This will naturally lead to more brushstrokes, and by the end of your session, you’ll have something tangible that you didn’t quite imagine when you started. This is the magic of creativity: The commitment to starting is the force that propels you throughout the entire work. New connections build on top of old ones, and slowly but surely, a web of ideas that were previously hidden from view begin to emerge.