❝ The question is - how to be useful!

I was on the cusp of leaving my faculty spot at Stanford, betting on a self-created path, and I was scared. β€œIt seems to me you spend a lot of time worrying how you will survive,” said Peter. β€œYou will probably survive.” He continued: β€œAnd you seem to spend a lot of energy on the question of how to be successful. But that is the wrong question.” He paused, then like the Zen master thwacking the table with a bamboo stick: β€œThe question is: how to be useful!” A great teacher can change your life in thirty seconds.

– Peter F. Drucker in The Effective Executive