Get better at the things you care about most. This is the dark horse prescription for personalized success. It elegantly summarizes all four elements of the dark horse mindset.

I am at peace with my choices, because they were my own.

Under the standardization covenant, talent is not rare by empirical fact. Talent is rare by institutional decree.

Sometimes a dimension of ability that appears to be a weakness becomes a strength in the right context.

Systems that adapt themselves to your individuality without offering you genuine choice are systems with unlimited power to control you.

To put a finer point on the Mario Kart Theory of Talent: every vehicle has a chance of winning the race, as long as you operate the vehicle according to its jagged profile.

Of all the ways that the covenant can make you underestimate your own potential, perhaps the most deflating is when an institution insists that you adopt a strategy that does not suit you - and then reprimands you when you struggle, condescendingly attributing your failure to a lack of talent

But if you rely upon situational decision-making - if your pursue near-term goals while maintaining the flexibility of changing course if a better strategy or opportunity presents itself - you will always be climbing higher.