Derivatives

Derivatives matter. An exponential eventually dominates every polynomial because it's nth derivative is always positive - it is always getting faster and the rate at which it's getting faster is always getting faster etc.

I think it's quite easy to focus too much on absolute positions when in reality, the derivatives matter so much more. In the last year, I think that a lot of the ways I've spent my time have been quite myopic - darting from one deadline to the other; thinking about how to get to each individual destination as quickly as possible rather than how to get to all destinations quicker.