Tom,

I'm an Elizabeth Gilbert fan, too, and though I haven't yet read her Big Magic book, it was she who inspired my LinkedIn post about "Better done than good." (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/startups-reinventionists-women-apply-better-done-than-hollis-thomases).

These days, I have far less time for the kind of information absorption you're doing, but it's one of my goals for February. February will be a month for me to step back, assess/re-assess, and revise strategies and plans.

The notion of achievement through partnering resonates deeply with me. I learned that lesson early when I founded my last business -- Mark Ferrero above was an early partner of mine, for instance, and I also have belonged to many peer-to-peer counseling groups. I find that no matter how much experience I may acquire over the years, it's so much easier and faster for me to figure out how to do something I'm NOT experienced in (or good at) by finding the right kinds of partners.

Here's a question to throw back to you:  How do you assess that someone/another entity is actually "right" when you don't know them very well?  What's the right "partner dating process"?