In the late spring of 2008, my wealthy entrepreneurial husband, Elon Musk, the father of my five young sons, filed for divorce. Six weeks later, he texted me to say he was engaged to a gorgeous British actress in her early 20s who had moved to Los Angeles to be with him.
One of the many qualities that separate self-made billionaires from the rest of us is their ability to ask the right questions.
We live in a culture that celebrates determination and hard work, but understand, these are the qualities that keep you in the game after most everybody else has left - or until somebody bigger and stronger picks you up and hurls you back out to sea.
The world doesn't throw a billion dollars at a person because the person wants it or works so hard they feel they deserve it.
The world gives you money in exchange for something it perceives to be of equal or greater value: something that transforms an aspect of the culture, reworks a familiar story or introduces a new one, alters the way people think about the category and make use of it in daily life.
Extreme success results from an extreme personality and comes at the cost of many other things.
Keep your body sharp to keep your mind sharp.
Artemis women often have difficult childhoods. She's the kid who seeks comfort in the woods, or animals, or books. If trapped in an authoritarian family, she blends in to get by - but keeps a fierce autonomy inside her head and heart, looking to the day she breaks free.
Sometimes it is a way of controlling others, including family members, because you don't know how to connect to them in any other way. Money can also serve as a scorecard to indicate how well you are doing, the impact you are having, if you are winning.
What is it that you're not doing - in your work, in your life - because you feel you need permission? If someone had given you that permission as a youngster, what do you think you'd be doing now?
Attention isn't really earned. It's invoked; it's manipulated. It can be heady and make you feel powerful, but it isn't something you accomplish; you get it - or you don't.
Recognition happens when you see yourself from the inside-out: as someone who can make an impact on the world instead of navigating the impact the world has on you.
I've noticed that women who pursue recognition rather than attention have a different relationship with aging. They're not dropping tens of thousands of dollars on plastic surgery. When they have to choose between looking older - or looking odd - they'll go with older.
Hope is much more than wishful thinking. Hope is a way of moving through the world.
I've learned to separate my fears from my intuition and, at times, to follow my intuition through the fear.
People who become 'elite' at what they do aren't striving to be 'elite' just to join some special club. They take great joy and satisfaction in the pursuit of mastery, and they compete against themselves, not others.
