No effort is ever wasted

A really good video by Hank Green.

Some of the core ideas:

• Everyone has this drawer of full of bits and pieces, experiences and skills from various parts and stages of life, and each of these is a tool that might at some point help you out.
• Most things you do, such as making contact with another person or doing something creatively, won't have any real effect on your future. But any of them have a small chance of being a big positive, so you should still go ahead and do those things. If you're trapped by the thought of "this probably won't lead to anything", you'll be missing enough chances that in sum they very well might change your life for the better.

Especially the second one is something I personally struggle with. Too many paths left unwalked due to the expectation of failure.