Scientist: Four golden lessons

1. I must start doing research, and pick up what I needed to know as I went along.

2. Go for the messes — that's where the action is.
3. Forgive yourself for wasting time.
4. Learn something about the history of science, or at a minimum the history of your own branch of science.
Ref: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v426/n6965/full/426389a.html