IF THIS WRITER  knows his readers well — and I hope he does, because that is what making good stories is all about — then I know you are most likely here because you like something I made. That is nice, and I appreciate it, but I want to tell you something before you continue liking and before I continue making. Here’s what you need to know: the way we think about the world is just as important, if not more so, than the things we make. If you were only to gain one piece of knowledge from this site, the sentence before this one is it.

Here’s why.

Your mindset is more important than the actions you take as a result of that mindset.

Don’t get me wrong, I do take pride in my work, and I love when I make a great, useful thing. Perhaps it’s the inner musician in me — playing music taught me to be a life-long perfectionist. And it’s not just me: people tend to attach much worldly value to the exceptionally good things other people make. Thomas Edison is remembered today not because he was an exceptional human but because he made the first lightbulb. The Wright Brothers are remembered because they made the first airplane. Steve Jobs made the iPhone. Elon Musk made SpaceX. It’s okay to love what you make. Just don’t compare yourself to Steve Jobs for any reason (Elizabeth Holmes did that, and she went to prison).

While it is a natural, healthy human instinct to celebrate the things we make, I do not believe our physical creations constitute the pinnacle of our success as humans. After all, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk were both fired from their companies before returning to build even better organizations than before (research the career trajectories of those two if you have never yet done so). After building so much and then losing it all, why were those two incredible operators able to bounce back? They succeeded despite resistance because of their creativity and intellectual curiosity. They succeeded because of their mindsets — how they thought about the world.

So this is the point. The things we make can be copied, destroyed, or taken away, but no one can take away the intellect that enables us to make more. While folks may be remembered more for what they make, the way they think about and interact with the world is just as important.

The way we think about the world is just as important, if not more so, than what we make. Remember that, please, and good luck to you.

Antonio Dodson is an accountant, a media entrepreneur, and a business consultant. His recent short-term projects saw him working with people from Forever21, PacSun, and the National Football League to make digital advertising innovations. Antonio writes about the Web’s future, young people in business, and the best of humanity in the digital age.

Antonio’s maternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1968. They befriended a prominent political family in Pennsylvania whose early trust and confidence inspired them to emulate the successes in their surroundings and study the behavioral and psychological methods of rising in society. Antonio credits his family history and the tenacity of his grandparents as the inspiration for his entrepreneurship and his passion for grit, curiosity, and perseverance.

Antonio started his first business at age 10 involving the violin, one of six instruments he studied at Vanderbilt University. While in high school and college, he championed the stewardship of intellectual property and journalistic standards on social media platforms. Antonio owns Unstop Networks, which holds intellectual property and media brands. Contact Antonio.