The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx

Believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Believe in yourself especially when no one else does. Don’t be afraid to walk away from mistakes. But if you know in your heart of hearts that you’re right, then stick with it.

Dream big. Be fearless. Learn to practice long-term thinking, not short-term thinking, in your life and in your work. The worst that can happen is that you’ll fail. And the best that will happen is that you will fail, because failing—sometimes even in front of a crowd—is what lights a real fire under your ass. If we all knew ahead of time that these things and not those things would work, then we’d all be billionaires. But since we’re all stumbling around in the dark, the least we can do is get comfortable with trial and error.

But you can throw bricks through a window—and that’s what a rock song should be, a thing that breaks windows.

Just looking at them, letting yourself see their beauty—that’s half the work. All their hopes, all their fears, all that motivates them or maybe makes them wish they didn’t exist—those are real things to write about.

Vince Neil once told me 'You look down on people.' My wife once told me something along the same lines, 'You look down on people who were born with silver spoons.' She's right. I DO look down on those people. I look down on how superficial they are. On the way they don't even register suffering. It's as if other people's pain doesn't exist. But it does exist. You can't cut yourself off from the pain without losing a lot of good things that go with it. All the lines etched into an old person's hands and face, every one of those lines tells a story. Just looking at them, letting yourself see their beauty, that's half the work. All their hopes, all their fears, all that motivates them, or maybe makes them wish they didn't exist, those are things to write about.