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The Success Series is a collection of the best career and life advice from some of our favorite writers, thinkers, and leaders.
For this installment, we asked CEOs, authors, and entrepreneurs: What advice would you give to someone just starting their first real job?
Read all the articles from this and other installments of The Success Series here.
James Altucher: Don't dwell on failure and its supposed benefits — there are none.
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James Altucher is an investor, writer, entrepreneur, and the author of "Choose Yourself." Read more from Altucher at his blog, The Altucher Confidential.
I don't regret anything that has happened since. I've fallen many times. Sometimes I've gotten up, sometimes I've stayed down for quite awhile. But no matter what, I'm glad I ended up right here.
That said, I'm not a big fan of failure. Everyone always says, "You need to fail to learn."
This is total BS. Failure is very painful and ugly and helps nobody. Often it's inevitable as we learn, but it's best to never fail so hard you are scared and anxious for life, family, love, career, whatever.
How can you avoid it? All of the advice is cliché, but I don't care. If I could advise someone who was in my exact position here is what I would say.
1. Make a list of five people you admire the most.
Read everything about them. Write down things you can do to be more like them.
Remember you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. But don't forget they can be virtual mentors as well as real-life ones.
2. Write down ten ideas a day.
When I was at my lowest points, with no money in the bank and no prospects, I'd go out early, grab my coffee, read a book, and then write down 10 ideas every day.
Sometimes business ideas. Sometimes ideas for books I could write. Sometimes ideas for ways I thought other companies could be improved. And then I would send them those ideas.
Eventually, they responded. Eventually they paid me money. You can do this inside of a company as well.
Always remember: The key to wealth is to create wealth for others, whether you are an employee, an entrepreneur, or an entre-ployee.
Check out the rest of James Altucher's advice here.
Danny Rubin: Say 'yes' to the unfamiliar.
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Danny Rubin is the creator and writer of News To Live By, a blog for Millennials that highlights career and leadership lessons hidden in the day's top stories.
It's December 2007. Fresh out of graduate school, I had a fancy master's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland-College Park — and zero job prospects as a news reporter.
A week after graduation, I was thrilled to land an "informational interview" at a TV news station in my hometown.
So there I was at 23 years old, nervous and clammy in a suit and tie and fully expecting a 10-minute "nice to meet ya and off you go" conversation.
I sat down in front of Shane's desk. He had demo reels (work samples) from other hopeful reporters piled high on his desk. He looked over my own reel (stories I did in college) and told me the many ways I needed to improve.
I knew I was raw, but the criticism still hurt. I composed myself and told him, "Great tips. I'll work on those things. Thanks."
Just as I felt our chit chat had come to an end, Shane looked up at me, smiled wryly and said, "Do you have ice in your veins?"
I took a gulp and felt a knot in my stomach at the same time. But without hesitation, I shot back, "Yes, I do."
"Good," he said. "One of my reporters is sick today, and we need to cover a submarine deployment at the naval base. Why don't you handle the story, and if I like your work we'll consider using it on the air tonight?"
My response on the outside: "Sure. Thanks for the opportunity!"
My response on the inside: "Holy #%@! Is this happening?!?!"
Check out more advice from Danny Rubin here.
Ryan Holiday: Find canvases for other people to paint on.
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Ryan Holiday is the author of "The Obstacle is the Way." He is former director of marketing at American Apparel and dropped out of college at 19. He gives monthly book recommendations here.
When I first got a job as an assistant in Hollywood, someone told me that the best thing I could do as an assistant was to make other people look good.
It ended up being decent advice, but I’ve since come to understand that the wording wasn’t right. It’s not about just sitting there and working on the way people think about your boss or company.
The way I would explain it to a younger version of myself:
Find canvases for other people to paint on.
That is, completely ignore getting credit, getting ahead, even throw out what your job is supposed to be on paper. Instead, focus all your energy on finding, presenting, and facilitating opportunities that help other people inside the company succeed — particularly the people you directly report to.
Check out the rest of Ryan Holiday's advice here.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
The spring is going to be a big month for smartphones. Both HTC and Samsung recently announced their new flagship phones: The 
Oscar-winning director 
But two years ago the offer came back around and this time he couldn't turn away.
Gibney’s approach to secrecy came from his talks with Wright, who used similar methods when he interviewed former church members for his book. “I often used throw-away phones and encrypted e-mail,” he said. “People were so frightened.”
Gibney believes that all of these tactics done by the church to discredit his film are intended not for the general public but for the members of Scientology (which, according to the film, is around 50,000 people). “They are playing a PR game with them to say, ‘Look at these evil people who are attacking us. Look how valiantly we are trying to defend our organization,’” he said.
Alain Philippon, a Quebec man that had flown back to Canada’s Halifax International Airport after a trip to the Dominican Republic, was stopped and arrested by border agents after he refused to offer up his phone’s passcode.
It’s not the same as handing over your phone; since a smartphone carries much more information than a typical "good," offering one's passcode could amount to self-incrimination, which is why the Fifth Amendment exists in the US, to protect people from incriminating themselves. Also, police in the US 