Jeff Goodby is one of the five people in the world I most wanted to meet. If you've ever said “Got Milk?” you've quoted his work. If you've laughed at a Cheetos commercial or watched a Doritos Super Bowl spot, you've seen it. He co-founded Goodby Silverstein & Partners, whose work for brands like BMW, Xfinity, Nike, Pepsi and Google has made him, in my opinion, second to none in the art of advertising.

And he was exactly as fun as I hoped he'd be.

Here are a few things I'm stealing from Jeff:

1. Say yes before you know what you are. When Electronic Arts offered Jeff's fledgling agency a packaging contract — not the TV work they wanted — his first reaction was, We're not a packaging agency. Then he heard the number ($40,000 a month). “Oh, I think we could be a packaging agency.” Keep your eyes open and let opportunities show you what you're capable of. Don't build your identity around what you won't do.

2. You don't have to be perfect to be great. Jeff credits punk rock with teaching him this: it was sloppy, imperfect and great. We talked about the Red Hot Chili Peppers, too — massively talented musicians who “make it look sloppy” and easy. One of Jeff's early films had almost no budget, friends as actors, and Jeff himself in it. It won awards. You don't always need perfect conditions. Sometimes you need to make the damn thing.

3. Be fun. Jeff told me, “I want people to look forward to meetings with us.” What a standard. You can be brilliant, talented and the most qualified person in the room, but are people excited when they see your name on their calendar? Be good at what you do. But for God's sake, be fun to do it with.

4. Get good at rejection. Jeff described advertising as rejection all the way down: your partner rejects the idea, then the creative director, then the client, then the CEO — and sometimes you finally put it into the world and everyone else rejects it, too. His rule: next play. He once pitched Levi's an idea using DNA extracted from jeans worn by Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, putting it into the dye, and creating new jeans containing their DNA. Levi's rejected it. Focus groups rejected it. Jeff still thinks it's a great idea. I kind of do, too.

5. Get addicted to other people's success. Jeff gets excited about helping other people make great work. “I love seeing other people succeed.” He described himself as a “junkie” for it. There are people who feel threatened when somebody around them wins, and people who become the wind at their back. Be the second kind.

6. Go to a different grocery store. Jeff believes great ideas are often right in front of us, but our routines keep us from noticing them. Take a different route to work. Use your opposite hand for a day. Shop somewhere new. Small changes force us to see the world differently. They help us notice what's been lying on the ground right in front of us. Sometimes finding a great idea starts with changing where you buy your bananas.

And as far as Sharpen the Saw habits go: read like crazy. Jeff reads while walking his dog, listens to books while traveling, keeps a real book beside his bed, and even has an underwater MP3 player so he can listen while he swims. His words: “I'm a stupidly active reader.” So many of the people I admire most are voracious readers. Warren Buffett is famous for the enormous amount of time he devotes to reading and thinking. I think we can learn a thing or two from Warren and Jeff: keep putting good ideas into your head. Jeff also does something physical every day — swimming, lifting, Pilates, walking or stairs — because he says he needs the energy to do everything else. 

Say yes. Read everything. Make imperfect things. Be someone people look forward to seeing. Get over rejection. Cheer like hell when somebody else wins.

That's a pretty good way to build a career. Probably a pretty good way to build a life, too.