1 - Support open source in the .NET realm. Ray Houston posted about this. We helped prod Hammet into putting up a donate link for the Castle Project.  I suggest investing $25, $50, or $100.  I say 'investing' because it's not charity. It's an investment in .NET's future. Already open source projects like NHibernate, Castle Project, and others have affected Microsoft and prompted them to change how they do some things for the better and we all benefit for it. It's quite possible MS would not have considered doing ASP.NET MVC if it had not been for the Castle MonoRail project.

Consider making this a quarterly exercise. Contribute money or time in the form of patches, documentation, or assistance on the various support mailing list and forums.

2 - Continuous Improvement.  The Temple of the Oracle at Delphi had the words inscribed 'Know thyself'. It was a goal (perhaps even unattainable). The Greeks believed it was given by Apollo because it was so deep and complex in such a simple package, that only the gods could have invented it.  Also, Socrates once was asked why a friend of his (I forget the name, forgive me) who traveled a lot was so unhappy.  He replied, "Because he always travels with himself!"  Never be too comfortable about where you are in any aspect of your life. There is always more. You can always go deeper and wider in your knowledge.  Reaching the pinnacle only reveals the rest of the world you hadn't seen yet.