For better or worse, the main benefit to getting the basics right is the ability to be unquestioned about the more complicated stuff.
If you show up to work on time, consistently, you can get away with a lot of other weirdness. If your grades are good, you can be a real goofball in class (ask me how I know) without people saying much about it.
If you’re polite, you can be defiant.
If your nose is clean, you can march to wild, unfettered drumbeats.
So get the basics right, in any scenario. Be healthy, so you can be weird.
The Opportunity Machine 