Past 400 Learnings in Weekly I/O
True Priorities and Money
“Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.” – James W. Frick Quote I…
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Event or Judgment Disturb
“It isn't events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgments about them.” – Epictetus Quote This old Stoic wisdom can also be…
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Say and Do
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” – Epictetus Quote Reminds me of Freya Stark's quote: "There can…
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Head Heart Wallet
Head, Heart, Wallet: Three questions to find what to write. Course: Write of Passage I'm recently taking the writing bootcamp Write of…
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Four Reasons to Post
Four reasons people post things: sound smart, be funny, look hot, look rich. Tweet: Nikita Bier on X To make people share your product…
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Three Ways to Get Paid
Lie to people who want to be lied to, and you’ll get rich. Tell the truth to those who want the truth, and you’ll make a living. Tell the…
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Contagious Stress
Stress can be contagious through sweat and trigger physiological stress responses in people nearby via cortisol transmission as secondhand…
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Free and Lost
"I am free and that is why I am lost." - Franz Kafka Quote Absolute freedom oftentimes means absolute responsibility. Being radically free…
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Craft and Tenure
You can achieve operational excellence through process, but craft can only be achieved with tenure. Video: A conversation with NVIDIA’s…
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Mood and Memory Recall
Our mood can influence which memories come to mind more easily. A sad mood makes sad memories easier to recall. Book: Why We Remember Our…
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Dual-coding theory
Dual-coding theory: Verbal and nonverbal information are stored separately in our memory, and simultaneously processing both verbal and…
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Goals are not Strategies
Setting goals is not a strategy. Focus on vision, mission, and values without identifying the key challenge and designing a coherent plan to…
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Train Brain like ML
Absorbing information for our brain is like training our machine learning model of the world. Even if we forget what we've learned, the data…
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Main Thing
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. — Stephen Covey Quote I first learned this quote from Sarah Elizabeth Lewis in…
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What we Pretend
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. Book: Mother Night Love this quote from Kurt Vonnegut in…
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Write Web to String
Writing is the process of encoding a web of ideas into a string of words using a tree of phrases. Book: The Sense of Style In his book The…
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Read Yourself Stupid
When we read, the author thinks for us. We can read ourselves stupid if we just repeat the author's mental process. People who just let…
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Marketing Cringe
When marketing our work, we must feel a bit cringe. Zero cringe can be suboptimal because it either means we are not being authentic or we…
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No Knowledge in Book
There is no knowledge in books, only information. Information only becomes knowledge after we interpret and understand it. Thought The…
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Two Tragedies
“In this world, there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” - Oscar Wilde Quote As…
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New Year Resolutions
How to make achievable and meaningful New Year's resolutions? Five Questions, Wheel of Life, and Ideal Week methods. Video: How to Make 202…
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Knowledge Pyramid
Knowledge Pyramid: Information can only be transformed into knowledge, then Insight, then vision after you process them. It takes time to…
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Praise and Criticize
Praise publicly, criticize privately. Praise specifically, criticize generally. Praise by name, criticize by category. Thought When we want…
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Balloon Effect
Balloon Effect: Focusing on solving a problem in one area can unintentionally inflate the problem elsewhere. Article: Balloon effect…
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Family Resemblance
Family Resemblance: Things are defined by overlapping similarities, not a single common essence, much like traits in a family. Book…
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Opposite of Knowledge
The opposite of knowledge is the illusion of knowledge. The opposite of you know something is you thought you know something, not you don't…
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To Know and Not To Do
"To know and not to do is not to know." - Wang Yang Ming Quote This reminds me of a line from the fantastic book The War of Art: "Most of us…
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Healthspan not Lifespan
Prioritize enhancing healthspan, not just extending lifespan. Focus on preventive measures for physical, cognitive, and emotional health…
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Reward of Good Work
The reward for good work is more work. Therefore, find the work you will enjoy spending more time doing rather than focusing on reducing the…
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Money is Gasoline
"Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations…
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Transparent Tax Return
In Norway, you can see everyone's tax returns and who has checked yours, which might widen the happiness gap between the rich and poor…
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Magician's Choice
Magician's Choice: How magicians manipulate you to choose the card they want you to choose through equivocation. Article: Magician's Choice…
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Personal Rules
Personal rules turn desired behaviors into default behaviors. They are set during our best moments to avoid making poor decisions under…
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Know to Diversify Less
"The more you know, the less you diversify." - Naval Quote This quote reminds me of what Warren Buffett said at the 1996 Berkshire Hathaway…
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Luxury and Necessity
"Luxury is a necessity that begins where necessity ends." - CoCo Chanel Quote This is how CoCo Chanel defines luxury, which is quite poetic…
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Luxury and Premium
Premium purchases offer enhanced functional benefits at a higher price, while luxury purchases symbolize the buyer's ability to afford items…
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Candor over Honesty
To foster a creative culture of open communication, encourage candor rather than honesty. It's easier to be candid because it removes the…
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Luxury and Art
Luxury is superlative, never comparative. It's art that happens to have a little bit of functionality. Book: The Luxury Strategy Luxury is…
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Aware of Decision
We make better decisions when we know we are making decisions. Therefore, the first step to improving decision-making is to be aware of the…
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Fogg Behavior Model
Fogg Behavior Model: Behavior = Motivation x Ability x Prompt. Three elements must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur…
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Wheeled Suitcase Paradox
It took nearly 6,000 years to progress from inventing the wheel to the creation of the wheeled suitcase. Humans put a man on the moon before…
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Career as Portfolio
Treat your career as a portfolio of jobs, roles, and opportunities. Assess new opportunities in the context of your lifetime career…
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Love Ones Makes Us Laugh
“Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator. But among those whom I love, I can. All of them make me laugh.” — W. H…
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Cognitive Tunneling
Cognitive Tunneling: When our brains abruptly shift from a relaxed state to high alert, we tend to focus too much on the most obvious…
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Locus of control
Locus of control shapes our emotional well-being. Strong internal locus of control, the belief that we have control over the outcomes, can…
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Psychological Safety
The most crucial indicator of successful teams: Psychological safety. Book: Smarter Faster Better Psychological safety is a shared belief…
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Mentor or Coach
Mentors offer directive instruction and answers, whereas coaches provide non-directive feedback through questions. Whether seeking or giving…
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Top Schools Unchanged
Why do the top 10 companies change every decade, but the top 10 schools remain unchanged? Podcast: Mark Zuckerberg interviews Patrick…
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7 Powers Framework
7 Powers Framework for business strategy: Counter-Positioning, Cornered Resource, Scale Economies, Network Economies, Switching Costs…
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Make Art Inevitably
The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable. Book: The Creative Act This quote from the…
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70-20-10 Rule
70-20-10 Rule: Spend 70% on your core business, 20% on adjacent or nearby things, and 10% on wild bets. Podcast: Eric Schmidt — Lessons from…
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XY Problem
The XY problem: Avoid focusing on the attempted solution rather than the actual problem. People don't want a faster horse. They want to get…
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AI Describes Biology
If Math is the perfect description language for physics, AI might be the perfect description language for biology. Podcast: Demis Hassabis…
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Technology and Story
No amount of technology will make a bad story good. Article: Presentation Zen: No amount of technology will make a bad story good In the…
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Envy is WiFi
Our envy is like WiFi. It is usually limited to a hyperlocal network. We are jealous of our friends, but not celebrities. Podcast: Kunal…
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Parkinson's Law
Parkinson's Law: Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. The more time we allot for a work, the more time it will take…
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Delete Most in Draft
To write well, delete most of what you put on the page, as films often shoot 50 to 100 times more footage than what actually appears in the…
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Entropy and Sun
What does the Earth get from the Sun? While the total energy remains constant, we get low entropy energy that fuels life and natural…
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No A/B testing
A/B testing cannot substitute for taste in creating appealing products. Relying solely on A/B testing is abdicating your responsibility to…
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Drop Exclamation Mark
If you want to use an exclamation mark while writing, it means your words aren't strong enough on their own. Strengthen your sentences…
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Dessert Eating Tips
Most of the pleasure in a dessert comes in the first three bites. After that, you should stop eating it. As a reward, you can eat dessert…
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Dollar Auction Paradox
Dollar Auction Paradox: Understanding why companies spend more than what they can potentially earn and why we pay more than the actual value…
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Spot Next Big Thing
How Tim Ferriss identifies the next big thing? Understand what technical nerds and rich people are doing, and where people are patching…
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Creative Selection
How Apple develops products? A chain of demos and feedback continuously evolves an idea towards a product. No brainstorming session and no…
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Design is How It Works
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. Book: Creative Selection During a 2003 interview with The New…
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Overview Effect
Overview Effect: Sudden and dramatic shifts in perspective can make the observer into a state of awe with self-transcendent qualities…
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Scam and Tourist
Places with no repeat customer behavior are designed to optimize for short-term behavior. That's why scammy businesses are usually found…
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Reward without Effort
Getting rewards without effort or achievement is detrimental and destroys people's motivation. Podcast: Master Your Mind & Change Your Brain…
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Look Up and Around
Don't only look down. As an individual contributor in an organization, one should spend 20 percent of the time looking up and looking around…
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Failure in 20s
Our twenties are about watching our dreams go up in flames and learning from the ashes. Sometimes failure is the only way to learn, and what…
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Deep Connection
Deep connections between people are formed through a trifecta of ambition, vulnerability, and intense shared emotion, each representing a…
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Region-beta Paradox
Region-beta Paradox: People can be better off when things are much worse. While moderate situations prompt endurance, crisis triggers action…
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3x3 Rules
How to express your thoughts clearly? The 3x3 rules: make less than 3 points, explain in 3 ways, and repeat 3 times. Article: 3 rules to…
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Focus on Pain not Anger
Anger is a cover of pain. When people cross our boundaries, we should focus on expressing our pain instead of anger. Podcast: CEO Coach Matt…
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Energy Audits
To raise our energy and get more things done, do energy audits to find out what makes us energized or drained. Double down on energizing one…
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Kuleshov Effect
Kuleshov Effect: Viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation. Article…
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Dark Room Metaphor
Dark Room Metaphor: Learning is a process of reconstruction (Constructionism), not transmission(Instructionism). Creating our mental 3D…
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Bicycle of the Mind
Humans are tool builders. We build tools like computers as the "Bicycle of the Mind" that take us beyond our inherent abilities. Video: 'A…
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Predictable by Ideology
If your opinions on one subject can be predicted from your opinions on another, you may be in the grip of an ideology. When you truly think…
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Adverse Selection
Adverse Selection: Asymmetric information in transactions can lead to the less-informed side potentially making bad choices. Article…
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Moral Hazard
Moral Hazard: People are more likely to take risks when they know they won't bear the full consequences of their actions. Article: Moral…
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First Follower
When new artists do weird work, their first followers are the curators who transform their individual weirdness into public art. Make your…
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Reflect on Irritation
A great way to understand yourself is to seriously reflect on everything you find irritating in others. Article: 103 Bits of Advice I Wish I…
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Decoy Effect
Decoy Effect: When we are choosing between two options, introducing a third option can cause shifts in our preference between the first two…
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Low Social Optionality
Approach social interactions as if we are stuck on a desert island with the other person because low social optionality situations make…
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Reason not to Quit
For habits, there are only a few reasons to keep on something and a truckload of reasons to quit. All we can do is keep those few reasons…
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Forward Testing Effect
Forward testing effect: Taking an exam before learning the subject can enhance future learning of that subject. Book: Ultralearning The…
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Sit Down to Write
The secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write…
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Goodhart's Law
Goodhart's Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Article: GOODHART'S LAW What might happen when a government…
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Write More but Less
Write 5x more but write 5x less. Article: Write 5x more but write 5x less Mike Crittenden says there are two things he has come to believe…
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Annual Report Framework
Farnam Street's Annual Report Framework. Article: Personal annual report It might be too late to talk about new year's resolutions, but it's…
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Claasen's law
Claasen's law: Usefulness = log(Technology) Article: It’s elementary Theo A. C. M. Claasen, CTO of Philips Semiconductors in 1999, quoted…
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Visual before Context
Jonny Harris's storytelling formula: Visual anchor before contextual bridge. Experience it and then understand it. YouTube: Why every Johnny…
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Lossy LLM
ChatGPT is like a lossy compression of all the text on the Web. If it takes material generated by itself as training data for next model…
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Desirable Difficulty
Desirable Difficulty in learning: Harder retrieval leads to better learning, given retrieval is successful. Test yourself before we think we…
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No More Time
"One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now." - Paulo Coelho Quote
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Direct Learning
First step of learning: Learn directly by doing it and ensure the learning is tied to the context in which it will be used. Learn to speak a…
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Skill and Knowledge
Learning new things is different from practicing new things. Passive learning brings knowledge while active practicing brings skills. Book…
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Declutter with Photo
How to throw away sentimental things? Take a photo. Video: 8 Habits that Changed My Life Letting go of sentimental items that are cluttering…
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Bluetooth
How does Bluetooth work? Video: How does Bluetooth Work? This video does a great job explaining how our AirPods work. Some of the things I…
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Noncompetitiveness
Marathon runner competes with no one but a time they want to be. Writer competes with no one but a standard they want to attain. Sustainable…
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Running Suits Me
The reason I can run for more than twenty years is not that I have a strong will. It just suits me. Book: What I Talk About When I Talk…
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Smart and Stupid
People thinking others are "just stupid" indicates that they are avoiding thinking by jumping to conclusions. Article: Smart people don’t…
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Running and Writing
Stop every day right after we feel like we can write more. Save the excitement and carry it over to the next day to let momentum kick off…
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Running and Meditation
I run to acquire a void. Emotions are not strong or consistent enough to sustain a vacuum. But thoughts and ideas that invade my emotions as…
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No Hedged Words
State your conjecture in a way that sounds like the laws of physics. Avoid mealy-mouthed allusions because ChatGPT can do all the hedged…
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Reflexivity Theory
Reflexivity theory: positive feedback loops between expectations and economic fundamentals can cause price trends that substantially and…
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True Learning
True learning is understanding. True understanding is linking new information to existing knowledge and applying it to problems. Book: How…
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Solomon's Paradox
Solomon's Paradox: When helping ourselves make decisions, imagine helping a friend. Article: The 10 Best Ideas I Learned in 2022 We are…
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Never Too Good
You should never think you're too good to do a job, and you should be like that in everything you do. Podcast: Jocko Podcast 221: Jonny Kim…
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Opposite of Courage
The opposite of courage is not cowardice but conformity. Video: “No creative person I know has ever asked for a brainstorming session…
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Actionable Truth
Insight is the smallest unit of truth that is actionable. If you cannot act on it, it is just an abstraction. Podcast: Kunal Shah: Core…
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Delta 4 Framework
Delta 4 Framework for evaluating product: If your product outscores the existing solution by more than 4 in efficiency score on a scale of…
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Inefficient but Soulful
Efficient methods rarely create emotional arousal. Meaningful and soulful experiences are inefficient because they can't be standardized…
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Deep Boredom
If sleep represents the high point of bodily relaxation, deep boredom is the peak of mental relaxation. A purely hectic rush produces…
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Inspection Paradox
Why is my bus always late? Inspection paradox: Averaging final results can be different than averaging individual responses. Article: The…
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Relative Age Effect
What's the most significant privilege a student can experience? Born in the right month. Podcast: Outliers, Revisited — Malcolm Gladwell…
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Skill Transfer
Poker teaches us that just because people are skillful in one domain doesn't mean they can transfer the skill to another. Podcast: Annie…
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Desires to be Right
The desire to be right and the desire to have been right are two desires. The sooner we separate them, the better off we are. Book: The Web…
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Repeat Today a Year
If you repeated what you did today 365 more times, will you be where you want to be next year? Article: 103 Bits of Advice I Wish I Had…
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Curious not Judgmental
Be curious, not judgmental. Video: Ted Lasso: Be curious, not judgmental We tend to form our opinions quickly when seeing someone's behavior…
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Cluttering Illusion
Cluttering Illusion: Our brains love to find meaning in short‐term trends and rush to conclusions. Avoid irrational small sample size bets…
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Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution was history's biggest fraud. Compared to foragers, farmers worked harder but with less return. Book: Sapiens: A…
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Clarke's Three Laws
When a distinguished elderly scientist states that something is possible, they are almost certainly right, but when they state something is…
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Paint with Music
Paint With Music: Turn your paintbrush into musical instruments and compose on sensorial canvases. Website: Paint With Music Paint With…
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Upper Management
Good upper management avoids surprises and keeps managers in the loop on what we are doing. The amount of context we think we are over…
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Stage Changes Method
Punctuate our monologue with stage changes in any presentation and meetings. Think about how long the average attention span is for the…
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As Big as Love
"You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you." - Robert Anton Wilson Quote This quote…
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Happiness as Income
Bill Campbell defines his income as others' happiness and success instead of just money received. We can redefine our measurement of…
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Coach and Manager
A coach will say "What do you want to do" while a manager will say "Please do this". Book: Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of…
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Explain to Troubleshoot
When you are stuck, explain your problem to others. Often simply laying out a problem will present a solution. Make “explaining the problem…
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Education or Training
To be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated. Book: Finite and Infinite Games James Carse…
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Writing like Shopkeeper
Set out time to write regardless of how you feel that day. It doesn't matter if it's good or not. Sit down and type. Refuse to bargain with…
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FAB with Alcohol
Fading affect bias can improve the overall positivity of life but also reinforce maladaptive behavior. It makes heavy drinkers harder and…
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Trust and Cheat
Getting cheated occasionally is the small price for trusting the best of everyone, because when you trust the best in others, they generally…
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One Sentence per Line
Derek Sivers' writing advice: Try writing one sentence per line. Article: Writing One Sentence per Line Derek Siver is one of my favorite…
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Fading Affect Bias
Why do we forget bad feelings about memories faster? Fading affect bias (FAB). Article: Fading affect bias - Sketchplanations On my…
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Hate and Pain
“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to…
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Luck and Arena Razors
Luck and Arena Razors: When choosing between two paths, choose the one with a larger luck surface area and/or the one that puts you in the…
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Stress-Reward Test
Stress-Reward Test: Take on stress only if the reward is valuable enough to justify the stress. Article: The Most Powerful Decision Making…
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Young & Old Test
Young & Old Test: Make decisions that your 80-year-old self and 10-year-old self would be proud of. Article: The Most Powerful Decision…
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Rooms Razor
Rooms Razor: When choosing between two rooms, choose the room where you're more likely to be the dumbest one in the room. Article: The Most…
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Keep Watching Section
Why are "Keep Watching" sections always hidden at the very bottom of the streaming apps? Misalignment of incentives between company and user…
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Incentive not Advice
People follow incentives, not advice. Newsletter: 3-2-1: How to change someone’s mind, the balance between justice and compassion, and…
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Indefinite Optimism
Indefinite optimists' "lean startup" methodology can diminish the potential to build the future. Book: Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or…
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Capitalism for Everyone
Capitalism for Everyone: Let everyone benefit from capitalism as an equity owner by taxing companies in shares and distributing ownership…
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Follow Upstream
We shouldn't follow the people we most admire. Instead, we should follow what they admire. Podcast: [Patrick Collison: Earning Your Stripes…
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Body as Autobiography
“Our bodies are apt to be our autobiographies.” - Gelett Burgess Quote This quote from Gelett Burgess reminds me of the very first Weekly I…
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Not to Fight Alligators
I will have to remember, 'I am here today to cross the swamp, not to fight all the alligators.' Book: The Art of Possibility This is the…
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Favorite Stoic Quote
"He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary." - Seneca Quote This is my single favorite quote from Stoicism. Related…
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Useful Values
Values are only useful if we can legitimately disagree with them since good values should explicitly indicate the tradeoff. Podcast: Mark…
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What's Real World
There's a physical world and a digital world. And the real world is actually both. Being digitally present in a place that they physically…
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Hanlon's Razor
Hanlon's razor: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. Article: Hanlon's razor Hanlon's razor is a…
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Flow State
Being in the flow state is both hyper-vigilant and totally unresponsive at the same time. Book: The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science…
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Laugh at Fear
When one learns to laugh at their neurosis, they are on the way to conquer it since a sense of humor can put them at a distance from their…
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Meaning of Life
We should stop asking about the meaning of life and think of ourselves as those being questioned. We should take the responsibility to…
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Mind and Immunity
The connection between the state of mind and the state of immunity explains why the death rate during Christmas and New Year peaked in camp…
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Get over Perfectionism
To get over perfectionism to write and publish more, try writing without capitalization and using the 10-Point Scale. Articles: why i'm…
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Wealth of Info
"A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." - Herbert Simon Quote Herbert Simon is the receiver of the Nobel Prize in…
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Motion Parallax
How to make an animated city just by moving lots of white dots at different speeds? Motion parallax. Video: Emergent City Flyby with…
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Difficult Simple Happy
"It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple." - Rabindranath Tagore Quote This beautiful quote is something both…
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Advice not Permission
Ask for advice, not permission. Article: Ask for Advice, Not Permission I always believe we should ask for forgiveness, not permission. I…
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Orangutan Effect
Orangutan Effect: If you explain your ideas to an orangutan, the primate might be confused, but you will think more clearly in the process…
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First Principles
First Principles Thinking: Break things down to the most fundamental truths and reason up only from there. Book: The Great Mental Models…
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Ban PowerPoint
Why does Amazon ban PowerPoint in meetings? First Principles and writing to think. Podcast: Eugene Wei: Compress to Impress In Amazon's 201…
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More Visually Literate
Kids today are much more visually literate and prefer to communicate with images over text. Podcast: Eugene Wei: Compress to Impress Visual…
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Benford's Law
Benford's Law: The leading digit tends to be small for many real-life numerical data. The number 1 appears 30% of the time as the leading…
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Teacher is Catalyst
A teacher is never a giver of truth. A teacher is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for themselves. A good teacher…
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Fitts's Law
Fitts’s Law: The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and size of the target in UI/UX. Article: Fitts's Law: The…
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Talmudic Reading
Talmudic Reading: Read the classics while assuming the text is perfectly composed and the writer knew exactly what they were doing. Article…
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Content Moderation
The nearly linear relationship between the spread of content and its monetary value motivates the creator to mix speed and extremism to…
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Streisand Effect
Streisand Effect: The attempt to suppress information can increase awareness of that information. Article: The Platform is the Message…
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Curiosity over Emotion
Can we create a social media platform that predates curiosity instead of emotion? Thoughts This is a question asked by a guest in the course…
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Mimetic Theory
Mimetic Theory: We desire mainly according to the desire of the other because we don't know what to desire and, therefore, we imitate other…
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Psychics and Weed Law
An online shop employs psychics to "find a wide selection of your lost weed and drop it off at your home" in a state where marijuana is…
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Wrong but Useful
“All models are wrong, but some are useful.” - George Box Quote I found the idea of something being useful but not necessarily right…
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Birthday Paradox
Birthday Paradox: How many people do we need to have a 50-50 chance of at least two people sharing the same birthday? Only 23. Article: The…
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Escaping the Old
The difficulty of training one’s thoughts lies not so much in developing new ideas but in escaping the old. Podcast: Investing and Life…
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True Priorities
Show me your calendar and I will tell you your priorities. Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you where you’re going. Article: 9…
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Deliberate Habits
Make more deliberate habits rather than habits that result from accidents of history. Book: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to…
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Wittgenstein’s Ruler
Wittgenstein’s ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler’s reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table, you may also be using…
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Beyond Smart
There’s a huge gap between being smart and having important new ideas, but most people who want to be smart might think the two are…
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Lose Time and Money
The way to lose a fortune is through bad investment, not through excessive expenditure. Similarly, the way to lose time is by doing fake…
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Monogamy and Bacon
"Monogamy is like being a vegetarian. You can choose to be healthy, you can be ethical, it can be a wonderful decision but because you've…
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Quick Decision Test
When to making quick decision? Happiness Test, Only-Option Test, Two-Way Door Test. Book: How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better…
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Goal Gradient Effect
Goal Gradient Effect: The tendency to approach a goal increases with proximity to the goal. Article: Goal Gradient Effect: How rewards can…
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Sub Specie Aeternitatis
Sub specie aeternitatis: To inspect things under the aspect of eternity and participate in eternal totality. Book: Great Thinkers The Dutch…
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Give Advice
"When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see…
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Give Correction
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. Book: Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the…
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Deleting Photo
How to remember life? Delete photos. Video: How to Remember Your Life The solution is not just taking a lot of photos. Get used to explore…
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not Correctness
For ideas to be active and effective, a lot more (like art) is needed than their correctness. Book: Great Thinkers This is also from Georg…
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Only Choice
"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." - Bob Marley Quote This also reminds me about the…
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React to Reaction
Can we react to our reaction or even react to our reaction to our reaction? Comedy Special: Bo Burnham: Inside Inside is a comedy special…
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Why to Buy
Buy what you would buy if you were the only person on Earth. Thought We buy things for all kinds of reasons. I think buying everything (or…
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Fears and Suffering
"A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears." - Michel de Montaigne Quote Every time before taking a cold shower due…
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Fact and Story
We have to learn to separate the fact from the story. Podcast: Neil Pasricha: Happy Habits [The Knowledge Project Ep. #72] "I failed the…
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Rose Rose Thorn Bud
A simple way to teach and practice the awareness of gratitude: Rose, Rose, Thorn, Bud. Podcast: Neil Pasricha: Happy Habits [The Knowledge…
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Zeigarnik Effect
Zeigarnik Effect: People remember uncompleted tasks better than completed tasks Article: The Zeigarnik Effect Explained In 192…
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Writing Is Thinking
Writing is thinking. You can write first then derive clear perspectives from your own writing. Podcast: 科技島讀請回答 Michael Chou is the author…
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Price Of Yourself
"No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself" - Rudyard Kipling Quote "The individual has always had to struggle to…
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Coach's Function
A coach’s primary function should be not to make better players but to make better people. Book: Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship…
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Søren Kierkegaard
"Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards." - Søren Kierkegaard Quote This line is so simple but rich, especially…
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Leap of Faith
"To have faith is to lose your mind and to win God" - Søren Kierkegaard Quote Not trying to justify his faith in Christianity through…
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Collision Course
Linkin Park feat. Jay-Z - Collision Course: Live 2004 (Full DVD Special) Music: Linkin Park feat. Jay-Z - Collision Course: Live 2004 (Full…
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REBT's ABC Model
A rational-emotive explanation of personality is as easy as ABC, Activating events, Beliefs, Consequences. Book: Systems of Psychotherapy…
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Space and Time
"Space and time are the framework within which the mind is constrained to construct its experience of reality." - Immanuel Kant Quote
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Epicurus and Ads
While advertisements excite us by evoking our real needs accurately, they refuse to quench them properly. Book: Great Thinkers This is from…
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Not Louder
When things aren’t working, be smarter, not louder. Book: Your Music and People It is an observation from Derek Sivers. When he's in New…
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When Told You're Wrong
When someone tells you something is wrong, they’re usually right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they’re usually wrong Article: 9…
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Treat People
Don’t treat people as bad as they are. Treat them as good as you are Article: 99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice I mentioned this from…
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Celebrate Fucked Up
Whenever you are completely fucked up, you celebrate rapturously. You know a little bit more about yourself. That’s the best thing. Thought…
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Burn Out
You don’t get burnt out from working hundred hours a week. You get burnt out from things that don’t work out. Thought This is originally…
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Cheapest Therapy
Writing down one thing you are grateful for each day is the cheapest possible therapy ever. Article: 99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited…
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No Desperate Need
If you can’t tell what you desperately need, it’s probably sleep. Article: 99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice
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Virtual and Real
"Virtual" is not opposed to "real" but opposed to "actual". Book: Difference and Repetition I first knew about this notion in this video(in…
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Feel
"People may forget what you said, people may forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou Quote
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Justified Success
In a meritocratic society, those who land on top want to believe their success is morally justified, they get it on their own. And their…
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Confirming Belief
"The empiricist thinks he believes only what he sees, but he is much better at believing than at seeing." - George Santayana Quote I learned…
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Tyranny of Merit
The goal SAT failed to achieve: upending the hereditary elites and replacing them with meritocratic ones to enhance upper mobility. Book…
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SAT
SAT test scores are even more correlated with family income than how school grades are. Book: The Tyranny of Merit The SAT has not played…
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Political Divides
One of the deepest political divides in American politics today is between those with and those without a college degree Book: The Tyranny…
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Baumol's Cost Disease
Baumol's cost disease: Why prices of labor-intensive services keep going up regardless of low productivity growth? Article: Two parallel…
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No Phone
The No Phone On Bed Rule. Thought Just want to share that one of the best decisions I made this year is that I decided to not use my phone…
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Repeated Mistakes
"A mistake repeated more than once is a decision.” - Paulo Coelho Quote This also reminded me that an accident that happened more than once…
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Elephant Gym
Elephant Gym on Audiotree Live (Full Session) Music: Elephant Gym on Audiotree Live (Full Session) Elephant Gym is an instrumental math rock…
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The Ackerman Model
The Ackerman Bargaining Model: 65%, 85%, 95%, and 100% Online Course: MasterClass | Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation The Ackerman…
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The F Word
Be careful with the F word in negotiation: Fair. Online Course: MasterClass | Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation Fairness comes up in…
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Fool Yourself
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard Feynman Quote This quote is…
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SXSW 2021
SXSW Online 2021 Official Showcases Music: SXSW Online 2021 Official Showcases South by Southwest (SXSW) has long been on top of my bucket…
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Attribution Traps
Why did they do that? Three Attribution Traps: Fundamental Attribution Error, Actor-Observer Bias, and Self-Serving Bias Online Course…
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Feedback
When looking for honest feedback, ask for a 0-10 score and then ask how to get closer to a 10. Tweet This tweet is from Adam Grant, an…
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Naked offering Shirts
"I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me, 'I love you.' ... There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked…
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Knowledge and Wisdom
"Knowledge is discovered collectively, wisdom is rediscovered individually." - Naval Quote This reminds me of what Terry Crews talked about…
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Combination
The way things get done in the world is through a combination of focus, personal connection, and self-belief. Video: Sam Altman : How to…
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Burnout
People get burnout not from working hard but from things not working. Momentum is really energizing. The lack of momentum is super draining…
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Strong Opinion
For startups, you need to have opinions and but be flexible about the details. Video: Sam Altman : How to Build the Future When being asked…
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Hold Stock Forever
My belief on how long I should hold stock in the best companies I invest in is forever. Video: Sam Altman : How to Build the Future On…
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Time and Moments
Makes the distinction between Time and Moments. Remembering Time, that line connecting all the moments, is rather painful. Photo In The…
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Nasal Breath
The importance of how to breathe is underestimated. Slow and easy nasal breathing can have a huge positive impact on our body. Podcast…
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Certainty is Absurd
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one." - Voltaire Quote Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the contemporary thinker that…
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Puppy Dog Close
The Puppy Dog Close: let them take the pup home first and say bring it back if they change their mind. Book: The 4-Hour Workweek In the book…
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Genius's Hardship
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world." - Bill…
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Cheerleaders Effect
Cheerleaders Effect: People look better when they are in groups Article: Cheerleader Effect: Why People Are More Beautiful in Groups The…
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Alive Scientists
Almost 90% of the scientists who ever lived are now alive. Book: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering Since about Issac Newton's time…
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Quadruple Knowledge
The technical knowledge involved in your life will quadruple in 34 years. Book: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering It is claimed by…
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Cowardice and Morality
People who don't commit crimes aren't necessarily moral. It may be due to cowardice but not morality. Podcast: Jordan Peterson on Rules for…
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Selling Research
Researcher should spend the same time on selling their work as doing their research. Book: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering "Selling…
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Time is Circle
“Everything straight lies. All truth is crooked, time itself is a circle.” Book: Thus Spoke Zarathustra I first knew the line from the…
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Confidence is Overrated
Confidence is overrated. Instead of waiting for the confidence to show up, take the first step in a moment of courage, even if it’s aberrant…
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Beer and Coffee Mode
Best ideas emerge when we balance the inhale of beer mode with the exhale of coffee mode. On any given day, coffee mode lets us be more…
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No Scar for Happiness
“It's so hard to forget pain, but it's even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from…
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The Value of No
The value of being answered with "No". Online Course: MasterClass | Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation Most people think the most…
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Kill Your Darlings
Kill your darlings. Fall in love with the problem, not the solution. Article: Kill Your Darlings Kill your darlings usually means a writer…
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Grab a Beer
"Let's grab a beer" is never just about the beer. Video: Let's Grab a Beer | Anheuser-Busch Super Bowl LV Commercial | :90 Lovely commercial…
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Intention and Impact
"I will never feel bad for things I said, but I feel bad that people get upset." Quote I can't find the exact original source but this quote…
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Mint-giving
Three Levels of mint-giving: How to increase tips by 23 percent? Article: How Restaurant Servers Increased Tips by 23 Percent (Without…
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How to Teach
"First delight, then instruct." - Karl Friedrich Schinkel Quote Karl Friedrich Schinkel, a Prussian architect, city planner, and painter, on…
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Low-information Diet
Focus on "just-in-time" information instead of "just-in-case" information. Book: The 4-Hour Workweek The author Tim Ferriss adopted a low…
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Meetings
"Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other organizations habitually engage in only because they…
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Game Design
Consider how your product makes customers "feel" instead of what it functionally does for them. Podcast: Superhuman Part II - Designing…
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Reading Hats
Two reading hats: RICLS(Read for information) and REAS(read for skills). Podcast: Safi Bahcall — On Thinking Big, Curing Cancer, and…
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Empathy or Solution
When we want to be helpful in response to other's feeling bad, first figure out what they want is empathy or solution. Podcast: Lisa Feldman…
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Emotional Contagion
The reason we say "don't be upset" is often because we don't want to have our emotions synchronized and be upset. Podcast: Lisa Feldman…
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Brain Budget
Balance the brain budget. Podcast: Lisa Feldman Barrett: Balancing the Brain Budget [The Knowledge Project Ep. #92] Our brain runs the…
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Breathe
Breathing is really the only way that we know of, biologically speaking, to deliberately get a handle on your nervous system. Podcast: Lisa…
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Emotional Granularity
The ability to differentiate between similar emotions helps us do better and be more resilient. Podcast: Lisa Feldman Barrett: Balancing the…
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Play Dead
Go to sleep to play dead so the negative emotion doesn't take interest in us. Podcast: Lisa Feldman Barrett: Balancing the Brain Budget [The…
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Write FBR
When drafting, write FBR: Fast, Bad, Wrong. Podcast: Safi Bahcall — On Thinking Big, Curing Cancer, and Transforming Industries | The Tim…
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Teachers
Teachers should prepare the student for the student’s future, not for the teacher’s past. Book: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering…
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People to Hang Out with
We need to hang out with people who fit our future, not our history. Quote It's definitely hard but we must think about it. Can't find the…
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Luck Debt
“Above all, recognize that if you have had success, you have also had luck—and with luck comes obligation. You owe a debt, and not just to…
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Damien Rice
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Forget Goals
Forget goals. Build system. Book: Atomic Habits Spending "too much" time on goal setting has some disadvantages: First, achieving goals only…
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Why Question
Ask what/how questions instead of why. Online Course: MasterClass | Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation Why-questions tend to trigger…
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Three Ways to Change
There are only three ways for humans to change: 1. change the time allocation; 2. change the place of residence; 3. change the people with…
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15-min Chunk
Thinking of time in 15-minute chunks Cliché Thinking of time in 15-minute chunks instead of 1-hour chunks. It’s a cliché for everyone who…
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Top 5 Regrets
The top of my todo list Article: The top of my todo list This is from Paul Graham’s blog post: The top of my todo list. The blog post…
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Astronaut
Unexpected and Unimaginable Astronaut Story Podcast: The Unimaginable Path of Jonny Kim. SEAL Combat Medic, Doctor, Astronaut Jonny Kim is a…
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Whiplash
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." - Whiplash (2014) Quote Good is the enemy of great.
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Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys in Paris | A Take Away Show Music: Alicia Keys in Paris | A Take Away Show Alicia Keys in Paris | A Take Away Show is a…
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