Inner Compass
Here are some ideas that I believe and some that I want to believe.
Note: This post is still work in progress.
###Â PRODUCTIVITY
####Â What I believe
Embrace iteration. Anything you do, you get better with iteration.
Reduce distractions. Nearly every habit is initiated by a trigger or cue. Eliminate the cue, eliminate the habit.
What we measure, we improve. It is only through numbers and clear tracking that we have any idea if we are getting better or worse.
Look out for 80/20 solutions. How can you accomplish 80% of what you want with only 20% of the work/effort/time? An 80% solution to a real customer problem which is available right away, is much better than a 100% solution that takes ages to build.
Be consistent. You need consistency more than you need intensity. Consistency makes for progress. Your 1st blog post will be bad, but your 100th will be great. Your 1st workout will be weak, but your 100th will be strong. Put in your reps. Luck also favours the consistent.
Don’t overdo productivity. Don’t bleed every last piece of productivity from every second you have to spare. Look around you, all the people who you love will be gone one day. Spend your time, love, energy, and emotions accordingly.
Mould your Identity . Identities are more important than rules/goals. eg. I am a healthy person. Everytime you see food. You don’t have to make a decision as it is already a part of your identity.
####Â What I want to believe
- Ask yourself and others a deadline. A deadline weeds out the extraneous and the ordinary. It prevents you from trying to make it perfect, so you have to make it different. Different is better.
###Â SUCCESS AND FAILURE
####Â What I believe
Stack your skills. If you want to be extraordinary, you have two paths: 1) Become the best at one specific thing, 2) Become very good (top 10%) at three or more things. The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility. Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album. The second strategy is fairly easy. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 10% with some effort. At least one of the skills in your mixture should involve communication, either written or verbal.
Give yourself the liberty to fail. Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something. Unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case you fail by default.
Success comes at a cost. Everything in life is a trade-off. Do you want to spend two extra hours at work each day rather than with your kids? Do you want to put your career ahead of your marriage? Do you want to wake up early and go to the gym when you feel like sleeping in? Success in one area is often tied to failure in another area, especially at the extreme end of performance. The more extreme the greatness, the longer the shadow it casts.
Rejection is given. It is not personal. It is about your product or your application. Carry on until luck finds you. Keep pushing forward.
Recipe for success. Under-promise and over-deliver.
Nobody cares if you fail. Your biggest critic is yourself. Stop worrying about what other people think—the truth is that they mostly don’t think anything about your successes and failures. They’re too busy thinking about themselves. It may seem depressing, but it’s actually freeing. You’re free to try, experiment, fail, try again—nobody cares anyway, so have fun!
Learn by doing. Not reading/watching/listening. Don’t over study and under-execute. You don’t learn cooking by reading cooking books.
You learn more from failure than you learn from success.
####Â What I want to believe
- Do not worry about who gets the credit. It is amazing what can be achieved if you don’t care who gets the credit.