When you get a dopamine hit from the false first step of simply buying a product or watching a video that you hope will help you, but you stop at that point without ever taking action or applying anything new to your life.
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Link Posts
Superorganizers Interview with Josh Kaufman →
I loved this Superorganizers interview with my friend, Josh Kaufman that dives into how Josh does research, reading, writing, and uses Ulysses. And how he has a separate computer that is only for doing focused work.
What’s the Minimum Effective Dose? →
You’ve no-doubt heard of the Law of the Vital Few. It’s the 80/20 rule, which states that roughly 80-percent of the results come about from just 20-percent of the energy.
But, if you were to take your 80-percent results and apply the 80/20 rule to them a few more times, what you end up discovering is that your initial 1-percent of energy spent brings about the first 50-percent of results. (Illustrated here.)
Gary Keller writes that “success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.” You can’t just do anything and get disproportionate results. You have to do the right thing. That critical action that drives a disproportionate result.
When to iterate, when to stay consistent →
There are 3 things you need to accomplish your goals: (1) a clear goal; (2) a winning action plan; and (3) consistency.
For things where you are just getting started, you may not yet know what your winning action plan is. When this is the case you need the right blend of iteration and feedback until you’ve got your winning action plan. Once you discover what works, double down on consistency.
The best camping / backpacking headlamp →
The past 12 months I have gotten extraordinarily nerdy on backpacking gear. And one of the things I ended up splurging on was the best headlamp I’ve ever owned. Two things I love about this thing: (1) how very thin and lightweight it is; and (2) its dedicated buttons for the white and red lights. The dedicated buttons mean you don’t have to cycle through a whole sequence of options before you get to the light you want. It’s just press and go.
Khe Hy’s Advice to Creators →
Some excellent advice that I fully endorse: Ship early and often; don’t overthink it; set tight constraints; and more.
Growth Loops: From linear growth to circular growth →
Anne-Laure Le Cunff: “*Double loop learning is a model that encourages people and organisations to continuously challenge their assumptions and goals instead of blindly repeating the same loop. While the idea seems simple, it can be hard to implement double loop learning because of a natural need for control, a fear of failure, or an overall resistance to change.”*
Reflecting on a Year Off →
Maykel Loomans took a year off: “The biggest lesson for me among all this was—and this may sound ‘woo-woo’: seeing a structured day, a quiet cup of coffee, or a workout not as a task but as something to relish. There are these things in our lives that we know we ‘should’ do, but if we don’t find a way to appreciate them truly, it will forever be a struggle to integrate them.”
Xnapper (Screenshot Tool) →
I’ve been noticing a lot of folks sharing some fancy-looking screenshots lately, and turns out its with this app called Xnapper. I downloaded it a few weeks ago and it’s great. If you share screenshots for marketing purposes, or just want to share nicer-looking screenshots, this is the app for you.
All decisions are bets →
If you’re stuck overthinking something, remember that very few decisions are truly binary, black and white, guaranteed wins or losses. Make the best decision you can within a reasonable timeframe but don’t waste time sweating it out, overthinking, and waiting until you have absolute perfect clarity.
Leica EDC →
Some brief and interesting everyday carry stories of Leica camera owners that feature some of their photos too, of course. Of the three, Alixe Lay’s photography is my favorite.
The 3 Laws of a Flywheel →
Article from my friend, Nathan Barry, that shares the three criteria for an effective flywheel. If you’re a business owner and/or creator, this will be an especially helpful read.
How Kellogg’s 6-Hour work Day came (and went) →
Fascinating story about the rise and fall of the shorter-work-week. (David’s TL;DR version is here.)
Here at Blanc Media, Instead of 6-hour work days, we do 8-week work cycles. And I can attest that it boosts productivity, reduces overhead, and serves as a forcing function to keep us focused on only the most important goals for the business.
How Vinyl Records are Made →
It still boggles my mind how scratches in plastic can produce the right type of vibrations for music. (Via Dan)