Insights
#144 Turning a blind eye
We’re not able to see almost everything in life and are blind to only a couple of things. We’re blind to almost everything in life and are able to see only a couple of things. And of the things we are able to see, we (consciously or subconsciously) focus on an even smaller subset, and
#143 Tipping the scale
A voice in my head says I can’t write every day? I’ll write 2 sentences every day, just to prove to that voice that I, in fact, CAN write every day. A voice in my head says I don’t have the perseverance to train for (and then finish) a marathon? I’ll do something small to
#142 Overcalibration
Giving up on your intentions once doesn’t mean you’ll always give up. Quitting a workout routine or diet once doesn’t mean you’re doomed forever. Giving one clumsy speech doesn’t mean you’re a bad public speaker forever. Learning from the past is good. But predicting the future based on a small set of isolated past experiences
#141 Positive reinforcement
Walk for 5 minutes today? That’s excellent – because you walked. Meditated for 1 min? That’s perfect – because you meditated. Wrote and published a 50-word blog post? That’s enough – because you wrote and published. You’re allowe dto Positive reinforcement through Tiny Trust Builders is all you need.
#140 I don’t have to be good at this today.
Trying to become good fast makes you impatient. And impatience may well stop you from ever becoming good in the first place. Because the only way to become good is by understanding that in today’s practice session, you likely won’t be perfect anyway. That you likely won’t write your most insightful words. That you likely
#139 Habit Milestones
The most important habit milestone is the center of gravity shift. Initially, when you start building a new skill, your center of gravity lies with your old identity. You’re constantly fighting the pull of your old identity. And if you’d stop for even a day, you’ll get pulled right back into your old habits. “If
#138 Part-time ambition
Nobody says you have to be a workaholic to be ambitious. Because ambition means nothing more than having a strong desire to succeed. You can desire to succeed in getting a promotion, or writing a bestselling book. Or you can desire to succeed in working only part-time, and spend the rest of the time with
#137 Until here and no further
I’ll never believe I can write until I allow myself to write. I’ll never believe I can grow my body stronger until I allow myself to do do something consistently to grow my body stronger. I’ll never believe I can mend a mistreated mind until I allow my mind to be mended. I’ll never believe
#136 Unoriginal thought
If the storm ChatGPT is causing shows us one thing, it’s how unoriginal most of our thoughts are. AI builds on a massive library of what others have learned before. (Individual) humans build on a much smaller library of what others have learned before. If we merely do what others have done before, in some
#135 Violence in a flower garden
It’s easy to be non-violent when you’re in a flower garden Josh Waitzkin – The art of learning It’s easy to be kind to others when the world has always been kind to you. It’s easy to say you want to be a writer when you never really put yourself out there to prove it.
#134 Losing makes you a loser – and that’s fine
You can’t change the fact that winning makes you a winner and losing makes you a loser. But you CAN: What if, instead of only winning when you beat your opponent, to you, winning means giving it your all and putting your heart on the line? What if, to you, winning doesn’t mean writing a
#133 How to Get Irrefutable Proof of Progress
“Getting better” at something is not a linear process. You can practice every day and not see any progress. In fact, you can practice every day and notice deterioration. But it’s impossible to practice every day without building the self-trust that you have the discipline to practice every day. I might not have clear proof