Insights
#61 Talent vs discipline
In all his life Picasso produced about 147,800 pieces, consisting of: 13,500 paintings, 100,000 prints and engravings, 300 sculptures and ceramics and 34,000 illustrations – an impressive 78-year career. https://www.pablopicasso.org/picasso-facts.jsp 13,500 paintings; that’s almost 37 years of producing a painting, every single day. How good would you be if you had painted daily for 37…
#60 Memory is context
Memory is context – in language and in general. Context of words surrounded by other words and sounds within a sentence. Context of words surrounded by actions – actor, action, object affected (in whatever way or order your mother tongue expresses it). Context of words and the images they spur. Context of words and the…
#59 Entity Mindset vs Incremental Mindset
Do you believe you’re good at something solely because of talent, invalidating all the work you’re putting in? Or do you believe you can change the course of your life, and let your daily actions shape who you are? The American psychologist and author of the book “Mindset” Carol Dweck describes how the way you…
#58 Pre-verbal
There used to be a time when you didn’t have words for your feelings. You just felt them. You didn’t have words to say that your parents are your parents. You just knew it. You didn’t have words for the sounds other humans made. Like singing birds, a buzzing bumblebee, or a rolling thunder, it…
#57 Fill in the blank
Most of your daily actions are guided by unconscious patterns and habits. But since actions overrule thoughts, even unconscious actions contribute to how you see yourself. The more conscious actions you take, the more of a say you get in who you are (or want to be). I choose to do ………… because I choose…
#56 Action, traction, distraction
At any given time in your day, if you’re doing what you set out to do, whether it’s work, play, going for a walk, or taking a nap, you’re gaining traction. In other words, you’re taking action and are moving towards a goal you set… and you’re becoming more of the person you want to…
#55 A list of indispensable writing tools
That’s it. Now write. (Where else are you overcomplicating things to avoid getting started? More importantly: why are you avoiding getting started?)
#54 Space for imperfect growth
We’re all just a blip in an evolutionary process spanning millions of years. We’re not an end result. We’re not a completed product. Who knows, maybe we’re one of the very early drafts. A book full of typos. That means we’re inherently flawed – and that’s liberating. Because now there is space for imperfect growth,…
#53 The flow of skill- and habit-building
First, build trust in your good intentions. In other words: take actions that are “votes for the person you want to be“. Then, build trust in your ability to persevere. In other words: build a habit. Only then, you start building trust in your ability to constantly improve and become good (or excellent). In other…
#52 Missing the stars on a clear night
Can I see the stars on a clear night? Or is light pollution blurring my vision? Can I hear the voices in my mind? Or is noise pollution drowning out the quiet? Can I feel the sensations stirring my body? Or are the superstimuli of the modern world numbing out my feelings? Where else is…
#51 Reversing the causal arrow
Who is the person who has already done (or is already doing) what you want to do? What does their life look like? Where are they? What do they say, think feel? What do they focus on? Who did they have to become? What would life be like if YOU have already done (or are…
#50 When emotions surge, insights emerge
Sometimes a soft wind whirls its way into my lungswriting a song, for years not sungbreathing life into a long-lost desirea forgotten firejolting my body, my senses awakemaking my mind shakeI see, sense, hear,channel the words whispered into my ear i cannot choosewhen I’m kissed by the museyet when i feel the urgeto let emotions…