#263 Stop, even if you could do more

ByLukas
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Ernest Hemingway allegedly stopped his writing sessions in the middle of a sentence so he knew how to start his next session. He stopped writing, even if he could do more.

Julia Cameron teaches to write precisely three pages of stream-of-consciousness journaling a day. Stop journaling, even if you could do more.

I’ve gotten better results studying foreign languages 20 minutes a day for several months than rushing into a new language and studying it for 3 hours a day, then crashing and burning. I stop myself from learning, even if I could do more.

Because burnout and overindulgence stifle progress, and in the long run, moderation leads to more.

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    #19 The first time feels funny, the fiftieth time you fly

    ByLukas

    In a podcast segment about practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,Tim Ferris and Joshua Waitzkin discuss a principle for managing expectations they call:

    “The first rep doesn’t count.”

    Tim Ferris, Josh Waitzkin: https://tim.blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/148-josh-waitzkin.pdf

    In other words: when performing a move for the first time, your body and mind need to get used to it. Gradually,you’ll get better – and the more aware you are of your body, the faster you’ll make progress – but judging someone on their first attempt doesn’t say much about their future potential.

    This holds true for many skills in life, like starting a daily publishing habit.

    Publishing a post or a video for the first time always feels funny (and often frightening). At this stage, judgment or feedback is futile. It’s all about jumping the hurdle of getting started

    Publish five times, you’re ready to get some feedback (both from yourself and from others)…

    Publish for the fiftieth time, and you’re well on your way to turn it into a habit… and fly.

    So whenever I start something new, I manage my expectations by repeating to myself:

    The first time feels funny. The fiftieth time I fly.

    And for bonus points: What would it feel like the 500th time?

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    #89 Don’t get it backwards

    ByLukas

    I’m not writing because I can’t write?
    I’m not playing the guitar because I’m bad at music?
    I’m not learning a language because I’m bad at learning languages?

    That’s the world on its head.

    The truth is: you can’t write because you’re not writing.
    You can’t play the guitar because you’re not playing the guitar.
    You can’t speak the language because you’re not learning the language.

    If you would write every day, cognitive dissonance starts doing its work. Your actions will overrule your thoughts and beliefs.

    And every day you write, you’re becoming a writer.

    Every day you play the guitar, you’re becoming a guitar player.

    Every day you learn a language, you’re becoming a language learner.

    The only reason you can’t do it because you’re not doing it.

    Don’t get it backwards.

  • #7 Persistence despite Resistance – Finding your True Purpose

    ByLukas

    Does “true purpose” even exist?

    And if it does, how do we recognize it?

    Persistence despite Resistance may be a helpful indicator.

    Are you chasing your dreams because of what society wants you to do?

    Or are you chasing them in spite of what society wants you to do?

    Because even when social conditioning has molded your mind

    if the same desire or vision enters your head, time and again

    no matter how many others resist it

    no matter how much you resist it

    no matter how few people understand

    it might be time to embrace who you were always meant to be

    and do what you were always meant to do.

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    #274 On endings and beginnings

    ByLukas

    Does a day end, or does a new one start?

    Does the end of a book chapter signal termination, or does it serve as a gateway to an unexplored continuation?

    Maybe we don’t need to arbitrarily mark endings and beginnings in lives that consist of an uninterrupted flow.

    Maybe we’re just a tiny plot in a story spanning billions of years.

    Maybe we don’t grasp the bigger story anyway.

    Maybe it’s all the same.

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    #162 Maintaining the majority

    ByLukas

    If you write more consistently than you don’t write, you’re a writer.

    If you run more consistently than you don’t run, you’re a runner.

    And while every action you take is a vote for who you want to be, you don’t need 100% of the votes to build a habit or adopt an identity.

    It’s okay to slip up, it’s okay to take a break, and it’s okay to make a mistake – as long as you cast enough votes in favor of your desired identity.

    Don’t be a hardliner nor a totalitarian. Be disciplined without fearing the occasional laps.

    Focus on maintaining the majority.

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