Category: Expectations
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A proverb is a commercial for your own pondering
Whenever I see a phrase that resonates with me, I look for its source. My curiosity gets the best of me, and I’ll often buy a book because I saw a really great line attributed to it. “A change of perspective is worth 80 IQ points,” is one of these lines, and it’s attributed to…
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Find a place where your effort makes an impact
Early in his career, Brian Lee juggled a bunch of projects. This included managing recording artists Dumbfoundead and Breezy Lovejoy. It was Brian who suggested to the latter that he should change his name to something closer to Anderson .Paak. In addition to investing into their two careers, Brian also built a media platform and…
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The leap
In The Dark Knight Rises, a villain defeats Batman and locks him up inside an ancient prison known as the Pit. The Pit bears resemblance to an extremely large well, and all prisoners are free to climb out of the Pit to escape. The only thing standing in the way is a particularly large gap…
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I don’t miss RSS one bit…
Because I use it every day. I use NetNewsWire to read new posts. I subscribe to a bunch of newsletters hosted on Substack—you can just type /feed after the URL and you’ll receive Substack through RSS. You can do the same with Medium. For other newsletters, I use Kill the Newsletter to subscribe via RSS.…
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Mutual understanding
Take responsibility for understanding other people. Don’t expect people to understand you the first time. They may not want to let you know they don’t understand—and they may not want to hurt your feelings—so it’s your job to make them feel safe enough to speak up. Better yet, reward people for asking good clarifying questions.…
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Creative unattachment
It’s best to attach the value of your work based on something that’s within your control. This could mean a way of doing things, a philosophy, or a set of values—or all three. Championship NFL coach Bill Walsh would call this a Standard of Performance. Here are some things you don’t control: How other people…
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Be the first
If you really want to make a difference in somebody’s life, be the first person to make a contribution. This could mean being their first customer, their first donor, or the first person to leave a comment or share the work. It will make a powerful impression, give them energy, and help them start a…
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Just do the real thing (again)
If you want to get good at something, just start by doing it. Today. Sam Altman writes an important reminder on this: don’t outsmart yourself and spend precious time and energy working on fake prerequisites. Here’s an example, from my life, that I write about in Creative Doing: I felt like I needed to have…