Category: Expectations
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Put the words on the page
When Lauren Martin was writing her book, and dealing with the anxiety of it, she sought out advice from other writers (via Jimmy Chim). She learned: The consensus was obvious: Stay present. Stay with what’s in front of you. Don’t get ahead of yourself, don’t worry about the middle and the ending, just stick with…
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Lightning in a bottle
Seth Godin writes, “When you’re having a good day, go for a walk and record a ten minute audio sharing your optimism, confidence and possibility. You’ll want to listen to it again.” If you know you’ll want to remember it later, then give your future self a prompt. That way, you can also practice the…
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Two questions for choosing a company to work with
Seth Godin suggests two great questions for choosing a college: Are the people this place attracts the sort of people I want to spend time with and become more like? Is the system that is in place here one that pushes and cajoles and processes people to become more like the kind of person I’d…
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Just one tooth
There’s a classic idea that the key to flossing regularly is to floss just one tooth. The key his this: it’s much easier to show up every day if you can reduce the task down to something so small and simple that it requires next to no effort. In Creative Doing, I share a prompt,…
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The consistency edge
Replit runs its own 100 days of code challenge. Recently Paul Graham shared the stats on how many people complete the challenge: What if, simply by committing and showing up 100 times—around 15 mins, sometimes 45 mins, per day—you did something that 99% of people don’t do? This type of daily challenge is a great…
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To move forward through rejection, take a passion stance
An aspiring comedian completes a set to applause. They notice an established comedian watching and strike up a conversation. The aspiring comedian asks, “Do you think I’m going to make it?” The established comedian says, “No.” It’s not that the established comedian doesn’t want the aspiring one to make it; they simply know that if…
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Sam Altman on self-belief and willfulness
Sam Altman writes, “How To Be Successful,” at his blog. There are two particular points that stand out to me: 2. Have almost too much self-belief Self-belief is immensely powerful. The most successful people I know believe in themselves almost to the point of delusion. Cultivate this early. As you get more data points that…
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“You decide”
The world produces waves.Surf or down.You decide.Virgil© 2017 Virgil Abloh’s message is the first entry in Hans Ulrich Obrist’s compilation of notes from artists, Remember to Dream!. (On compiling, on books about people.) It was also a billboard: Via Sole Retriever and Ovrundr
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“You’re nobody here at $10 million”
Gary Kremen, founder of Match.com with a self-estimated net worth of $10 million in 2007, logs 60- to 80-hour workweeks because he doesn’t think he has enough money. He says to the New York Times: Everyone around here looks at the people above them. It’s just like Wall Street, where there are all these financial…
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How many doors can you open?
Before Jann Mardenborough became a professional racecar driver, he was obsessively driving in the Gran Turismo simulator on PlayStation. Then, he came across GT Academy, a program that would train PlayStation racing gamers to become professional racing drivers. This tournament was extremely competitive; millions of people would apply to join GT Academy. You can practically…