Category: Expectations
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The magic of the first trip
My first two trips out of North America were to Portugal and China. I hadn’t visited Europe before, and I only visited Hong Kong once, nearly two decades before. Both trips were the result of flight deals. My friends and I traveled together—a group of four, and then a separate group of seven. We shared…
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Overthinking and stopping
I recently came across a phrase that resonated with me, “I’ve realized that the only way I’ll lose is if I stop.” You stop because you talk yourself out of doing things you want to do, you put too much pressure on yourself, you avoid problems, you panic, or you try to control things that…
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Effort and pressure
I’m on a brief break from travel, as well as juggling a bunch of projects and catching up on work I have fallen behind on, so the instinct to tighten up—grit my teeth, grind, exert more effort and control over my schedule—has been palpable. Perhaps that’s why one of my first pieces for Forge, “Why…
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Discipline and interest
Jonnie Park has recorded over 300 episodes of his podcast, Fun with Dumb. Even though it’s one of the most consistent, disciplined, parts of his practice, he still wonders if it’s worth the effort. He knows his podcast isn’t the most viral thing he could be doing; it doesn’t get the most reach. While the…
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Water polo and penicillin
When I was researching a new piece of work, I revisited Chase, Chance, and Creativity. Author and medical doctor James H. Austin puts forward the idea that there are four types of luck, which I covered at Lifehacker over a decade ago. Of all of these types, the one I wanted to dig deeper into…
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Ordinary inspiration, extraordinary work
As of March 2024, Pokémon had sold over 480 million copies of its game. That’s 28 years after the company released the first Pokémon games, Pocket Monsters Red and Green, in Japan. You’d think that there were high expectations, or a grand vision, that drove the movement that would earn the name Pokémania—but art director…
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Disappointment and writing
Michael Lopp wrote a simple post about what you can expect your writing to do for you. The one that caught my attention was, “45% will do much worse than you expect when published.” That is a high percentage, but it sounds right. Writing—and all sorts of creative endeavors, really—means becoming very familiar with disappointment.…
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Ladders as liberating rules
Aaron Renn made a mistake early in his career. He attended Indiana University in Chicago, and he started his career in mid-tier corporate consulting. At the time, he didn’t have a clear perspective on the possibilities outside of his small town. He writes, “My choices were extremely high ambition by the standards of that community,…
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Waking up from the trance of hesitation
Sometimes you can control how something turns out. Sometimes, you can’t. You only have so much energy in your life. If you dedicate your attention to controlling how one project turns out, you will need to let go of how the other projects turn out in that present moment. If you don’t, you’ll start to…
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The minimum
Whatever your job is, there is a good chance you can get away with doing the minimum. You can fall into a pattern of slipping on deadlines, asking for more time, and not staying on top of a project. It’s less than a regular effort; it’s the minimum. If you add just enough value to…