Cats & Dogs

A dog gets fed and thinks his person is an omniscient, benevolent being. A cat gets fed and thinks it is. How we see ourselves in this analogy is actually up to each of us, every day.

Luck flows through people

Luck flows through people and travels by conversation. The people you talk to determine the opportunities you find. Keep talking to the same people, keep finding the same opportunities. Start talking to new people, start finding new opportunities. If you want different luck, start walking into different rooms.

Treat your body better

You can’t be at ease in your own skin when you treat your body like garbage and continually feel like trash. You must do what you can to feel good and maintain a stable mood. Move daily, drink water, and sleep at a sensible hour. Boring works.

Empathy is difficult

It requires skill and effort. It can be taught. And it’s worth prioritizing. When we wing it, allocate little time to it, or assume it’s a side effect of our work, we diminish the effort and blur our focus. “I wonder what it’s like to be you” is part of what makes us human, but we’re rarely as focused on this work as we could be. Simply announcing how hard it is is a fine place to begin.

If You Don’t Know What To Do Next, Try Inversion

If you don’t know what to do next, think about what the worst action would be and do the opposite.

Example: If you want to lose weight but don’t know where to start, think about ways to gain weight (drink soda, eat fast food, eat lots of sweets) and do the opposite (avoid soda, avoid fast food, avoid sweets).

Most beliefs are soft until challenged

Most beliefs are soft until challenged. When you tell someone they're wrong, the belief hardens. Instead of trying to convince someone they're wrong, assume they know something you don't and figure out what it is. I've found that saying, "Seems like you have a reason for saying that ..." helps them explain instead of defend. Half the time, they'll find gaps in their own reasoning before you have time to point them out. The other half, you'll learn something and change your own mind.

Audit Your Attention Leaks

Spend one day noticing where your attention gets pulled away. Track things like phone checks, notifications, open tabs, unnecessary messages, and small decisions that interrupt focus. At the end of the day, identify the two or three distractions that happen most often but add the least value.