Some stuff I’m Thinking About
Here’s some stuff I’m currently thinking about…
These are just some of the things kicking around in my brain right now and I wanted to share them with you in case you find them interesting…
1. How you spend your time is how you spend your life.
Unfortunately, most people don’t plan their time well enough. Therefore, most of it is wasted or spent ineffectively. And where time is being wasted, life is being wasted.
As Stoic philosopher, Seneca said, “People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.”
Most people don’t realize that time is their most valuable asset. You can always make more money. You can always buy more stuff. But you can never get more time. Never.
Once an hour is gone, it’s gone forever. Once a day is gone, it’s gone forever. The moment you understand the value of time is the moment you understand the importance of managing time. Again, to quote Seneca, “It’s not at all that we have too short a time to live, but that we squander a great deal of it. Life is long enough, and it’s given in sufficient measure to do many great things if we spend it well.”
This is why time-blocking is one of my ‘non-negotiables’. This daily practice allows me to protect my time for my goals and priorities. It helps me make the most of each day, and, therefore, make the most of my life.
2. The 2 Minute Rule
“Most of the tasks that you procrastinate on aren’t actually difficult to do — you have the talent and skills to accomplish them — you just avoid starting them for one reason or another,” writes author and entrepreneur James Clear.
“The 2–Minute Rule overcomes procrastination and laziness by making it so easy to start taking action that you can’t say no.”
The first part of this rule is that if a task takes under two minutes or less to complete, do it immediately. Examples would be responding to an email or tossing your laundry into the dryer.
The second part of this rule is that when starting new habits, it should take less than minutes to do. Obviously, there will be certain tasks that take longer, but every goal can at least get started in less than two minutes. And, since fear is one of the culprits of procrastination, this is an effective way of overcoming that.
More importantly, the two-minute rule encourages us to just get started.
Research shows that once we get started, “we perceive the task as much less aversive than we do when we’re avoiding it.” And, “even if we don’t finish the task, we have done something.” This makes us feel in control and optimistic, which gives us some momentum.
3. Pattern Recognition is the Secret to High Performance
The best in the world at what they do aren’t that smart.
Tony Robbins says they get good at spotting patterns. I don’t consider myself to be a great writer. But I spend a lot of time looking for patterns and asking…
What are the problems people face? I even run surveys with my tribe to uncover their issues. It frames how I write. I don’t guess. I use data-backed patterns to write about things that are helpful.
You can do the same.
Every skill has a pattern. Study the greats and look for commonalities. Then steal the commonalities and iterate on them through consistent repetition. That’s how you become the Tony Robbins of your field.
Hopefully, you enjoyed those thoughts….
Talk Soon,
Dan
