Reading Time: < 1 minThere are many things that I can’t do, and a subset of those are things that I’m trying to learn to do. The difference is subtle, but can make a huge difference. In “Excellent Advice for Living“, Kevin Kelly shares: The fact that you “can’t do” something can be embarrassing. But if you are “learning […]
Learning
You can’t just download information into your brain
Reading Time: 2 minI wish the title of this post wasn’t true, as it’d be quite awesome if you could just push a button to add the knowledge that we want to our brain. Perhaps it will be possible in the future, but it’s certainly not here yet. That said, it sort of is already, at least compared […]
Your notes are not my notes
Reading Time: 2 minWhile sharing notes with other people can be helpful, it’s often troublesome because the notes that you take are generally far more valuable to you than anyone else. In his book “Outsmart Your Brain“, author Daniel Willingham shares more: The notes you get from someone else will not be the same as those you take […]
Intentional frequency illusion
Reading Time: 2 minThe Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, commonly known as the “frequency illusion”, is typically nothing more than annoying. It’s when you buy green Ford Explorer to be a little different, and then suddenly you seem to notice green Ford Explorers everywhere. Whatever is top of mind you tend to notice lot. However, I’m finding that intentionally manipulating this […]
Know enough to find the gaps
Reading Time: 2 minAs I’m reading and learning, I try to spend a lot of time finding where the gaps are in my knowledge. There are lot of them, to be sure, but some stay hidden quite well. Those are usually the result of an area that I’m not very familiar with, so I don’t know where the […]
Writing exposes your gaps
Reading Time: < 1 minI’ve shared a few times on here that I often don’t know what I’m wrong about, so I work to try to expose those areas. Reading helps with that a lot, as does writing. In Adam Grant’s new book “Hidden Potential“, he shares: I’ve seen many people shy away from writing because it doesn’t come […]
I don’t know what I’m wrong about
Reading Time: 2 minWith all of the reading and learning that I do, there is a clear path for much of it. I find areas that are new to me, dig in, and try to learn more. In many cases, though, my gaps aren’t readily apparent and I simply don’t know what I’m wrong about. In her book […]
Ruinous Empathy
Reading Time: < 1 minI talk on here a lot about empathy and kindness, which are both great virtues to embrace but both of which can be troublesome if overused. The idea I’ve shared a few times comes from Gary Vee’s concept of “Kind Candor”. If you’re simply kind to everyone and never speak the truth, it can be […]
It’s very doable to be the most knowledgeable
Reading Time: < 1 minBill Gurley’s video “Runnin’ Down a Dream: How to Succeed and Thrive in a Career You Love” from a few years ago is fantastic. I could probably find 25 ideas worth writing about from it, but I’ll limit myself to just a few. If you’ve not seen it yet, here is the video and I […]
Do your own research?
Reading Time: 2 minThe phrase “do your own research” has exploded in popularity in recent years, as you’ve likely noticed. Here is a chart showing the popularity of the phrase on Google over the last 15 years: At first glance it’s seemingly a good thing, and ultimately it can be. However, there are a few major problems with […]