1. If you live a boring repetitive life, it will be over before you know it. Extend your life by making choices that dilate time (change your scenery, run without headphones, live with the seasons, go on trips)
2. Fact: There are more left-handed men than women.
3. Get help from other brains. Even professional photographer and YouTuber Peter McKinnon still texts tons of friends for feedback on his video titles and thumbnails. No one fights alone!
4. “Only flip the bacon once.” When you have the discipline to wait, you’ll actually save time. Instead of flipping the bacon over and over to make sure it cooks evenly, be patient until one side is fully cooked first. (Although I don’t eat bacon, it’s still a good lesson!)
5. There are 1000X relationships in your life, so make sure to put the proper time into them! — Greg McKeown, Meaning some relationships are a 1-to-1 in terms of value. I listen to your struggles and you listen to mine. But other people will end up having an enormous positive influence on your life. Don’t miss out on those opportunities because you were too busy.
6. Research-based: A house with a view is the best investment because that beauty doesn’t diminish over time.
7. Find the funny pieces in your product research because that stuff draws you in and energizes you.
8. “Humor is a way to show you’re smart without bragging.” — Mark Twain
9. When you get as close to the root of the problem as possible you find better solutions. During WWII General Marshall had a request to write a big check for more armor for planes. When he sent someone to investigate it turned out, mechanics weren’t installing the existing armor due to being distracted by bug bites. So he bought mosquito nets to solve the underlying problem (and avoided a giant unnecessary expense).
10. Give value away for free and you’ll get exponentially more return on your investment than when you do something for money (especially true when helping powerful people)
** You might also enjoy this 2023 post: What I learned this year — Top 50 Extraordinary Ideas **
11. “Hack for getting good at anything: Do it 1000 times before complaining that it’s hard.” — Alex Hormozi
12. Research-based: 75% of people judge a brand based on their website
13. “Don’t oversqueeze the dots.” (Ray Dalio) One data point can only offer so much information. Find more sources!
14. The dangers of being gifted – fast twitch soccer players are better at a younger age but get injured and fail out earlier from overtraining
15. “You will never be criticized by someone more successful than you.” – Bonnie Christie
16. Oftentimes playing to win dramatically narrows the field. For most challenges a hoard of people show up, but few have the belief that they can win. Those are the only people you are truly competing with.
17. Capture ideas with a pen and paper whenever possible because it maximizes the embodied energy with handwritten words.
“This is one of my favorite ideas: that art contains embodied energy that we can unlock, activate, and tap into with our attention. Our energies unlock the stored energy.” — Austin Kleon
18. People are interested when you’re curious because it comes across in how you share what you’ve discovered.
19. “A tree that grows quickly rots quickly and therefore never has a chance to grow old.” — Peter Wohlleben
20. “The greatest impediment to creativity is your impatience, the almost inevitable desire to hurry up the process, express something, and make a splash.” — Robert Greene
21. Put more emphasis on proof of your results rather than in what you promise. Because everyone promises the same thing. The question is whether or not they can back it up.
22. Ray Dalio’s advice on hiring and keeping talent – (1) Look for people who have lots of great questions (2) Share the things that are hardest to share (3) Fail well.
23. Belief drives action. And the bigger the belief the bigger the action. Seek out peers (or podcasts) that increase your conviction for success.
24. Entrepreneurs need to be naively optimistic to start a business – “WE DO THIS NOT BECAUSE IT IS EASY, BUT BECAUSE WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASY!”