Learn to Thrive
Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg
“Productive people and companies force themselves to make choices most other people are content to ignore. Productivity emerges when people push themselves to think differently.” – Charles Duhigg
Bestselling author Charles Duhigg has recently written the book ‘Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business’. In the book, he explains that the key to productivity is ‘choice’. Watch the following video to understand why:
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
Goals are for Losers” – Scott Adams, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
Fairly alarming statement by author Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert), but after reading his book ‘How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big’ I completely understand why.
The following video explores the difference between Goals & Systems. The 1-Page PDF Summary below provides an overview of three systems you can use to dramatically improve your odds of professional success.
1-Page PDF Summary of Insights
Are You Fully Charged? by Tom Rath
“We identified and catalogued more than 2,600 ideas for improving daily experience. As we narrowed down the concepts to the most proven and practical strategies, underlying patterns continued to surface. Three key conditions differentiate days when you have a full charge from typical days” – Tom Rath, from the book ‘Are You Fully Charged?’
The following 4-minute video explores the act of finding meaning to get a daily charge. The 1-Page PDF Summary below provides actionable insights in all three areas.
#AskGaryVee by Gary Vaynerchuk
The stakes and the opportunities are high, and the next thirty-six months of hustle might just pay off more than usual for those people willing to put in the time and effort. “– Gary Vaynerchuk in #AskGaryVee
If you have a business idea or a desire to work for yourself, #AskGaryVee might be the book you’ve been waiting for.
Gary is a passionate and successful entrepreneur who tells it like it is.
“#AskGaryVee is a content firehouse, dousing readers with honest, blunt answers to their questions. It will make you uncomfortable and get you excited about your discomfort.” – #AskGaryVee book
Here is quick summary of the ideas that I gathered from Gary’s book along with a 1-PDF Summary you can use to check-in with your level of hustle and self-awareness:
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
With habits, we conserve our self–control. Because we’re in the habit of putting a dirty coffee cup in the office dishwasher, we don’t need self–control to perform that action; we do it without thinking. Of course, it takes self–control to establish good habits. But once the habit is in place, we can effortlessly do the things we want to do.” – Gretchen Rubin
Habits are the great enabler of change. They allow us to execute effortlessly and automatically. However, they do require some willpower and decision-making power to get started.
Watch the following video and download the following 1-PDF book summary to understand how you can effectively develop new habits:
“Ultimately, the people who choose to champion originality are the ones who propel us forward. ” – Adam Grant
To be original you need to be creative. However, being creative is hard and unpredictable. But what if there was a way to systematically be more creative?
In the following video I extract 5 big ideas from Adam’s book to help you generate more ideas and foster creativity:
In January I lined up with 27,000 people to run a half-marathon in Houston. I was wearing shoes purchased 22 hours before to the race and set to run 15km further than I had run in the last last 4 months. This was my first half-marathon on pavement and I knew it was going to hurt like hell (all previous races were on dirt trails).
How the heck was I going to finish 21.1km with new shoes and a lack of training?
Thirty minutes into the race the pain was intense. To get past the pain and finish the race I needed to adopt a resilient mindset.
Here are 7 powerful perspectives I used to complete the half-marathon:
Runners typically want to avoid large crowds of people. Most marathoners just want to put their heads down and grind out the next few hours.
I do the opposite. I find dense groups of people and look for ways to weave in and out of the crowd.
I see hordes of people the same way a kayaker sees white water rapids. I navigate my way through the terrain by looking for openings. When I see an opening I leap ahead, trying not to cut people off and avoid an elbow to the face!
This little game requires additional energy but it allows me to forget the pain I’m experiencing.
When things get tough – be playful.
As the race went on I started thinking about how long I had left to run and that left me feeling overwhelmed. With 5 miles to go and legs felt like jelly and I wasn’t confident in my ability to finish the race.
However, after running a few miles I had developed a nice rhythm. Each step seemed automatic, like a well-ingrained habit – I simply needed to get out of my own way and let it happen.
By letting my stride naturally continue I could simply observe the progress I was making. The last 100 yards seemed almost effortless with my new found rhythm.
Reflecting on the tiny progress I was making every 100 yards energized me and gave me the motivation to continue.
When things get tough – find your rhythm, reflect upon previous progress and let habit take over.
When the pain became unbearable I ran next to a stranger. I simply got close to someone and matched their running stride. I let them dictate the pace.
Soon it felt as though they were carrying me forward with an imaginary forcefield around them. With their help I no longer needed to ‘will’ myself forward.
Along the way I internally thanked them for the help, by thinking: ‘thank you for being here and helping me!.’ If their pace started to waver I stay near them and encouraged them on by saying: “you got this, you’re doing great!”
When things get tough – gravitate to others who are moving in the direction you want to go.
At mile 8 I was completely exhausted. My mind desperately wanted to stop running and start walking. I knew if I started walking I would regret the lost time.
To distract my mind I started practicing tiny boxing jabs. I saw myself in a ring training for a boxing match. As I ran, I made small movements with my arms and wrists pretending to work on my jab technique.
At first this seem ridiculous since I don’t even box! But putting my mind in a ‘practice’ mindset (whatever form of practice it was), took my mind off the pain.
When things get tough – focus on practicing and refining a skill.
The Houston marathon had several DJ booths and bands on the side of the road. Whenever I ran by a DJ booth or marching band I felt a surge of energy that propelled me forward for the next half-mile.
When things get tough – put on some music. The right music can be a great source of energy.
Several times during the race I hit the ‘wall’: a feeling that you are completely out of energy.
Each time I hit the ‘wall’ I had to remind myself: “It is all going to be over soon. This will end.”
As venture capital investor Chris Sacca puts it: “Tonight I will be home in my bed.” (a phrase he repeated to himself while running his first Ironman).
Convincing yourself that the suffering will end gives you permission to endure more suffering.
When things get tough – give yourself a clear end date/scenario and remind yourself that the pain you’re feeling is only temporary.
With 0.2 miles left and with the finish line in sight, I felt a surge of energy. The sight of the finish line inspired me to end the race with a full out sprint. The certainty that the pain would stop allowed me to tap into my reserves and finish strong.
When things get tough – make a final dash to the finish.
With those 7 marathon mindsets I ran a 7.4-minute mile and finished the race in 1:37 (my best half-marathon time). However, what mattered more than my time was realizing I had the tools to get through any difficult challenge.
Use these 7 mindsets to get past pain and conquer your next challenge.
The pursuit of success can be a catalyst for failure. Put another way, success can distract us from focusing on the essential things that produce success in the first place.” – Greg McKeown
The basic value proposition of Essentialism:
Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.” – Greg McKeown
In the following video I summarize Greg’s book and provide a framework for preventing the non-essential from creeping into your life: