64% of people quit their new year’s goals in January. That’s less than 8% into the year. So how do we keep the excitement of new goals without falling off? First, we must understand the five stages of the “Emotional Cycle of Change.” 1. Uninformed Optimism The most exciting stage. We imagine all the benefits, […]
Our best days are NOT by chance. Equally true with our worst days. There’s a pattern. Our current self either borrows from or builds to our future self. Writing → builds future clarity Caffeine → borrows future energy Booze → borrows future happiness Exercise → builds future energy and happiness Prepping a to-do list → […]
Here’s the little-known origin of the vegetable seed oil industry in case you’re out of the loop. What once was “toxic waste” now is a staple of our diets. Aka, you probably still eat this. Wait, but vegetables are healthy so the same goes with their oils, right? That’s what I thought too. But boy […]
Conventional wisdom says, “Follow your passion.” But it’s flawed. We want to believe the “Passion Hypothesis” (find your passion, then find a job to match it) because it sounds blissful. Do what you love. Chase your dreams. Yolo! But, Cal Newport argues in So Good They Can’t Ignore You, it’s better to adopt a Craftsman […]
I started doing “Family Math” the other week to calculate what age my parents will be when I’m 35, 40, 50, etc. It’s a simple exercise and the impact was surprisingly visceral (strongly suggest it). But then this morning I got a call from my best friend. Not a good call. In fact, it was […]
When starting something new, we first know nothing. Complete beginner. Noob. Starting our careers we have to research everything. This is great to get going, but it leads to a bad habit. We soon find we can’t research everything. We need to move quicker. But…easier said than done. We have this muscle memory from our […]
I started working with Noah Kagan two years ago. Like the desk right next to him. My first thought was, “wow this dude moves fast.” Maybe even too fast. He was employee #30 at Facebook, #4 at Mint, and started 20+ companies since (including AppSumo, my current employer). So maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. […]
More than anything else in the world, we all care most about ONE thing. Ourself. Whether it’s the sound of our name or the stories that involve us. We love it all. And it’s not selfish. It’s practical. But as much as we enjoy hearing about ourselves, our actions don’t always align to maximize our […]
I used to be a serial over-analyzer. I had a knack for turning a tiny choice into an exhausting decision. In the highway of life, I was getting stuck at every toll. But that soon changed when I discovered an alternative route. One filled with the same youthful bliss I’d experienced as a kid riding […]
I recently had an aha moment, after noticing a trend among impressive entrepreneurs… They all say the same thing. “I saw [thing I wanted], so I just [how I got it].” And it worked for all of them. What is this and how do we use it? VC investor Mike Maples sums it up by […]