lidenskap.blog

Tim Ferris interviewed more than 200 world-class performers to deconstruct their success habits.

Here's my favorite tips and insights:

• Kids don't do what you say. They do what they see. How you live your life is their example.

• Good stories always beat good spreadsheets. Never forget that underneath all the math and the MBA bullshit talk, we are still emotionally driven human beings.
  

• How do you thrive in an unknowable future? Choose the plan with the most options. The best plan is the one that lets you change your plan.
  
  
• "First, ten." Tell ten people, show ten people, share it with ten people. Ten people who already trust and like you. If they don't tell anybody else, it's not that good and you should start over. If they do tell other people, you are on your way.
  
  
• If you want to do something extraordinary, you have two paths: 1) Become the best at one specific thing. 2) Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things. The first strategy is nearly impossible. But everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. Make yourself rare by combining two or more "pretty goods" until no one else has your mix. At least one of the skills in your mixture should involve communication, either written or verbal.
  
  
• If I have a problem, I will own it. For example, do you blame your boss for not giving you the support you need? Plenty of people will say, "It's my boss's fault." No, it's actually your fault because you haven't educated her, you haven't influenced her, and you haven't explained to her in a manner she understands why you need the support that you need. That's taking extreme ownership of a problem.
  
  
• You should have a running list of three people that you are always watching. Someone senior to you that you want to emulate, a peer who you think is better at the job than you are and who you respect, and someone subordinate who's doing the job you did - one, two, or three years ago - better than you did. Learn from them, and you are going to be exponentially better than you are.
  
  
• Every time you meet someone, just in your head say, "I love you" before you have a conversation with them, and that conversation is going to go a lot better. Just assume everybody is doing the best they can with what they have, which is really hard for a lot of people to accept.
  
  
• "I'm busy" has become the default response when you ask anyone how they are doing. "Better to be busy than the opposite." This is something we have chosen. Work and obligations we have taken on voluntarily. We are busy because of our own ambition or drive or anxiety. It makes us feel important, sought-after, and put-upon. But what exactly is getting done?
  
  Busyness is not an inevitable condition of life. We need more idleness. Idleness is not just a vacation, it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body. It is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.
  
  
• Never serve anything you would not want to eat.
  
  
• What makes a good commander? Humility. You've got to be humble, and you have to be coachable. Have the ability to listen, open your mind, and see that, maybe, there's a better way to do things. The arrogant guys can't take criticism from others, and can't even do an honest self-assessment because they think they already know everything. Stay humble or get humbled.
  
  
• Write in order to think. You actually don't know what you think until you try to write it. You think you have an idea, but when you begin to write it, you will realize that you have no idea.
  
  
• To blame someone for not fully understanding you is deeply unfair because, first of all, we don't understand ourselves, and even if we do understand ourselves, we have such a hard time communicating ourselves to other people.
  
  
• When you go into a conflict or a difficult situation, say less. That's it. Just say less.
  
  
• Honor those who seek the truth, beware of those who have found it.
  
  
• If you don't do something well, don't do it unless you want to spend the time to improve it.
  
  
• "Strong views, loosely held". Most people go through life and never develop strong views on things. They go along and buy into the consensus. You should have strong views, but you need to be able to adapt in light of new information.