Thoughts on the 80/20 philosophy, in 300 words or less. Email updates > check menu
Imagine embarking on a journey from New York to Los Angeles. It would be silly to get frustrated at your progress and turn back home after a mere 10 hours of driving, barely getting to Indiana. This is how most of us operate. We get excited for a new skill, a new business, or a …
How would you like having an intimate conversation with a person who simultaneously talks with five other people? Yet, this is what we give the life around us as we constantly shift our attention. Our relationships suffer. Our happiness suffers. Our productivity suffers. And then we wonder why life is so damn complicated. Focus is …
A lot of people can’t wait for 2020 to end, as if all it takes to “fix” it is to get a new calendar. Yay, 2021! I can finally forget about that big, bad, 2020! For many, 2020 wasn’t anywhere close to what they would consider a “good” year. But it wasn’t bad because of …
In his book The Practice, Seth Godin writes: How is it possible for three cowboys to herd a thousand cattle? Easy. They don’t. They herd ten cattle, and those cattle influence fifty cattle and those cattle influence the rest. When creating a marketing strategy for a new project, it’s easy to forget about this simple …
The most unenjoyable periods in my business life come from the projects that involved hiring employees. I love entrepreneurship because it allows me to work when I want, on what I want, without ever reporting to anyone else. Having employees has always felt to me like prison, as having a job and a boss, rather …
Books where you highlight entire paragraphs on almost every page are rare. They also need to find you at the right moment so that you’re open to their message. Exploring the topics of mindfulness and self-compassion, I’ve recently added a new such gem to my (digital) bookshelf: Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. One of the …
In his video How to REALLY be Healthy in Mind & Body, movement expert Josh Hash shares an insightful story. After having his appendix removed, he was unable to train and do much else besides rest and recover. As a person in love with doing, addicted to setting goals and pursuing them, he found the …
If there’s one thing I’ll postpone purchasing for as long as possible, it’s new clothes. I’m perfectly fine wearing the same clothes for years on end, even when they’re worn out (to the dismay of my girlfriend). I hate when people are wasteful with clothes, claiming they “need” to buy them every month. The mere …
If the 80/20 rule is so effective, why doesn’t everyone already use it? Why does nobody teach it at schools? Why do people still praise the value of hard work over smart work? Because it’s easier to do than think. Tell someone to work on their business for an hour and they’ll happily oblige. Now …
Recognizing patterns was helpful for our ancestors. They could make decisions based on seasonal cues or changes in food supply. But today, we often extrapolate too much. In his article “Ruthless Extrapolation,” professor of physics Tom Murphy demonstrates this with an extrapolation of transatlantic crossing times: Extrapolate the progress of the aeronautical age to 2012, …
