BEING LESS STUPID #11 - Vision, Flow, and Principles
Arnold Schwarzenegger's rules for success, How to get into a flow state, Living with Principles
👋 Hello
When we think of doing something new, we naturally find excuses not to do or we get into the learning mode. It is ok to be immature and imperfect. What’s important is taking action.
“If you don’t start today with your constraints, you won’t start either when you are free. The mind always has a good excuse.” — Orange Book
I was finding excuse after excuse not to start this newsletter for a very long time. All I had to do was send the first newsletter out. I am on a roll now and this is my tenth week without a miss. All you need to do is take the first step. Things will fall in place. If it doesn’t work, at least you will not regret trying. More importantly, you will have the experience of doing it. If you are postponing something, go do it. You will not regret it.
“Working on a problem reduces the fear of it. It’s hard to fear a problem when you are making progress on it—even if progress is imperfect and slow. Action relieves anxiety.” — James Clear
😮 BEING LESS STUPID
In this motivating video, Arnold Schwarzenegger shares his secret to success. His two rules of success are
Having a vision and working every day towards your goal and vision
Not listening to naysayers and converting your liabilities into assets
Having a vision and not listening to naysayers is being less stupid.
📚 Book Notes
I was reading about “Flow” this past week. I read “The Rise of Superman” by Steven Kotler. Here are some of my highlights.
In flow, we are so focused on the task at hand that everything else falls away. Action and awareness merge. Time flies. Self vanishes. Performance goes through the roof.
“Flow naturally catapults you to a level you’re not naturally in,” explains Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Ned Hallowell. “Flow naturally transforms a weakling into a muscleman, a sketcher into an artist, a dancer into a ballerina, a plodder into a sprinter, an ordinary person into someone extraordinary.
In this short video, Steven shares how he enters a flow state
📄 Interesting Reads
1. Replace Your To-Do List With Interstitial Journaling to Increase Productivity by Coach Tony
“We weren’t built for multi-tasking, so transitions between projects are very tough. We end up getting lost in procrastination. Even when we manage to transition quickly into our next project, our brain is still thinking about the last project.”
Interstitial Journaling(I like to call it transitional journaling) is about jotting down what you completed and what will be your first action for your next task. This helps with two things
Closing the open-loop - By writing down what you just completed, you clear your brain from thinking about the completed task. And it frees your mind to focus on the next task
Avoid Procrastination - By writing down your first action for your next task, you are making it easy for you to start the next task. This will avoid procrastination as you already know what to do next.
2. 24 Principles for 24 Years by Conor Dewey
I love it when people share their principles. Conor Dewey shared his 24 principles on his 24th birthday. Here are the five that resonated with me.
How you spend your time is who you are
Writing is keeping a relationship with your mind
There's no advantage quite like being willing to play the long game
Action trumps inaction, almost every time
Nobody can teach us the things that matter
Link to the article
H/T Reza for sharing
3. Living by Principles
Ruth Bader Ginsburg attributed her success to three principles she learned from her parents. If you are a parent, living these principles is the best way to teach your children these principles.
Love learning
Care about people
Work hard
H/T Brianne Kimmel
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