This Week I Learned #1
““Go to bed smarter than when you woke up””
2018-05-28
Wealthy: "Do not use following your dreams as an excuse not to work hard. Don't use following your dreams as an excuse not to work hard:. Brandon Stanton, the founder of Humans of New York, was a bond trader who got fired and learned the money he earned meant so little to the life he wanted to lead. Then through immense hard work he created HoNY. Work Hard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSupOX-F80w
2018-05-29
Wealthy: From Ryan Holiday's interview on Chase Jarvis' podcast. Learned about actually envisioning the end for my creative work. How I plan to sell it, what I want it to become at the end. Identifying the creative gap that I must work on continuously until I get to the end. It seemed almost stupid that this was a learning because it seemed so obvious but I think it touches upon the intersection of the "start now" theory and "you're probably not ready to start without a plan" theory. I think both are valid and right now I seem to be in the phase of "I've started, but let's flush out how wide this creative gap is for me" phase. Valuable learning to think about the distribution channel I will be using for my podcast business.
2018-05-30
Wealthy: Ryan Hoover from ProductHunt founded the company by scratching his own itch. A common theme. He first had a blog that he built up over years (about 150 articles in 1 year) and had an email list of people who would be reading about all the things he wrote about products. This eventually turned into a site and with increased userbase and traction it become a Y-combinator company. Cool story on making a company out of your itch and without even intending to have it become massive from the get-go.
2018-05-31
Wealthy: In relation to personal finance, learned about how in most credit cards there is a policy where they can extend warranty you would have on electronic devices by an additional year. Also learned that credit score calculation in the US looks at the "average duration" you hold a credit card for. This means the benefit of holding a credit card for a long time will be beneficial to your credit score while opening up a bunch constantly while canceling others will lower your average duration.
2018-06-01
Wise: Techniques to control your mind. Marisa Peers discusses how you need 4 specific things to control your mind. Tell it specifically what you want, link action to pleasure and inaction to pain (i.e. shitty to be where you are now compared to where you want to go), visualize and say it out loud, and finally make the familiar unfamiliar (to have, you must do and to do you must be. Make it familiar to yourself that you will be the best so it won't be unfamiliar to become it). Lot's of similarities here to the concept of affirmation that is widely discussed by gurus like Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill and to successful artists like Scott Adams. Affirmation through visualization + oral talk seems to be highly effective. Part of the affirmation would be to tell yourself you already are what you desire to be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCv-ZBy6_yU
2018-06-02
Healthy: Cold showers are great. Why? Reduces muscle inflammation + makes body burn fat as energy (i.e. fat loss) + enhances focus + reduces anxiety and depression. Hence why I do a cold shower for 1 min. every day. Per research by Dr. Rhonda Patrick, this is because cold showers near 0 degrees for 30 seconds increase norepinephrine to 200-300%. Norepinephrine inhibits inflammatory cytokines (IC) to reduce inflammation. IC plays role in anxiety + depression so inhibiting is good! Also, Cold => activate cold thermogenesis => activate brown adipose tissue (BAT). Cold => more mitochondria => more BAT => higher efficiency in using normal fat as energy => fat loss. http://biohackersummit.com/2016/10/15/dr-rhonda-patrick-health-benefits-of-sauna/
2018-06-03
Wise: Letter on providing a wonderful perspective to goal setting and creating an ever-evolving personal compass for life. Goals really should remain flexible but I very much believe well crafted goals are crucial in providing a north star, albeit the goal should not be the be all and end all. https://www.fs.blog/2014/05/hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan/