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Effectiveness

Wishful Significance: Common Ways We Get Things Wrong

This is a great summary of a few reasons why people make mistakes when assessing the significance of new information. I find the bits about “non-sentient messengers” especially timely.

Only Read the Fine Quotes #2

It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop. – Confucius

Understand Risk vs Uncertainty

The distinction between risk and uncertainty is one of those things you’ve probably never thought about but that can help you understand the world more effectively once you’re aware of it. A subtle but powerful idea.

Happiness is Picking Your Problems

Or, Life is a Big Game of Whack-a-Mole

The first of The Three Most Important Things is that the whole point of life is to be happy. But what is happiness?

For an answer to that I’ll turn to one …

The First Rule of Zombies

Is also an important rule of life.

What do I mean when I say “zombies”? I’m referring to the zombies mode in the hugely popular Call of Duty series. In zombies mode, the objective is to stay alive as long …

The Personal Backlog: How I Organize My To-do List

Over the years, I’ve tried a number of different task management systems. Some were paper-based, some were all electronic, and some (highly ineffective ones) were all in my head. Some worked well, others not so much.

I’ve also spent a …

SMART Goals

(Excerpted from Only Read the Fine Print the book)

Recording your goals in writing is the first step to achieving them. However, thinking carefully about how you state your goals will dramatically increase your odds of success. If you …

People Only Do Things They Want To Do

(Excerpted from Only Read the Fine Print the book)

There are two types of motivation – positive and negative, or “closer to” and “further from”. Either you want to get closer to some achievement or possession or status, or …

The ‘Play to Win’ Mindset and Mu

One night last week at dinner my oldest son asked me the following question:

“If you could live in a mansion by yourself or be homeless with Mom, which would you choose?”

I understood the point of his question: to …

Reminder: Focus on Results!

I picked up a fantastic idea from Agile trainer Angela Druckman last week. She recounted a story about a presentation she had been to where the speaker asserted that everyone would be more successful if they regularly asked themselves, “What …