I recently came across this Emerson quote…
Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet. – Emerson
…and was reminded that I haven’t updated mine or shared it here for awhile.
So here’s the latest PDF version. There’s some new content from Emerson, Waitbutwhy, David Perell, and more.
I recently updated my personal bible and wanted to share the new content that was added.
Here’s the PDF download.
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The Tail End
It turns out that when I graduated from high school, I had already used up 93% of my in-person parent time. I’m now enjoying the last 5% of that time. We’re in the tail end.
In high school, I sat around playing hearts with the same four guys about five days a week. In four years, we probably racked up 700 group hangouts. Now, scattered around the country with totally different lives and schedules, the five of us are in the same room at the same time probably 10 days each decade. The group is in its final 7%.
Living in the same place as the people you love matters. I probably have 10X the time left with the people who live in my city as I do with the people who live somewhere else.
Quality time matters. If you’re in your last 10% of time with someone you love, keep that fact in the front of your mind when you’re with them and treat that time as what it actually is: precious.
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The Paradoxes of Modern Life
The Paradox of Writing: Great writing looks effortless. But because the ideas are so clear, casual readers don’t appreciate how much time it took to refine them.
The Paradox of Originality: Many of history’s greatest artists have found their voice by copying others. We discover who we are by imitating others and watching our uniqueness emerge over time.
The Paradox of Specificity: In the age of the Internet, when everybody has Google search and social media, differentiation is free marketing. The more specific your goal, the more opportunities you’ll create for yourself.
The Paradox of Strategy: The same things that help you achieve outlier success also increase your chances of outlandish failure. For example, investing with leverage increases your chances of risk and reward.
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10 lessons from The Beatles
The first rule of improvisation (and brainstorming) is “yes… and”. When someone suggests an idea, plays a note, says a line, you accept it completely, then build on it. That’s how improvisational comedy or music flows. The moment someone says ‘no’, the flow is broken. As they slog through Don’t Let Me Down, George breaks the spell. Instead of building and accepting he leaps to judgement, saying “I think it’s awful.” Immediately, John and Paul lay down the rules: “Well, have you got anything?” “you’ve gotta come up with something better”.
But at other times, Paul, John and producer Glyn Johns keep at it: pouring out idea after idea. Some of them awful — see ‘Don’t be afraid’ below — but most are just technical ways to reframe the problem: play it faster, play it slower, change the order, change the instruments, add repetition, remove repetition.…They never seem to discuss or argue over these changes, they just play it to see if it works. They don’t judge the idea, they judge execution.
This updated version has
Here’s the PDF download.
My personal bible is a pdf doc where I save my favorite article excerpts, book highlights, and wisdom notes. I try to read a little bit of it every day.
Here’s an explanation of why I do this. And here’s the latest copy you can download.
Below are all of my recent additions to the bible since the last major update.
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The Onion founding editor’s writing rules [source]
1. Concept is king
“Your concept — and I would equate that with your headline or title — is the flag you’re raising, it’s the shingle on your door. And if it’s not a good concept or the right concept, then you’re sunk before you’ve even written a word.”
2. The key to quality is quantity
“This is how professionals work,” said Dikkers, “because they understand that most of what they write is dreck.”
[…]
4. Ruffle some feathers
“Thing is, Horatian satire isn’t really remembered because it’s toothless,” said Dikkers. “It might get a lot of laughs today but it’s not going to live in our cultural memory. Only satire that angers or offends people will be remembered.”
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from Roger Dickey’s blog [source]
Unsurprisingly, many great consumer products were experiments, side projects, or pivots:
Twitch spun out of Justin TV
Slack was an internal tool for a game called Glitch
Twitter was a podcasting network called Odeo
Zynga originally wanted to be a toolbar company
Instagram was a Foursquare competitor called Burbn
Youtube started as a video dating site
Pokemon Go was originally Field Trip, a startup within Google to test location based functionality
Facebook evolved from FaceMash, a “Hot or Not” for Harvard college students
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The Price of Tomorrow by Jeff Booth [highlights]
As my friend Thuan Pham, the chief technology officer of Uber, recently said to me over breakfast, “I am a firm believer that talent is distributed evenly around the world, but opportunities are not.”>
The only thing driving growth in the world today is easy credit, which is being created at a pace that is hard to comprehend.
Deflation, put simply, is when you get more for your money—just as inflation is when you get less for your money.
As the theorist Nassim Nicholas Taleb writes in Antifragile, “we notice what varies and changes more than what plays a larger role but doesn’t change. We rely more on water than on cell phones, but because water does not change and cell phones do, we are prone to thinking that cell phones play a larger role than they do.”
Deflation is being caused by technology and, because of that, it will ride the same exponential wave that technology does. That means that the rate of deflation (without printing more money) will only accelerate from here.
The government doesn’t actually have more assets; it’s just representing its assets with more units of currency, which means each unit of currency is worth less—like cutting a pizza into twelve slices instead of eight, or dividing an estate between ten heirs rather than nine.
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Octalysis gamification framework by Yu-kai Chou [source]
1. Epic Meaning & Calling – the feeling of being chosen to do something greater than yourself
2. Development & Accomplishment – when you’re challenged to develop skills and make progress
3. Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback – the infinite creativity and possibilities of Legos
4. Ownership & Possession – the drive to collect, accumulate, customize
5. Social Influence & Relatedness – the need to meet and impress people
6. Scarcity & Impatience – when you want something because you can’t have it
7. Unpredictability & Curiosity – surprise & delight, variable rewards
8. Loss & Avoidance – fomo, fear of something gained being taken away
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8 bits of Kevin Kelly’s 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice [source]
Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.
A worthy goal for a year is to learn enough about a subject so that you can’t believe how ignorant you were a year earlier.
Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.
Everyone is shy. Other people are waiting for you to introduce yourself to them, they are waiting for you to send them an email, they are waiting for you to ask them on a date. Go ahead.
To make something good, just do it. To make something great, just re-do it, re-do it, re-do it. The secret to making fine things is in remaking them.
Perhaps the most counter-intuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others, the more you’ll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.
Anything real begins with the fiction of what could be. Imagination is therefore the most potent force in the universe, and a skill you can get better at. It’s the one skill in life that benefits from ignoring what everyone else knows.
You really don’t want to be famous. Read the biography of any famous person.
My personal bible is just a pdf doc where I save my favorite writings, notes, and thoughts. I try to read a little from it each day, and occasionally return to the original source material for that extra sauce.
Here’s the latest copy you can download.
Below are two recent additions – a fun-to-read academic essay explaining the qualities that elevate regular swimmers to the elite ranks, and excerpts from the Analects of Confucius (not as fun a read, but y’know).
All are verbatim highlights unless otherwise noted.
I’m reminded of an anecdote about how Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism differ. The three founders – Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Buddha are tasting vinegar. Confucius notes the vinegar is sour (Confucianism = sour; society has many degenerate people). Lao Tzu says the vinegar is sweet (Daoism = sweet; universe is guided by the harmony of the Dao). And Buddha thinks the vinegar is bitter (Buddhism = bitter; life is difficult, learn to detach).
Or another saying that I’ve heard is “the Chinese are Confucians at work, Daoists at leisure, and Buddhists at death.”
I wonder what the American version would be?
Happy 2019! In one month, it’ll be the Year of the Pig 🐷
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The Mundanity of Excellence notes
The main differences between less and more elite swimmers:
1. Technique – Not only are the strokes different, they are so different that the “C” swimmer may be amazed to see how the “AAAA” swimmer looks when swimming. The appearance alone is dramatically different
2. Discipline – Diver Greg Louganis, who won two Olympic gold medals in 1984, practices only three hours each day—not a long time—divided into two or three sessions. But during each session, he tries to do every dive perfectly
3. Attitude – The very features of the sport that the “C” swimmer finds unpleasant, the top-level swimmer enjoys. What others see as boring—swimming back and forth over a black line for two hours, say—they find peaceful, even meditative, often challenging, or therapeutic. They enjoy hard practices, look forward to difficult competitions, try to set difficult goals
Athletes move up to the top ranks through qualitative jumps: noticeable changes in their techniques, discipline, and attitude, accomplished usually through a change in settings, e.g., joining a new team with a new coach, new friends, etc., who work at a higher level
Talent is often recognized after the fact – conveniently after all the skill acquisition and hard work have already been invested – …despite the physical capabilities he was born with, it took Peter several years (six by our estimate) to appear gifted. […] Most of them are said to be “natural” or “gifted” after they had already devoted a great deal of time and hard work to the field
Superlative performance is really a confluence of dozens of small skills or activities, each one learned or stumbled upon, which have been carefully drilled into habit and then are fitted together in a synthesized whole
In the pursuit of excellence, maintaining mundanity is the key psychological challenge
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The Analects of Confucius
The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves to it. In seasons of danger, he cleaves to it.
The Master said of Zi Chan that he had four of the characteristics of a superior man -in his conduct of himself, he was humble; in serving his superior, he was respectful; in nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, he was just.
There were four things from which the Master was entirely free. He had no foregone conclusions, no arbitrary predeterminations, no obstinacy, and no egoism.
The Master said, “Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Have no friends not equal to yourself. When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.”
The Master said, “The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.”
Some one asked about him, saying, “I suppose he has made great progress.” The Master said, “I observe that he is fond of occupying the seat of a full-grown man; I observe that he walks shoulder to shoulder with his elders. He is not one who is seeking to make progress in learning. He wishes quickly to become a man.”
Zi Gong asked, saying, “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?” The Master said, “Is not RECIPROCITY such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
Confucius said, “There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth, when the physical powers are not yet settled, he guards against lust. When he is strong and the physical powers are full of vigor, he guards against quarrelsomeness. When he is old, and the animal powers are decayed, he guards against covetousness.”
With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow – I have still joy in the midst of these things