Hey Friends,
Hope October is treating you well.
The biggest thing of note this week for me personally was moving my work desk to a different corner of my room. (Ya, I know. Wow). The desk is now by the window. Was forced into it when a multi-plug ceased working but actually liked it enough to keep the configuration.
Today’s question to ponder: what is the most certain (least dependent on luck) path to greatness?
How to be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatedly
Steph Smith | 15 mins
How can we be great? (However or wherever we define it. Whether it be Michael Jordan, or an awesome parent, or whoever is at the top of your field).
First off, we need to note two things about Greatness:
It is not instantaneous. An overnight success is most likely attributable to luck.
It is earned. It needs disciplined work. Especially in the relative sense.
(See: ToN 07 - Luck and Hard Work).
This means that the most sure (not easy, just one least dependent on luck) way to success is consistency. Specifically, by being consistently “good”.
What is “good” as defined here?
Ask yourself the question: “If I were to continue this every day for the next year, would I be in a better place?” If the answer is yes, you have a path towards “good”.
“Consistently Good = Great” works because of compounding effects and because it establishes sustainable, reliable processes that can go on and on.
Furthermore, it gets us to play the long game.
My Thoughts
I read this article months ago. But haven’t applied its central tenet of being consistently good. In fact, I need to work on my consistency on a lot of things. And even for this newsletter, perhaps I am consistent but not “good” (in the sense that I’m making marked improvements every iteration).
Perhaps the only thing my mind needed to reconcile it with was the fact that sometimes we do need drastic changes. As noted in Becoming a Magician:
The way to extraordinary growth and changes often involves a fundamental ontological or ‘lens’ shift in how you see the world.
However, I think these fundamental shifts can and are arrived at through consistent effort including evaluations and analysis of one’s path. More about direction than the consistency of the process.
Climbing the Wrong Hill
Chris Dixon | 3 mins
How often do people stick with a career path they have no interest in (say someone in Software Development who actually wants to do journalism) just because they are moving up, making progress?
That seems a bit silly. But why does it happen?
Chris makes the analogy of hill-climbing (from Computer Science) to explain it.
If we find ourselves in a terrain of hills with the goal of climbing the highest hill, a naive approach would be to always take a step in the direction that takes you higher. Essentially, “always be climbing”. Following this, we are likely to reach the top of a hill but not the highest!
It is exactly what we can end up doing in our careers too. We are primed to value short-term rewards (upward trend) over long-term ones. Even when we know we are climbing the wrong hill we don't want to make the downward steps necessary as that would mean losing progress.
As with some of the more sophisticated hill-climbing algorithms, it is better to explore initially and only then choose the hill to climb.
// Videos
Patreon CEO shares his most epic failures
Jack Conte | 35 mins
This is strangely inspiring. We do in fact see (and like to see) a whole lot more proportion of success stories than their actual share.
Watching this made me realize I haven’t failed much! In fact, almost not at all. Of course, that’s because I haven’t tried anything much. Really big food-for-thought.
// Tech
A Meta-Layer for Notes
Julian Lehr | 8 mins
A speculative, ideating article that jots out what a “meta-layer” (almost an Operating System) of notes could look like.
Of course, it’s not fleshed out. It’s a vision, an idea. But it makes a lot of sense and generated in me a feeling of wonderment at the possibilities and how I had been blind to it. Fascinating.
Debugging Stories
Amazing/funny/interesting debugging stories collection by Dan Luu.
Definitely a treat to go through. For instance, the 500-mile email.
// Stories and Poems
The Last Question
Isaac Asimov | 15 mins
Always an epic tale. Even on the nth read.
Fire and Ice
Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
// Music
That whistling intro. Vague memories. Stuck with me for the whole week.
This song is a feeling.
// Wholesome
Have a great week!
With Love,
Bijay