⏱️ Focus on seeds over trees

I. You’ll likely surprise yourself at what you can actually accomplish if you focus on only one thing.

Most people frustrate themselves with all they fail to accomplish. But having 4, or 7, or 9 things you wish to accomplish is a guaranteed way to feel defeated: nobody does well when pulled in a half dozen directions.

Head in one direction and reach your destination. Head in multiple, and you’ll end up lost in all of them.

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II. The power of a tree all comes down to its seed.

We like to focus on the end result, the achieved dream, the future success.

And while our future ambitions are great motivators, they should not be our primary focus.

Instead, we should focus on the seeds we are planting today: our habits, practices, and rhythms. That is how you grow the future tree you dream about today..

So, what seeds are you planting today, and are you giving them the attention they need in order to grow?

I. Justin Welsh on optimizing for what really matters":

Every person I know who has optimized for money is less happy than those who have optimized for life.

II. Harrington Emerson on knowing what matters:

“As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The person who grasps principles can successfully select their own methods. The person who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish

A book about how to make better decisions. I always appreciate a book that delivers on its title, and this book does that. However, as someone who reads a lot in this space, there were a couple of drawbacks for me.

First, many of the concepts weren’t new to me. This is not the book’s fault, however. Generally speaking, I do think this book is helpful if you haven’t read a lot about habits, decision-making, and productivity.

Second, the book had a lot of practical ideas (a big plus), but in some ways, that took away from the book. When you are given too many things to think about or consider, it is hard to remember any of them.

Other books in this genre that do this better are ones that are still practically helpful but push one or two consistent themes throughout the book as an overarching concept.

This book was a lot of good information, but there wasn’t a main takeaway or two it left you with, which in some ways leaves you with nothing (unless there was a particular thought that really captivated you).

My rating is a little unfair to the book given how much I have already read in this space. Generally speaking, it is a good book, but I didn’t leave with anything particularly new.

6/10

I explore the detrimental effects of indecision and what is really going on with the Tower of Babel. I’ll also look at how technology has impacted our memory and cognitive functions. And review the book Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch.

You can watch the show on my YouTube channel or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

P.S. I mean I’d pay to listen to it…