Hello everyone,
you can find all of my recent writing over here:
https://www.itsmewaldi.com
Hope to see you soon! :)
Hello everyone,
you can find all of my recent writing over here:
https://www.itsmewaldi.com
Hope to see you soon! :)
Hi, it's me Waldi!
Here are this week’s 5 pieces of insights and wisdom. Enjoy! :)
I respect your time and prune the fluff in these emails reletnlessly.
Life is a balance of having a long-term, exciting, fulfilling vision and enjoying the daily actions and adjustments that get you there. The key is to make both as attractive, easy-to-do and simple as possible.
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Modern streaming services watch you similarly to how scientists watch mice in a lab. They pay attention to what you search for, how long you read, watch, or listen to a piece of content, when you pause or rewind and what you consume repeatedly. Then, they feed this information to their algorithm to deduce your preferences, mood and emotions. The algorithm then suggests recommendations that strongly align with your preferences. Through this endless surveillance cycle, a company can understand you better than you understand yourself and play you like a piano. Pressing the right keys at the right time to keep you hooked to their service. Beware.
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We default to judgment because it's easy, seductive and an opportunity to escape the painful parts of ourselves.
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Curiosity can be a way of life. Ask supposedly stupid questions until you're satisfied with the answers. Learn until you're satisfied with your understanding. Just follow your curiosity.
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When you try to learn things to remember later, try to simulate the environment where you'll need to remember them as best as you can during your learning practice. Listen to background sounds that mimic what you would hear. Study in a room that looks similar. Wear the same perfume or recreate the smell of the place you'll be in. These preparations make it more likely that you'll recall what you need later.
Hi, it's me Waldi!
Today's ideas, insights and learnings all come from my desk. Thus, I haven't written a blog post this week. I hope you enjoy this slightly different format!
It's on us to create the clarity of where we want to go. Our life doesn't come with a map. Instead, we must create a vision for our lives that we can use as a compass to guide our decisions, priorities and outline our boundaries.
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Success isn't a marathon of disciplined action. It's a short race fueled by discipline, just long enough to establish habits that then take over. You need don't need endless discipline. You need just enough discipline to build the habit that you want to take over later.
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Attitude is contagious. The people around you heavily influence you. You can't resist their influence for long. They set the standards of what's appropriate, and over time you begin to think, act, and even look a little like those you spend time with. So, choose who you spend time with carefully.
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To benefit from willpower, timing is everything. Our willpower is highest at the beginning of a day and depletes throughout it. Every time we suppress a feeling, make a decision or resist an impulse, we use and deplete willpower. The more difficult these things are, the more willpower we deplete. Thus, to benefit from willpower the most, do the things you need it for early in the day. Then, simply support or avoid sabotaging your results throughout the rest of the day.
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Fail your way to success. Fail, stop, learn, grow, succeed. Don't be afraid to fail. Instead, see it as part of your learning process.
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P.S.: Keep an eye on my Instagram this week …
Hi, it’s me Waldi!
I wish you a great Sunday and hope you’re well. Reply and let me know how you’re doing.
For now, here are five new pieces of insight and wisdom!
From my desk: The Strange But Wonderful Companion Of Your Life
“… then, there are the feelings that sink and weigh me down, like black molasses at the bottom of my being — the feelings I am too afraid to fall into, afraid to drown in. those are the feelings that feel eternal, some of which have followed me my entire life: like rage, guilt, resentment. not waiting to die, but waiting to be transformed.”
Source: Writer Kenning Zhu⠀
“Confidence is not a belief in success. It’s a comfort with failure.”
Source: Author Mark Manson
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Self-Understanding is crucial for making your days meaningful, productive and satisfying.
For example, if you understand your “internal rhythms,” you can tailor your daily activities toward it. Understand when you have the most energy for specific activities, how often in a day you can do it and where you most enjoy doing it. Then, tailor your day around your preferences as much as possible. This helps you in everything, from building new habits to staying consistent and enjoying what you do a lot more.
h/t: to, again, Writer Kenning Zhu
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Every way of being is an act of faith.
Every action you take is based on what you believe to be true, important or most likely. Thus, how you behave is fundamentally based on what you believe, on faith.
This is why it’s important to be attentive to what you do, discover what you believe, and intentionally choose your actions.
h/t: to Psychologist Jordan Peterson
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“The most important step in becoming successful in anything is to first become interested in it.”
Source: Physician Sir William Osler, Exact Source Unknown (lf you know it, please reply to this email and let me know.”
Hi, it’s me Waldi!
I’m back with 5 new pieces of insight and wisdom!
From now on, expect to see this newsletter in your inbox every Saturday again.
From my desk: The Meaning That Work Gives to Life
"Groups of people don't agree on what's cool or interesting.
They agree on what's easy."
Source: Writer David Perell in Monday Musings (7/20/20)
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"Free to Play video game companies, by the structure of their market, are faced with the choice to either A) create addictive products that rob a select group of users large amounts of funds, or B) exit the business entirely."
Source: How Free to Play Games are Forced to Make addicts by Evan Armstrong. Read the whole thing.
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When someone asks what you do, they don't want a factual answer. They want remotely interesting information that they can connect to their own lives. When someone asks you “What do you do?”, give them as many potential touchpoints as possible that they can start a conversation around. That’s what they really ask you to do.
h/t: to Youtuber Chris Williamson in 3MM: Charisma, Height & Fentanyl
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"The people who have the best chance at long-term success are actually the people who've got really low negativity thresholds. They're the people where if something annoys them, they speak up about it really quickly, immediately and address that situation right there and then. But they do it in a way where the problem is dealt with and then actually you go back to normality. So it's couples where you're continually repairing and resolving very, very tiny issues in your relationship. Otherwise, you risk bottling things up and then not saying anything."
Source: Mathematician Hanna Fray here.
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"That's what our shadowy manipulators are doing to us. Low-potency statements. Enough to get us enraged. Not enough to start Armageddon."
Sort by Controversial by Scott Alexander. Recommended by Tim Ferriss. Read the whole thing.
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