"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." — Aristotle
Hey All,
I have a quick favor to ask this week. If you like this newsletter, will you fill out this anonymous, two-question survey? Thanks in advance. :)
Enjoy this week's articles and if you're feeling inspired, pass it on.
Steve Jobs' Vision of the World
Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use.
Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.
The Power of The Progress Bar via @taigeair
I came across this article while doing some research for a post about onboarding. Progress bars are no gimmick — they are a tried-and-true gamification strategy with plenty of science to support their efficacy.
We inherently feel good about achieving something. Dr. Hugo Liu from MIT and Hunch.com says in his article Need to Complete, “It turns out that when you finish a complex task, your brain releases massive quantities of endorphins.”
In their book Rules of Play, Dr. Katie Salen at Parsons the New School for Design and Dr. Eric Zimmerman of MIT explain, “Without a measure of progress to give a player feedback on the meaning of his or her decisions, meaningful play is not possible.”
How to Network at a Conference via @tferriss
This is a Google Doc with notes from this presentation. More context here.
Follow up is a dish best served cold
- Don't do anything just to keep in touch. Most people are going to leave with a bunch of business cards with people to email.
- Wait 2 weeks because if you do it immediately it's going to get lost in the avalanche of similar stuff.
- Best days to reach out are on a Wednesday or Friday afternoon their time as well as on Sundays.
- These are the best times for max open and response rates.
Why I am leaving the best job I ever had via @mschireson
This story blew up last summer, but it's worth re-visiting. You can read an update about Max Schireson's life over the last year here.
I recognize that by writing this I may be disqualifying myself from some future CEO role. Will that cost me tens of millions of dollars someday? Maybe. Life is about choices. Right now, I choose to spend more time with my family and am confident that I can continue to have a meaningful and rewarding work life while doing so. At first, it seemed like a hard choice, but the more I have sat with the choice the more certain I am that it is the right choice.
The Gentle Art of Trying Something & Sucking at It via @zen_habits
Zen Habits is one of my favorite blogs. This post is a good representation of what can expect from Leo Babuta on a regular basis.
As you begin to learn something, notice when you feel frustrated with sucking. It might be really difficult, confusing, full of failure. You’re out of your comfort zone, and you want to go back into it.
Now turn your curiosity toward this feeling: what is it like? Where is it located in your body? What is the sensation of this feeling? Don’t judge it, but instead tell yourself you don’t know much about it, and try to find out more. Be open to whatever it feels like, instead of thinking you already know.
Have a great week!
Jimmy