Thursday Thoughts - 11/10/2022

In this short newsletter, I share the most interesting things that I’ve read, heard, and/or watched over the past week.

What I Read:

Starting Principles | Julian Shapiro

Julian Shapiro found that he didn’t act on the life advice given to him. He noticed the advice would sit in his mind like trivia. It was something that he could recall but didn’t put into practice.

He changed this fact by creating the Starting Principles framework. He wrote down his six favorite pieces of life advice on a sticky note. He would refer to this note whenever tough decisions appeared. Eventually, these principles were top of mind and he didn’t need the sticky note anymore.

I fall into the same trap as Shapiro. I would read books and highlight insightful passages. Sometimes the highlights would show up during a Readwise review. But overall, I would rarely reference these notes.

My Favorite Favorite Problems | Forte Labs

Richard Feynman kept a notebook with his 12 favorite problems. He would use these problems to direct his attention to things worth reading. Does this sound familiar?

I was introduced to this concept while reading Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. Forte uses this concept as a guideline to what things should be kept in the Second Brain. He expands on this idea further in this series on his blog.

The latest article in this series is a collection of examples from his previous students. These questions are excellent. It feels like I’m reading a case study. Two of my favorites problems include:

• How do I build a career I don’t want to retire from?
• What would creating look like if it were easy, light, and fun?

What I’m Trying:

After reading these two articles, I decided to create my own Starting Principles and 12 Favorite Problems. I added widgets to my home screen that will reference both lists. This is an iteration on the home screen idea from last week. I’ll see how it goes and maybe write a longer blog post about this experiment.

What I’m Pondering:

Of course, you only live one life, and you make all your mistakes, and learn what not to do, and that’s the end of you.

Richard Feynman, Surely You are Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Tags: #quotes