Idea Journal Weekly 3
By Idea Journal
issues
Healthy ways to navigate rejection
Author and marketing guru Seth Godin writes on his blog that when someone rejects you, they’ll often give you a reason.But a common trap is to believe the reason they’ve offered: “The people who turn you down have a reason, but they’re almost certainly not te…
In a world of change, what's consistent?
While much of the business world is focused on disruption and innovation, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos makes a point to pay attention to things that won’t change. Here’s Bezos explaining his rationale during a 2012 fireside chat: “I very frequently get t…
Don’t drown in sunk costs
The creators of the Alux podcast call the sunk-cost fallacy one of the fifteen mental errors that are keeping you from being rich. For the Alux team, the sunk-cost fallacy “refers to people who are pursuing a goal they know they will fail at.”Just because the…
Make paradox work for you
In an interview on The Knowledge Project podcast, chess master and investor Adam Robinson says one of the key life lessons he’s learned is that the secret to happiness is to be fully engaged in your life.He points out that if someone were to ask him during th…
Begin with *your* end in mind
Entrepreneur Steve Sims writes in his book Bluefishing that when you feel anxious and unsure about your next move, you should pretend that you’re on your deathbed.Literally lie down in bed and imagine you’re dying. What comes to mind?When Sims does this exerc…
How opposition can be useful
Author Ryan Holiday writes in his book Perennial Seller that one sign of creative work that lasts is its initial polarizing effect – separating the audience into those who don’t like it, and those who really like it. Provoking such a strong reaction is “a sig…
Experts are biased (and that's OK)
In his book The Psychology of Science, psychologist Abraham Maslow introduces the concept that’s come to be known as Maslow’s hammer:“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”Imagine that an as…
How to increase your good luck
Author Max Gunther writes in his book How to Get Lucky that big breaks in life flow through contacts between people: “Not necessarily close friendships, just contacts – sometimes tenuous ones.”To increase your odds of experiencing such fortune you need to be …
Make more conscious decisions
Entrepreneur Steve Sims writes in his book Bluefishing that there’s a simple way to figure out if someone is a good match for you as a business partner, client, friend, trainer, tutor—whatever.He calls it “The Chug Test.” Here’s how Sims uses it to evaluate h…
Increase your personal value
Author and marketing guru Seth Godin writes on his blog that there are three ways for you to add value, “but one of them is more prized than the others”: 1. Tasks: these are incoming, and often set up for you. Your effort and skill allow you to tackle tasks o…
Question your assumptions for clarity
Investor Morgan Housel writes on his blog that we’re all biased to our own personal history.As Housel puts it: “Your personal experiences make up maybe 0.00000001% of what’s happened in the world, but maybe 80% of how you think the world works.”For example, m…
Producing > consuming
“Feeling overwhelmed? Here are 4,539 tips to overcome anxiety—and the 675th one you’ll have to read to believe!”Many of us are addicted to hacks: efficiency hacks, presentation hacks, productivity hacks, life hacks. The list goes on. They lure us in with prom…
How to choose among competing opportunities
One way to choose what to work on is to look for early enthusiasm from potential clients, customers, or partners.But are all enthusiasts created equal?For LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, the answer is no.On an episode of his podcast Masters of Scale, Hoffma…
Your life is a game
Entrepreneur Emil Anton and his team at Alux say in a video that life is a single-player strategy game. Huh? What does that mean?Well, life is single-player because even though you will have “cooperative quests” with other people, how you play the game is ult…
Use status to your advantage
Author and researcher Josh Kaufman writes in his book The Personal MBA that when a person is given a choice between different alternatives, they will most likely choose the option with the highest perceived status. High status generally means being associated…
Change your relationship with fear
Marketing maven Seth Godin writes on his blog that, “Shipping is fraught with risk and danger.”Whenever you send an email, launch a product, or raise your hand you’re exposing yourself to criticism. And in some cases, more than criticism: the negative consequ…
Do you have any *real* friends?
Entrepreneur Steve Sims writes in his book Bluefishing that a real friend is someone you don’t have to put on an act for—you can be yourself.What does this look like in practice?For Sims, these are the people “whose doors I could knock on, at one o’clock in t…
Are you the voice in your head?
Author and journalist Michael Singer writes in his book Untethered Soul that:“There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind—you are the one who hears it.”You have a mental dialogue going on inside of your…
Evaluate your core relationships
Who exactly are the five people you spend the most time with?Authors Geoffrey Miller and Tucker Max write in their book Mate that if your closest friends and colleagues are “upbeat, confident, and rational, you’ll raise your game just by being around them.”Bu…
How to identify your strength(s)
Entrepreneur Emil Anton writes on his blog that a strength is something “you can consistently and reliably do well.”And you probably have more than one. You might not think they’re amazing, but others do. See if you can identify three of your strengths by ask…