Woolgathering #156: Say More, Say Less--Don't B.S.
Plus: Opportunity costs, 2022 predictions, 2 Goals/2 Mindsets, and nuance...
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
- Mark Twain
Language is both magical and dangerous. We use it to do all sorts of things. We can (and do) create with it. But we can also (and do also) destroy with it.
As with any tool, I think we can (and should try to) do better at using it. Particularly, we should try to curb our use of language in ways that basically amounts to B.S.—either intentional or unintentional.
Check out this week’s piece on that topic:
A Few Quick Things:
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If you haven’t checked out The Today System, take a look. It’s the personal productivity system I created around a simple 3 x 5” index card. Go to the site, sign up for the 1 week email course to learn the system, and join the Discord community. You’ll be glad you did.
I’m still getting really great reviews on my Getting Things Done with Google Sheets class. Here’s a recent review:
“Love the class. There are lots of folks out there with GTD tutorials for their various apps, but this is the only one I could find for Google Sheets. I've tried making my own GTD setup with Google Sheets before, and it fell flat, but I really like the way Mike has it organized. Thanks, Mike!”
There must be something to it! If you’re looking for a simple way to use the GTD system, give it a shot.
Read This
A Startling Illustrations of Opportunity Costs
That $3 cup of coffee each day seems to be such a small cost. But this piece on opportunity costs gives a great example of just how much it can cost for us to think only in terms of short-term gains. Over time, what we could have done instead of chase short-term gains is truly startling. Check out that $$ value in the article.
10 Predictions for 2022
For those that are slightly interested in where global business—especially tech—is going, but don’t necessarily have an in-depth knowledge of the existing conditions. This article runs through 10 predictions for what this year will hold. Many of them have to do with AI, which isn’t surprising. But there’s also some educational material in here about sectors like AI, and climate tech – which I hadn’t been familiar with before.
A Helpful Distinction Between 2 Types of Goals
An interesting post on Reddit’s r/productivity subreddit talks about an approach to structuring your goals for the year. It’s decent in its approach to planning, but it also digs into two types of goals I hadn’t heard of before:
Input goals - effort or process-based goals where you control whether you meet them or not. They’re about what you do.
Output goals - what most people think of as goals. They’re about results, or what you will achieve or receive.
The latter kind of goal are less in your control, and should be included only along with input goals.
Listen to This
Mindset Shifts for Better Performance
(How to Be Awesome at Your Job - Episode 652)
There are 2 mindsets when it comes to personal growth: performance and execution. They’re both valuable, but in this clip, you hear about separating the two modes you can be in, and their accompanying mindsets. This is just a clip, rather than a full episode. It’s about 7 minutes long.
Watch This
Rory Vaden on Multiplying Your Time
“Time management” is a bit of a misnomer. You can't really manage time; it flows at the same rate for everyone. But in this talk, Rory Vaden discusses an innovative way to think about how to streamline what you fill your time with. The most interesting concept he discusses is “procrastinating on purpose”. At 15 minutes, it’s well worth a watch.
A Question to Ponder
Where did this belief come from? Is it worth keeping?
Studies done in psychology and cognitive science over the past few decades point to an interesting behavior. We tend to form beliefs quickly and unconsciously—meaning we don’t think through the reasons for our beliefs before adopting them. When we do think through them, it is often an after-the-fact rationalization, rather than the process we follow to form the belief.
There are many reasons why we hold on to beliefs: emotions, accepting the beliefs of others, confidence in a belief based on consensus of a group, etc.
There are some beliefs you hold—ones that affect your mindset and behavior in important ways—where it’s worth it to ask where they came from. And furthermore, it’s worth asking if there’s still good reason to hold those beliefs.
Keep in mind: For many beliefs, your only options aren’t to either accept or reject. You can merely withhold judgment, until a certain standard of evidence is met.
That withholding of judgment is not something we’re generally accustomed to. It’s a bit uncomfortable. And many situations seem to demand that we accept or reject something—that we believe or disbelieve. That’s especially true in social situations—where peer pressure looms large. But there is almost always room for doing neither. There’s always room to choose not to make a judgment just yet.
A Quote
“We have put our words on steroids and amped the language up so high that unless we communicate in overdrive and hyperbole, we believe--perhaps correctly—that nobody will hear us. In the process, we've sacrificed nuance and judgement and distinction, and thereby cheapened the conversation.”
― Frank Luntz