Woolgathering #157 - Less is More, More is More, and so on...
Also: Unrealistic expectations, Quality>Quantity, counterintuitive time management, and more...
We tend to both underestimate and overestimate ourselves. As a result, we end up placing artificial limits on ourselves, and also burn ourselves out.
It’s a truly tragic situation. But it’s avoidable, given the proper mindset shift.
That old adage “less is more” turns out to be true when it comes to working toward our goals. But it’s also true that more is more when we’re coming up with our goals.
Confused? Don’t be. I wrote about the different mindsets we need to embrace when we formulate our goals vs. when we actually wake up each day to work on the tasks that will achieve them.
The folks over at Forge reached out and asked if they could publish the piece, so it must be at least somewhat worth reading…
If you enjoy reading my stuff, I’d really appreciate if you’d consider joining Medium. It’s only $5/month, and you get access to thousands and thousands of great articles on a wide range of topics—with new pieces and authors published each day. I also get a part of the membership price each month—which helps me keep the lights on.
Read This
Why We Should Have Unrealistic Expectations
How high should our expectations be of those we teach or lead?
An argument worth considering:
"Tyler Cowen writes: ‘At critical moments in time, you can raise the aspirations of other people significantly, especially when they are relatively young, simply by suggesting they do something better or more ambitious than what they might have in mind. It costs you relatively little to do this, but the benefit to them, and to the broader world, may be enormous. This is in fact one of the most valuable things you can do with your time and with your life.’”
Quantity Really Is Better Than Quality…Because Quantity Begets Quality
This is a great piece about execution and working to get better at things. It talks about overcoming the barriers we usually face with creating and execution. What’s really helpful in the piece is the explanation of two distinct mindsets: prevention and promotion.
One seems rational, but tends to hold us back. The other seems a bit foolish at first, but ends up paying off long-term.
Nobody Reads the Terms of Service, Right?
You read all of the terms of service documents before you click agree, right? Yeah, me neither. This site does a fantastic job summarizing what we’ve all probably already agreed to, but didn’t really read. And it grades each service provider on just how dastardly and invasive their terms of service are.
The Wordle Craze: Get Your Fix
If you haven’t heard of the online daily word game Wordle, it’s worth checking out. It’s a great way to start your day off with an enriching brain teaser. But the current site limits you to only doing today’s puzzle. However someone has kindly set up a way for you to play puzzles from the previous day. Enjoy!
Listen to This
Stacy Tuschl on Effective Time Management
Stacy Tuschl talks to Mike Vardy about the importance of maintenance in habits, and keeping your schedule realistic.
If someone asks you today if you can do something for them in 2 months, you usually tend to say yes—thinking that advance notice makes it no problem. But Tuschl pushes back on that notion in this interview. She says a good trick to use is to ask yourself if you would make room to do this thing today. And if the answer is no, you probably shouldn’t commit to it in the future either.
I’m not sure if I necessarily agree with this, but there’s something useful and interesting in what she’s suggesting.
Watch This
Ryan Holliday and Shane Parrish on why journaling is necessary for learning and growth
It’s been well-established that journaling is great for mental health and processing emotions. However journaling is also essential for learning. Specifically, reflection is essential for learning. Ryan Halliday and Shane Parrish discuss why learning is incomplete without reflection, and how journaling can lead to better decision-making.
A Question
Destination or journey?
Whatever undertaking you’re considering, it pays to ask the question of why you might choose to do it. If you want the result, but thinking of the work necessary to get there isn’t somewhat exciting to you—beware.
The destination alone rarely makes the journey worthwhile. And furthermore, you may never actually reach the destination. This is true for so many goals or results we chase. We may never get them. Many results are out of our control. All we control is our effort and our actions. That’s the journey.
Sometimes in the end, all we’re left with is the work we did trying to get the results. And if that work wasn’t energizing, educating, and worth doing on its own—that’s regrettable.
Before you take something on, see if there’s something about the work itself that’s valuable to you. If there is, proceed. But if it looks like drudgery with the hope of results to make it all worthwhile, run away—fast.
A Quote
“We must do our work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause.”
― Steven Pressfield