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Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live. —Mae Jemison, American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.”
Given my current attention and working memory, what is the most sensible task to undertake right now?
treated resistance as evidence,
Head Let’s look at the first question: “Is the task appropriate?” You want to determine whether this course of action is the wisest. If the answer is no or unclear, this means you are skeptical about the potential benefits of the task.
Is the topic inconsistent with your YouTube channel’s theme? Is it popular but not intellectually stimulating to you? Have recent industry events rendered your planned content irrelevant? After identifying the reasons, reconsider your strategy to ensure the task aligns with your current priorities and the impact you wish to have.
Heart If you think the strategy is sound on paper, the problem may come from your subconscious feelings. Simply asking yourself, Is the task exciting?
Hand The last question, “Is the task doable?,” may seem to be the simplest one to solve for. You might have existing skills from other projects that are transferable to this new challenge. And if you don’t believe the task is doable with your current knowledge and tools, then you can address the problem by obtaining these resources.
Sometimes what we think is a lack of skills really is a lack of self-assurance.
Source Explanation Solution Head I don’t think the task is appropriate. Redefine strategy Heart I don’t feel like the task is exciting. Redesign the experience Hand I don’t believe the task is doable. Request support or get training
intentional imperfection means being deliberate about where you invest your efforts, recognizing that you cannot be at the very top all the time and across all areas of life. It’s about striving for sustainable excellence rather than fleeting perfection.
What is most important right now? In which domain do I strategically choose short-term mediocrity to enable long-term excellence?
I call the quitting option pause, again with intention. This not only eases the stigma of throwing in the towel but also reflects what quitting often is: a strategic temporary decision. Curious minds understand that the future holds infinite and unimaginable possibilities, including the potential to restart an abandoned experiment.
When your aim is to learn, quitting is not an admission of failure. It’s an exercise in adaptability. There is no point in rigidly clinging to an obsolete path when everything else has changed. Pausing is the appropriate move when the data you’ve collected strongly indicates a new course of action, when your efforts are negatively affecting your physical or mental health, or when there is no joy or clear value in continuing.
External signals: These include facts, contextual information, and practical limitations. How does your pact fit with your current circumstances? Is it manageable or is it in conflict with your other commitments? Are there other things in your life that are using, or need, more emotional energy? Has anything in the world changed? Internal signals: These include your emotions, motivations, and other mental states. How do you feel about your pact now? Is it still fulfilling, or has it become a source of tension? What is your level of self-confidence? What other beliefs and feelings can you
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take life as it came, accepting difficulties and opportunities without judging them through the lens of his ego.
Taoism talks about wu wei, which can be translated as “effortless action.” This doesn’t mean inaction but rather acting in harmony with the flow of life, without force or resistance.
our value isn’t contingent upon perfect conditions or outcomes, but on our commitment to ourselves and our journey. Your role is to stick to your pact and allow the world to provide you with data. Just showing up—being an agent of change in a world that keeps on changing—can help you feel more confident in your ability to cope and more prepared to handle future setbacks.
look to see what is being asked of you by the situation unfolding in front of you.”
Ride the wave of chaos instead of vainly trying to contain it. The point is not to create a master plan that gives you the illusion of power over the situation; rather, it is to de-escalate the consequences of any setback so you can move forward rather than give up.
“It was a musical thing, and you were supposed to sing or to dance while the music was being played.” Life, like music, carries highs and lows, crescendos and silences. Embracing these movements is not just a strategy—it’s the very essence of the dance. The tumult of change can catalyze fresh ideas. New opportunities arise through the ups and downs. It’s a vast, dynamic ecosystem that invites you to engage in creative problem-solving. Waltzing with chaos isn’t just about survival—it’s about feeling alive and open to the world, welcoming change as a source of growth, and finding humor in life’s
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wired to function at our best when tapping into shared knowledge and the support of a community.
researchers have found that flow states happen more easily in group activities than in solitary ones.
Social flow enhances not only the end result but the experience of getting there.
The rewarding experience of social flow is why many of the most influential artists, philosophers, and scientists have actively participated in vibrant “scenes”—creative communities where like-minded individuals exchange ideas and inspire one another.
salons create an experience of shared humanity. We can co-think together, in conversation.”
what you know is inseparable from who you know.
A community will give you access to a collective set of knowledge, skills, and physical assets that vastly exceed your own. Those communal resources empower you not only to achieve things you could not do independently, but to do so more efficiently. This way, your network’s diverse expertise and talents will complement your own abilities to expand your potential.
Marathon runners can concentrate on running faster, knowing their coach handles training, their nutritionist plans the optimal diet, and their sponsor facilitates the logistics.
Don’t hold the reins too tight. While having a vision is important, too much structure can stifle spontaneity and creativity. Giving members freedom to take the initiative can lead to unexpected manifestations of collective curiosity, and embracing distributed leadership, where responsibilities are shared among group members, promotes collaboration and shared decision-making.
learning in public strengthens your thinking by exposing your ideas to diverse perspectives early on. This can save you precious time and money. It also builds public trust and engagement by letting your stakeholders—whether colleagues or customers—witness firsthand the discovery process, with all its ups and downs.
Generativity is a psychological principle that emphasizes using your personal growth to positively impact the world around you.
Generativity isn’t measured by scale but by the depth of connection in the here and now. It is built around the conversations you have, the positive impact of the work you produce, the lives you touch. Unlike legacy, which often fixates on leaving an outsized enduring mark, generativity is found in smaller everyday interactions and contributions—in
producing proof of work is one of the most effective ways to increase your surface area of luck.
am not nuts. I am happy. I am successful on my own terms. Because if your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.”
“You’re not a commodity. You’re a constantly shifting human being with a complex range of emotions, needs, and interests.” Embracing this fluidity allows you to adapt and align your impact with your authentic ambitions.
Serial entrepreneurs embody this principle. They often share detailed “postmortems” of their failed ventures, transparently analyzing what went wrong and what they learned. By doing so, they not only maintain the trust of their investors and team members but also contribute to the entrepreneurial community’s collective wisdom, helping others avoid similar pitfalls and build on their insights. Even failure becomes generative.
This commitment to closing the loop by transparently sharing key learnings enabled him to maintain the trust of investors and to take the company’s team and what was left of their funding to spin it into an entirely new venture,
