It's impossible.
The most interesting word in any language is "impossible." I hear it constantly, in every grammatical form and onomatopoeic variation imaginable.
And it never stops amazing me how many people don't just doubt the possibility of something. They actively believe in its impossibility.
You won't succeed. It's too expensive. It's technologically unfeasible. That's not how it works. No.
Every time I hear it, a solution arrives. And suddenly, everything becomes possible.
The secret to overcoming the impossible is disarmingly simple: you just have to figure out how to make it possible.
Gary Halbert had a motto for this: "Nothing is impossible for a man who refuses to listen to reason." He used it to justify pushing past every "can't be done" he ever heard, and he was usually right to.
p.s. you can use it for hiring too.
The most interesting word in any language is "impossible." I hear it constantly, in every grammatical form and onomatopoeic variation imaginable.
And it never stops amazing me how many people don't just doubt the possibility of something. They actively believe in its impossibility.
You won't succeed. It's too expensive. It's technologically unfeasible. That's not how it works. No.
Every time I hear it, a solution arrives. And suddenly, everything becomes possible.
The secret to overcoming the impossible is disarmingly simple: you just have to figure out how to make it possible.
Gary Halbert had a motto for this: "Nothing is impossible for a man who refuses to listen to reason." He used it to justify pushing past every "can't be done" he ever heard, and he was usually right to.
p.s. you can use it for hiring too.
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inkzy
Announcing an impossible mission is an efficient recruiting filter. The skeptics do you a favor by self-selecting out.
"Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"
"Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"
The work on any worthy project is endless, infinite.
You cannot limit the work so you must limit your hours.
Your time, not the work, is the only thing you can manage.
You cannot limit the work so you must limit your hours.
Your time, not the work, is the only thing you can manage.
The newest technical papers and the oldest books are the best sources of arbitrage. But it's still remarkably hard to keep up with the latest in AI and tech.
I'm starting a Paper Club. Like book club. But for research papers.
Every few weeks, we’ll meet on Sundays for lunch or dinner and go through a few new papers together.
One person presents the paper. Then we discuss it. Then we eat and keep talking.
I’m especially looking for builders, curious engineers, researchers, and people who genuinely read papers
If you’d join something like this, drop a “+” in the comments.
I'm starting a Paper Club. Like book club. But for research papers.
Every few weeks, we’ll meet on Sundays for lunch or dinner and go through a few new papers together.
One person presents the paper. Then we discuss it. Then we eat and keep talking.
I’m especially looking for builders, curious engineers, researchers, and people who genuinely read papers
If you’d join something like this, drop a “+” in the comments.
1
Surprising yourself
The creative process only becomes interesting when the author learns to surprise himself.
At first, it seems impossible. You already know what thoughts are in your head, so where would the ones that surprise you come from?
But it turns out that practice, a bit of freedom, and courage yield an amazing result. And a completely new level emerges - when it becomes interesting to be with yourself.
It's achieved through practice!
The creative process only becomes interesting when the author learns to surprise himself.
At first, it seems impossible. You already know what thoughts are in your head, so where would the ones that surprise you come from?
But it turns out that practice, a bit of freedom, and courage yield an amazing result. And a completely new level emerges - when it becomes interesting to be with yourself.
It's achieved through practice!
Premortem before commitment.
Imagine the project failed catastrophically. What killed it? Address those things first.
Imagine the project failed catastrophically. What killed it? Address those things first.
inkzy
Questions rest on unexamined assumptions. Always try flipping them. For example, instead of asking “Why is there poverty?” ask “Why is there prosperity?” This shift helps you realize that poverty is the norm. And prosperity is the exception that needs explaining.
To improve yourself, you first have to find what's wrong with you. Once you've made a habit of scanning for defects, the supply of defects is essentially infinite.
Maslow's Pyramid
Every single person has seen the pyramid.
Five levels. Physiological needs at the bottom, self-actualization at the top.
Psychology professors draw it on whiteboards. They teach it at HR courses (damn i participated in one).
It's nonsense.
But it's simple nonsense, which is the only kind that survives.
Psychology and all social science builds a version of a human that they can understand, because real humans are impossible to understand.
Anyways, moving on.
In his later work, notes collected in The Farther Reaches of Human Nature (1971), Maslow added a sixth level above self-actualization. He called it self-transcendence. Going beyond the self. Service to others, nature, art, the divine, something outside your own skull.
The fifth level, to improve yourself, you first have to find what's wrong with you. Once you've made a habit of scanning for defects, the supply of defects is essentially infinite.[1]
Dog chasing its tail. The dog has committed to being miserable until it catches the tail. The tail stays two inches ahead. The dog keeps spinning. This is called "doing the work."
The sixth level, the one Maslow wrote down right before he died, stop looking at yourself. Look at something else. Serve it.[2][3]
[1] Personalize failure means instead of saying I failed, you personalize it and say "I am the failure".
[2] Networking is about you. but the best way to network is to be useful.
[3] I don't think altruism exists. But purpose of doing something big is very natural to us. Think why solitary confinement in prisons is often considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Every single person has seen the pyramid.
Five levels. Physiological needs at the bottom, self-actualization at the top.
Psychology professors draw it on whiteboards. They teach it at HR courses (damn i participated in one).
It's nonsense.
But it's simple nonsense, which is the only kind that survives.
Psychology and all social science builds a version of a human that they can understand, because real humans are impossible to understand.
Anyways, moving on.
In his later work, notes collected in The Farther Reaches of Human Nature (1971), Maslow added a sixth level above self-actualization. He called it self-transcendence. Going beyond the self. Service to others, nature, art, the divine, something outside your own skull.
The fifth level, to improve yourself, you first have to find what's wrong with you. Once you've made a habit of scanning for defects, the supply of defects is essentially infinite.[1]
Dog chasing its tail. The dog has committed to being miserable until it catches the tail. The tail stays two inches ahead. The dog keeps spinning. This is called "doing the work."
The sixth level, the one Maslow wrote down right before he died, stop looking at yourself. Look at something else. Serve it.[2][3]
[1] Personalize failure means instead of saying I failed, you personalize it and say "I am the failure".
[2] Networking is about you. but the best way to network is to be useful.
[3] I don't think altruism exists. But purpose of doing something big is very natural to us. Think why solitary confinement in prisons is often considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Want to fall asleep quickly?
Sit on the edge of the bed, lower your chin to your chest, relax your neck muscles and shake your head from shoulder to shoulder until you feel slightly dizzy (about 50 repetitions). Then lie down on the pillow - and goodbye
Sit on the edge of the bed, lower your chin to your chest, relax your neck muscles and shake your head from shoulder to shoulder until you feel slightly dizzy (about 50 repetitions). Then lie down on the pillow - and goodbye
Discover people whom you love doing “nothing” with, and do nothing with them on a regular basis. The longer you can maintain those relationships, the longer you will really live.
Decisions like to present themselves as irreversible, like a one-way door. But most deciding points are two-way. Don’t get bogged down by decisions. You can usually back up if needed.
And do not cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
And do not cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Taking someone's time should be a pain in the ass.
Taking many people's time should be so cumbersome that most people won't even bother to try it unless it's really important.
That applies to following people online as well as being in group chat.
Taking many people's time should be so cumbersome that most people won't even bother to try it unless it's really important.
That applies to following people online as well as being in group chat.
inkzy
Want to fall asleep quickly? Sit on the edge of the bed, lower your chin to your chest, relax your neck muscles and shake your head from shoulder to shoulder until you feel slightly dizzy (about 50 repetitions). Then lie down on the pillow - and goodbye
Best sleep aid is to first get really tired.
I am looking for great things to read off the beaten path.
What is the blog post, essay, or paper you've read this year that changed your thinking from last year? What’s the most underrated book / blog you’ve read? What are you reading now that nobody else is?
What is the blog post, essay, or paper you've read this year that changed your thinking from last year? What’s the most underrated book / blog you’ve read? What are you reading now that nobody else is?
Go Direct
The founder is the highest-leverage spokesperson (screw publicist and SMMs).
Only the founder holds 'the secret knowledge' the company is built on. Every layer of filtering between that knowledge and the audience strips out the conviction that recruits, closes deals, and raises money.
Outsourcing the story is as bad as outsourcing the code.
Going direct means three things.
1) build your own audience instead of renting reach.
2) speak honestly instead of hiding behind committee-vetted language.
3) and let the message come from the person actually responsible.
It is not the same as "post more."
Corporate marketing is intrinsically evasive and avoids responsibility. They try to be polite and politeness is the enemy of truth.
The general public is almost never your audience. For 99% of startups it is employees, future employees, customers, future customers.
Spend zero energy converting haters.
Spend it on swing voters who need slightly more convincing.
The person attacking you is not your audience.
Don't try to change a worldview.
Go direct.
Usually people call you "rude" when you do it.
The founder is the highest-leverage spokesperson (screw publicist and SMMs).
Only the founder holds 'the secret knowledge' the company is built on. Every layer of filtering between that knowledge and the audience strips out the conviction that recruits, closes deals, and raises money.
Outsourcing the story is as bad as outsourcing the code.
Going direct means three things.
1) build your own audience instead of renting reach.
2) speak honestly instead of hiding behind committee-vetted language.
3) and let the message come from the person actually responsible.
It is not the same as "post more."
Corporate marketing is intrinsically evasive and avoids responsibility. They try to be polite and politeness is the enemy of truth.
The general public is almost never your audience. For 99% of startups it is employees, future employees, customers, future customers.
Spend zero energy converting haters.
Spend it on swing voters who need slightly more convincing.
The person attacking you is not your audience.
Don't try to change a worldview.
Go direct.
Usually people call you "rude" when you do it.
Always be radically honest, but use your honesty as a gift not as a weapon. Your honesty should benefit others.
If the writing is bad, it is better for it to be bad and honest.
I would rather see writing that is suboptimal, that has personality, intent, and conviction, than writing that is textbook correct but dead, boring, stale, and stiff, because that is not going to break through.
I would rather see writing that is suboptimal, that has personality, intent, and conviction, than writing that is textbook correct but dead, boring, stale, and stiff, because that is not going to break through.