2020 didn’t go as planned. Let’s make sure we learn from it and make 2021 better.
Last year, I published my Not-To-Do list for the first time. It’s my type new year’s resolution, because I believe that new year’s resolutions don’t work.
New year’s resolutions add to our life: do more of this, do more of that. But in reality, our lives are full already. We don’t have time for more things. We don’t have money for more things, or don’t need more things either.
What we need is less. Less destructive habits. Less negative thinking. Less stress.
So let’s think about what we shouldn’t do, instead of what we should do. Because — as I’m certain you know from experience — knowing that we “should do” something doesn’t mean we’ll actually do it. …
Input can’t be observed now, only output. Make it count.
Munich, March 2016. It’s a sunny, fresh spring day, and I’m enjoying the breeze in my hair as I’m biking to the office. Only one objective is on my mind: to convince my boss to let me work remotely for a week.
The day before, I may or may not have purchased a trip to California that includes a five-day layover in Riga, Latvia (crazy travel booking process that prompted me to write my second blogpost ever). And now I had to figure out how to still get my work done without being at the office.
I had a clear negotiation strategy in my mind, using the blueprint Tim Ferriss provides in his groundbreaking book “The 4-Hour Workweek” (which I consider my “bible”). If you haven’t read it, check it out — it is relevant as ever…
A book about our incapability to chill the fuck out.
“We only read the first paragraphs of the articles we find interesting because we don’t have the time to read them in their entirety.”
The above sentence is the fourth sentence of the opening chapter. And it describes everything that’s wrong with our society, our culture right now. So please, bear with me and don’t skip out on this post because you feel pressed for time.
Because after reading it, you may feel like you have more time.
The following takeaways are from the book “Do Nothing” by Celeste Headlee and therefore not my own intellectual material — just a summary of the things I learned. …
You don’t need the latest fad, CBD oil, or steroids. An individualized workout program will do.
If you go to the gym, you should have a workout program. It’s that simple. As a matter of fact, your lack of workout program might be the reason why you’re not going to the gym in the first place!
I’ll give you a few reasons why.
#1: Your time is precious. Use it effectively.
In the user research for my next company, one person I interviewed mentioned something that caught my attention:
“I don’t have a lot of free time. And much of that free time, I spend in the gym. …
There is no shortcut to success — but getting a strength coach might be the next closest thing.
“I just have weak ankles. There’s not much you can do about it.”
That’s at least what I thought, every time I tore the ligaments in my ankle. A total of 13 times throughout my career. I even published a post about it:
To quote: “Now, 11 years later, I’ve had my fair share of sports injuries: 12 torn ligaments (6 in each ankle), 3 concussions, knee ligament issues, blown out cartilage in my wrist from doing too many pushups, a partially torn quadriceps, the list goes on and on. And, two weeks ago, I added another undisclosed foot injury. …
Intensity. Whatever you do, do it with Intensity.
We’ve just finished our Kickoff Weekend at Entrepreneur First, which was great. It’s a program in which you have 8 weeks to find your future co-founder among 50–60 others, with whom you then develop a business together. Pretty cool, honestly.
One of the messages that kept coming up was: “You’re going to work a lot.” 60 hour workweeks are normal for founders, and if it’s 70 or 80, that can happen too.
You just gotta grind it out. If you’re working hard, work harder. Work more. Work longer hours. Put in the effort. Never stop grinding.
As an athlete, I’ve heard this message before: Put in the work. Work out every day. Train as hard as you can, as often as you can. If you want it as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful. …
The New Month Resolution: A resolution that sticks.
“What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made?” — “In 2016, I started doing New Month Resolutions.” - Ryan Shea in Tim Ferriss’ book “Tribe of Mentors”
I’m not a big fan of new year’s resolutions. I believe they’re too audacious to ever get done. Simply setting a goal without designing a system around it might work for a short span of time, but not for a whole year.
Laying in bed at around 22:57 on a cloudy day in April, close to drifting away, I was reading a few chapters in “Tribe of Mentors”. …
The first of many “new month’s resolutions” to come.
72 minutes. That is, according to an unofficial poll of 33 people, the average time per day they spend on Instagram. This means that on average, each of those people spends close to 8 hours every week on scrolling through newsfeeds with beautiful, shiny photos.
That’s an entire workday.
If could work one day less and still receive equal pay, would you do it?
No-brainer. Of course.
Yet somehow, many of us (myself included) spend a similar amount of time on the app. Perhaps even more.
I wondered: what would happen if I simply stay away from Instagram for a month? …
Living in unprecedented times means going back to basics.
There’s fascination, even romance, in the following lines. They’re so beautifully simple:
“… and it makes me wanna take a back road, makes me wanna take the long way home, put a little gravel in my travel, unwind, unravel all night long. Makes me wanna grab my honey, tear down some two-lane country who knows, get lost and get right with my soul — it makes me wanna take, makes me wanna take a back road” — Rodney Atkins, “Take A Back Road”
I’m here to make a unexpected statement: I enjoy country music.
Do you know that feeling when a song comes on, and it reminds you of a certain period in your life? That’s how I feel about country: it reminds me of my time living in the 20,000 soul small town of Elon, NC. …
“Next season isn’t cancelled, it’s just a longer offseason.”
Yesterday, I made a list of things I usually look forward to when I’m having a tough day.
- Lacrosse
- Vacation
- Parties
- Dates
- Concerts
- Get-togethers with friends
But then, COVID-19 happened.
- Lacrosse? Canceled.
- Vacation? Canceled.
- Parties? Canceled.
- Dates? Canceled.
- Concerts? Canceled.
- Get-togethers? Canceled.
In German, we have a saying: “Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude.” Anticipation is the greatest joy.
Thanks to COVID-19, all this anticipation all the sudden is gone. No more vacations. No more sports tournaments. No more get-togethers with the family. No more parties. And nobody even knows when things will go back to being “normal”.
How do you stay motivated if you all the sudden have nothing to look forward to? …
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