Blog September 4, 2020

50 Life-Changing Ideas

This is a list of thoughts and ideas that may change your perspective and the way you think.

I’ve titled them as life-changing because they have shaped the way I think and how I live. I’m hoping one or two of these ideas will spark your curiosity — perhaps offer a little out-of-the-box thinking.

Chaos — Most people spend their time trying to manage chaos when it would be more effective to eliminate it. If it causes a problem, it is a problem.

Fredkin’s Paradox — The more similar two choices seem the less the decision should matter, yet the harder it is to choose between them. As a result, we often spend the most amount of time on decisions that matter the least.

The Pareto principle — Known as the 80/20 rule, the Pareto principle states that roughly 80 percent of effects come from 20 percent of the causes. For example, 80 percent of this site’s traffic comes from 20 percent of the articles. More importantly, 20 percent of our work leads to 80 percent of the most impactful outcomes. Do the things that matter. Ignore the rest.

Decisions — Time is the only cure for indecisiveness. If you don’t make decisions, time will do it for you. There’s plenty of company and misery when you let yourself become a product of circumstance. Not making a choice is a choice.

Addition by subtraction — We gain more from the things we eliminate. If you’re trying to get healthy it would be more beneficial to cut out sugar than by adding in exercise. When trying to improve your environment cut out frivolous clutter instead of getting a bigger home. When trying to improve your relationships, end the toxic ones. To get on top of your finances, stop needless spending. Reduce to refine.

Economics — The economy needs you fat, sick, and broke. This is why the food pyramid is upside down and schools don’t teach financial literacy. Doctors don’t treat the cause [just the symptoms] because pharmaceutical companies control healthcare. They need you to need pills. The banks don’t want you controlling your money and Netflix needs you tired and ready to zone out at the end of your workday. The economy needs people to consume and the easiest way to do that is by making them feel bad and keeping them dumb. Whether it be physically or emotionally sick, most are inclined to do what makes them feel good. There’s no money to be made off of healthy and wealthy people who have the knowledge to make good choices. It’s bad for the economy.

Retirement — The retirement age of 65 is a made-up number. Adopted from Germany, The United States passed The Social Security Act in 1935 when the average life expectancy was just 61.7 years of age making the retirement age of 65 a poor marker of the ideal age to retire. Point being, ignore the retirement age. Get enough money to do whatever you want in life as early as possible.

The Lindy Effect — The longer a technology or idea has existed, the longer it will continue to exist. For example, technology like television and email will be used for a long time because they have existed for a long time. Also, the longer we maintain a relationship the longer the relationship will stay intact. The longer we maintain a habit, the longer the habit will continue, and so forth.

Parkinson’s Law — Work expands to fill the time allotted. If we have an hour to complete a task we will take an hour to do it. If we have 6 months to complete a task we will drag it out for 6 months. Set deadlines.

Goals — Most people aim for mediocrity convinced they are incapable of doing extraordinary things. This makes the level of competition fiercest for ‘realistic goals’ making them the most time and energy consuming. Success becomes easier when you pursue things others are ignoring. H/T to Tim Ferris

Pivoting — Not every choice in life has to be binary. When you feel like quitting you may just need to pivot. Take a side step and gain more information. Pivoting can also be considered a half measure. There are times when you should just quit.

Half measures — Be careful when taking a half measure. Most of the time what we need to take is a full measure.

Moderation — Most things are good in moderation. Few things are easy to moderate.

The Barbell Strategy — In most cases, it’s best to avoid the middle. For example, buying high-quality items or cheap throwaway items. The middle is an item that is neither inexpensive nor high quality. The Barbell Strategy can be applied to our daily lives as well. Either be fully engaged in work or fully engaged in leisure. The middle is mediocre.

The Law of Diminishing Returns — All environments have ceilings. A stopping point where personal growth is no longer possible. Chances are, at some point, you extracted most of the value of whatever it is you’re doing. This idea includes careers, hobbies, and social environments.

Crab mentality — When a crab in a bucket tries to escape, the other crabs will reach up and pull it down. So much so, that if you have a bucket of crabs, there’s no need to put a lid on it. On a journey of self-improvement, most people will try to pull you down and keep you at their level.

Change — What got you here won’t get you there. The ability to conceive and embrace ‘change’ is an asset to one’s personal culture.

True cost — Everything has a true cost and it’s more than just money. It is freedom and a portion of our time on earth.

Politics — You shouldn’t have to rely on your government nor should you have to pay much attention to what they are doing.

Luck potential — If given two options, choose the one that has more luck potential. [Ex. Going to a cocktail party versus staying home and watching tv.]

The Compound Effect — Small actions build up over time. One small action has little effect yet 100 small actions can build up to create a large result. Seemingly insignificant improvements have a greater outcome when consistency is applied.

Have to’s — “There are no have to’s, just choices.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Choosing actions — By choosing to do one thing we choose not to do another. By saying yes, we are effectively saying no to something else. Everything works like this. You can’t have both.

Writing — Clear writing is a function of clear thinking. If you want to understand a topic, write about it. If you can’t write it, you don’t fully understand it.

Competition — No one can beat you at being you.

Digital haze — It’s impossible to be creative in a stale environment. Yet most of us spend our days swiping and scrolling — seeing the same things over and over again. The days pass quickly as we search for something that we know is not there. Things become foggy and focus is fleeting. We wonder where the time went and why we’re unable to gain clarity. We can’t see the trees through the forest because of the digital haze.

Inversion — Consider reframing questions to their opposite counterpart. For example, you can never be sure what is going to work. Instead, try to eliminate the things that surely won’t work.

Business models — The first thing on a business model should be personal life design. Most entrepreneurs get this backward.

Apologies — It’s often more beneficial to break the rules and apologize later. A thoughtful apology is almost always accepted. The upside of breaking a rule is usually greater than the downside of having to say: ‘I’m sorry.’

Accessibility — People will waste your time without knowing they’re doing it. The only way to combat this is by reducing their access to you by setting thoughtful boundaries.

Serendipity — Also known as happy accidents, serendipity occurs at the intersection of wisdom and chance. To create more of it, be curious, consistently learn new things, and experiment.

Luck — Luck is something we create. It is a function of surface area and a reward for hard work. It comes from taking risks and running the possibility of looking like a fool.

Innovation — The most unique ideas come from the fringes. The people on the edge. The ones that others are unsure of. Find weird people and make friends with them.

Procrastination — Planning, perfectionism, and procrastination are three ways to fail. The first two are symptoms of the third.

Learning — The best way to learn is by taking action. There is no better way. If you want to be a good writer — write. If you want to design websites — design them. Everything is figureoutable and the best way to figure things out is by doing them.

Bestsellers — Just because a product is a bestseller doesn’t mean it’s the best product. The word ‘bestseller’ simply implies ‘most popular’ and doesn’t equate to quality. This idea is relevant to most things in life. Elected officials are typically bestsellers but not the best candidates.

Pre-headline vs Post-headline people — Pre-headline people know about things before they make it into the news. Post-headline people find out about things after they are well-known. Pre-headline people have the advantage. H/T to David Perell

Hick’s law — Hick’s law states that the more choices that are available the slower the decision-making process is. If you want people to act fast, give them fewer options.

Littlewood’s law — Individuals can expect to experience an event defined as a miracle at a rate of about one per month. Miracle: defined as an event with odds of one in a million. Look for the small miracles in life.

Speed — Without it, planes would crash. Perpetual motion is a safeguard against calamity.

Oxygen — You can’t save someone who’s drowning if you don’t get your oxygen first. Help yourself, then help others.

Current vs Wind — The wind is noisy and gets all of the attention. It howls and gusts, but it is light. The current is quiet yet persistent. It is heavy and relentless. A good strategy is to ignore the wind and focus on the current. H/T to Seth Godin

Emergencies – Most things presented as urgent rarely are.

Sheep — Most people don’t know what they want and follow each other like sheep. They do specific things with their lives for no other reason than: ‘That’s what people do.’ This explains consumerism and the basis of the advertising industry.

Parrots — Few people have original ideas and even fewer have original opinions. Most people simply repeat what they’ve heard from others. For example, ask someone what they think of a college education. If they start talking about how you can’t get anywhere without a degree you’re talking to a parrot.

Selling time — Money and time are not co-dependent. You don’t have to sell time to earn money. You can build things that make money while you sleep.

Value of information — The value of information declines with abundance. Think of social media. This is why information on the internet is low-quality. Inversely, because of abundance, quality information has never been easier to find.

Sexual market value — Everyone has a number on their forehead. A signal of attractiveness. 2’s partner with 2’s and 10’s partner with 10’s. The numbers can be gamed by resourcefulness and personality. This is how 2’s partner with 8’s. I don’t make the rules.

Numbers and limits — Most numbers are arbitrary and limits will limit you. The speed limit should be broken and broken often. Living within society’s expectations is what makes people unhappy. Adhering to a particular rank-and-file lifestyle. Dare to be abnormal and push the boundaries. Live life on the edges. Do the things they say you are not supposed to do. Understand the negative outcomes of doing so but I promise you, there are few.

Possibilities — Thanks to technology the possibilities are endless. No longer are we tied to physical locations and any person with an internet connection can start a business. I can’t think of a more exciting time to be alive. We have been granted the freedom to roam the globe and live in communities with like-minded people. Of course, with optionality comes tougher decisions.

Thanks for reading 50 Life-Changing Ideas. For thoughts and comments @ me on Twitter.