My 4-year-old neighbor just got a tricycle.
He rides in the driveway, simply going back and forth again and again.
He loves it.
It doesn't matter that there's a bigger/better/cooler tricycle out there somewhere or that every 10 seconds he has to stop, lift up his bike, and switch directions.
He's just happy to ride.
Smart kid.
Now, on to this week's ideas...
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"If you want people to care about you and your work, double down on its quality, your commitment to those who consume it, and your willingness to share your expertise with the world."
I don't spend a lot of time marketing myself and yet...I've attracted a large audience and strong network of connections who have helped me in countless ways.
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"My ideal day doesn't require me to be rich or powerful or important. It just requires that I be good enough at something to sell my services on the open market and strong enough to say no to things that are beyond my needs. That is a privilege, and it's more accessible than we think."
This post is inspired by a great Marcus Aurelius quote: "You could be good today, but instead you choose tomorrow."
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"A well-told story makes people care, which is why your ability to tell stories is the key to attracting attention for your creations."
Sometimes a message resonates more when you can watch and listen to it than it does when you read it, which is why I'm excited to share this video with you.
In it, you'll learn why sharing the stories of where you've been, where you're at, and where you're going makes a huge difference in the success of your work.
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"Put a reminder of your values front and center, whether that's with a Post-it Note, a printout, or a computer screen background. That way, when you're feeling overwhelmed and need to decide what to tackle next, you can use those values to help you decide what to do."
Don't worry, this isn't just about cleaning your workspace.
The suggestions include to focus on functionality, add green, and organize based on how you work and think.
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"Reverse-engineer what you read. If it feels like good writing, what makes it good? If it's awful, why?"
Reading this post won't guarantee you'll write a book that becomes Bill Gates' favorite, but it does reveal the concepts that helped Steven Pinker do just that.
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"Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself."
This is a deep one.
The ideas range from how to deal with success, to life being a single player game, to life's purpose and meaning.
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"It's easy to blame the digital world for our distractions, but in part it's up to us to learn not only when to tune it out, but also how to use it wisely."
Here's a simple and powerful idea.
Austin Kleon points out we've fallen into a trap of spending our time thinking about whatever gets pushed at us in our social media feeds instead of self-directing our attention.
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"Inspired by the approach Disney took in developing the original Snow White film, the founders began looking at Airbnb not as just a website or a service but as a story, with a beginning, middle, and end."
Lenny Rachitsky spent seven years working at Airbnb and in that time learned what it takes to build a successful company.
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"You ask yourself two questions: Is it working? Do I still believe in it?"
It's not a refusal to quit that leads people to success, it's an understanding of when to quit that makes all the difference.
In this two-minute video, Chris Guillebeau breaks down how to know when to give up and suggests the answer can be found by asking yourself two simple questions.
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"Consider from the start how you can repurpose your content in order to get more value from it and build that into the format of your creations."
Content creation is hard work and you deserve to get more value out of it than you likely do at this point.
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