Timeless Tuesday #3

Inversion, Specialists, and Preparing For The Worst

WHAT I’M WRITING

Last week, I published an essay titled ‘Why I Abandoned 22% of My Life.’ It’s a short essay on money, life-changing decisions and doing important work.

I’ve been blown away by the kind words, and shocked by the number of people reaching out to say that they find themselves in the position I speak about in the essay. It goes to show that everybody is fighting their own battle, and you’re not alone if you’re doubting your work, life, or future.

Thank you for the reads, shares, signups and messages - it’s more appreciated than you could ever imagine and provides plenty of motivation to keep going. Let’s get to it.

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ONE IDEA: INVERSION

If you know what’s stopping you from making progress, it’s easier to avoid.

Inversion is a way of thinking in which you consider the opposite of what you want. It can be applied to almost anything and helps you to approach problems from a different perspective. Examples:

Productivity: Instead of asking ‘How can I get more done?’ ask, ‘How can I distract myself?’ By keeping my phone next to me, my email open, and making Twitter easily accessible. Knowing what distracts you shows you what to avoid.

Relationships: ‘How can I be a better partner?’ becomes ‘What makes me a bad partner?’ Poor communication, lack of trust, and criticising everything my partner says. To be a better partner, avoid these things.

Employment: ‘How can I be a better employee?’ becomes ‘What would a terrible employee do?’ Show up late, argue with co-workers, and submit incomplete work. Being a good employee starts with not being a terrible one.

Most of the time, progress is made by avoiding mistakes, not performing miracles. Inversion makes mistakes obvious and helps you to avoid them.

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WATCHING & RE-WATCHING

This 6-minute video by Tim Ferris is one I’ve been re-watching frequently. It’s full of valuable insight on careers and how to acquire skills which will benefit you, regardless of what you do.

Key takeaways:

• It can make sense to specialise if you're the Tiger Woods of your field. That means you've got to be in the top 0.0001%.

• If you’re not, like most people, combine a handful of skills which are rarely combined. The rarer they are, the more valuable they are.

• Don't try to master 1000 skills. Learn a few skills which are rarely combined and which can be effectively combined.

• Public speaking, writing and negotiating are skills which will benefit you in almost any career.

• Pick projects based on the people you’ll get to work with and the skills you’ll acquire. That way, even if you fail, you still win.

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QUESTION I’M ASKING MYSELF

"What will you do when it doesn't work out the way you hoped?"

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P.s. If you learned something new, please share it with somebody who could benefit from learning it too. As always, I’d love to hear from you - just hit reply, or comment below.

Catch you next Tuesday,

KS