An online commonplace book
Certainly read the whole piece, but here is the print-it-out-and-hang-it-above-your-monitor version:
Be audacious.
Do grunt work.
Do the boring things.
Learn undefined skills.
Work hard.
Bring a sense of urgency & move fast.
Improve things.
Ask your naive questions.
Simplify things.
Follow up.
Show up during the hard times.
Figure out the first step.
Finish things.
No excuses then?
Most people who are talented or smart are scared of doing things. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s more often than not the case. The ability to do scary things on their behalf is extremely powerful, both in terms of advancing the goal/project and also getting them to better utilize their talents.
– Adaobi
It’s early 2024, but Adaobi’s piece How to do things if you’re not that smart and don’t have any talent is my favorite on-line piece of the year.
Audacious: recklessly daring. – origin, from L. audax, audac- ‘bold’
I can’t help but think of this in terms of football, but I find being audacious helps build confidence. Having an approach of I’m going to take this defender on, regardless of the result, can help steady the nerves.
Applicable elsewhere I’m sure.
Most people blog and write online to share what they know. To look smart. It’s understandable. It’s human nature.
But I enjoyed online writer extraordinaire Adaobi‘s approach. Asking the online world questions.
Her question straight out – how does one become a polymath?
– How can I develop an up-to-date taste for what “good” looks like faster?
Adaobi, Adaobi’s Newsletter. Questions: How to be a polymath. January 22, 2023
– How can I reverse engineer great work faster?
– How can I access my subconscious faster?
– How can I ponder on multiple things simultaneously?
– How can I identify top-tier talent in new fields?
– How do I choose which skills to cultivate in a new field?
– How can I develop a better sense of bad ideas?
– How do I avoid dogma?
– How can I ask better questions?
Pair with her excellent post Overlooked Problems
Floodlights and Goalposts 