deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
6
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
"One thing I've learned as an adult that I didn't realize as a kid is how precisely you have to aim at a goal to hit it. If you choose to optimize something even slightly off to the side, you'll sometimes achieve almost nothing toward your intended goal."
Paul Graham
432 SAVES
1.54k READS
Many of us don't want to face the narrow path to success. Instead, we prefer to hear the stories of rare misfits who managed to beat the odds.
To beat the odds, you have to understand the game you're playing. You have to know why success is so narrow.
342 SAVES
1.23k READS
331 SAVES
1.03k READS
To learn the path early, ask people who've walked it before. Notice what matters to people in charge. The way forward is not creative. If you have an idea to pitch, write it into a business plan.
Creative work can rarely be measured by a universal yardstick. Thus gatekeepers rely more on signals. Artists, academics, and authors may find that their paths forward are more constrained.
284 SAVES
796 READS
When you feel you've lost your way:
302 SAVES
766 READS
There are many targets to aim at. You're never starting from scratch. Wherever you are, there are many possibilities within reach. All you require is to recognize the path ahead and stick to it.
Getting a book deal is narrow. But there's self-publishing, blogs, newsletters, and writing for magazines.
The path may be narrow, but there are more destinations than you can imagine.
287 SAVES
775 READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
6
Key Ideas
Motivation is categorized into two basic types: Extrinsic and intrinsic.
Money as a tool for motivation is limiting at best, and the 'carrot and stick' approach many managers use to motivate employees is will actually achieve the opposite effect of what was intended.
‘If, then’ rewards or conditional rewards are when we promise to give something to an individual when they complete a certain task.
These rewards can have a negative impact on motivation as the employees lose the will to work on that task for the sake of working.
5
Key Ideas
It’s tempting to think that all the good ideas must be taken by now and that there is no possible way to make any new positive contribution.
However, the story of every good idea, every new...
Bad ideas are not your enemy. They are essential steps to better ideas.
Focus on making something worth sharing. How small can you make it and still do something you're proud of? Could you play just one note on the clarinet that's worth listening to?
There is a community of critics and tweakers and tinkerers that are ready to criticize the logo your agency put together. What is scarce are the people willing to make the logo themselves.
Here is then a clue about what to do next: Go first. After you have done the scary bits, you can easily get help from the people who are good at smoothing out the rough places with their critiques.
6
Key Ideas
Excellence is worth pursuing more than money or status. However, the idea of excellence holds a subtle distinction.
As a whole, our working lives are more like niches. There are numerous professions, but the path for success in many professions are extremely narrow.
The more defined a field, the narrower the relevant dimension of competition.