Learning to Learn

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Learning is not a rigidly formal system of precisely labeled steps.

Learning is messy. It’s trial and error. It’s failing and then failing again and then slowly figuring it out.

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New Neuroscience Reveals 5 Rituals That Will Make You Happy - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

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Before we commence with the festivities, I wanted to thank everyone for helping my first book become a Wall Street Journal bestseller. To check it out, click here. *** You want to be happy. Unfortunately, your brain is not always in a cooperating kind of mood. What gives?

Key Ideas

Challenge Unhelpful Thoughts

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Listen to your thoughts — but don’t necessarily believe them.

They're suggestions, possibilities. But they’re not gospel. You can’t control what thoughts pop up, but y...

Identifying Unhelpful Thoughts

Black and White Thinking: There are heaping piles of nuance to most things.
Unrealistic Expectations: Cynicism is bad, but a little skepticism is essential.
Selective Attention: If your brain is always looking for the negative, you’re gonna find it.
Disqualifying the Positive: Sometimes we go into problem-solving mode and focus only on what is broken.
Predicting the Future: “This will never work” or “They’re going to think I’m stupid.” You don’t know the future. So don’t act like it.
“Should” thoughts: It’s usually just an insistence that the world bends to your will and is a great way to amplify frustration.

Do More Stuff

Doing little positive things is better for happiness than occasionally bagging an elephant:

Enjoyable stuff
Achievement stuff: Defeat your goals in single combat and feel like a conquering hero
Meaningful stuff: Do volunteer work or just help someone
Physical stuff: Exercise. Not only keeps you alive, but it’s like miracle grow for your brain
Social stuff.

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How to Think

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fs.blog

I wrote a response on quora recently to the question 'how do I become a better thinker' that generated a lot of attention and feedback so I thought I'd build on that a little and post it here too. Thinking is not IQ.

Key Ideas

Thinking is not IQ

We often make the mistake of thinking that people with high IQs think better. But it's not true. That's not the type of knowledge or brainpower that makes you better at life, happier, or more succe...

Principles for seeking wisdom

Go to bed smarter than when you woke up.
"I’m not smart enough to figure everything out myself, so I want to master the best of what other people have already figured out."

If you want to think better...

Become better at probing other people’s thinking. Ask questions. Simple ones are better. “Why” is the best.
Slow down. Make sure you give yourself time to think.
Probe yourself. Try and understand if you’re talking about something you really know something about or if you’re just regurgitating something you heard.

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Use First Principles Thinking to Solve Impossible Problems

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riskology.co

The gist: If you want to solve hard problems in unique ways, "first principles thinking" is the strategy that works for the world's most creative people. "If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes."

Key Idea

Practical ways to use First Principles Thinking

If you’re starting a business, use first principles to build a product or service that’s fundamentally better than the competition.
If your day is too busy, first princip...