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How to avoid email overload
How to organize your inbox
How to write effective emails
Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.
Implement a system of continuous small improvements.
True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking
463
1.69K reads
MORE IDEAS ON THIS
If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. When you're in motion, you're planning and strategizing and learning. Those are all good things, but they don't produce a result. You're just preparing to get something done. The most effective fo...
389
592 reads
Humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just manageable difficulty.
The greateast threat to success is not failure but boredom. We get bored with habits becau...
378
538 reads
We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.
Create a habit contract:
368
435 reads
You can break a habit, but you're unlikely to forget it. And that means that simply resisting temptation is an eneffective strategy.
To eliminate a bad habit, reduce exposure to the cue that causes it.
381
870 reads
"The costs of your good habits are in the present. The costs of your bad habits are in the future"
380
618 reads
It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. Too often, we convince ourselves that a massive success requires massive action.
We often dismiss small changes because they don't seem to matter ve...
451
2.99K reads
It is the anticipation of a reward, not the fulfillment of it, that gets us to take action. It is the craving that leads to the response.
Temptation bundling: It consists of linking an action you want to do with an action you need to do.
After I [HABIT I NEED]...
381
817 reads
Behaviour that is incongruent with the self will not last. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you'll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity.
The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to ma...
441
1.23K reads
"Can one coin make a person rich? If you give a person a pile of ten coins, you wouldn't claim that he or she is rich. But what if you add another? And another? And another? At some point, you will have to admit that no one can be rich unless one coin can make him or h...
374
482 reads
People make a few small changes, fail to see a tangible result, and decide to stop. But in order to make a meaningful difference, habits need to to persist long enough to break through this plateau.
If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, i...
434
1.92K reads
A small change in what you see can lead to a big shift in what you do.
Every habit is initiated by a cue, and we are more likely to notice cues that stand out.
380
819 reads
The process of building a habit can be divided into four steps:
403
1.14K reads
We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.
We tend to imitiate the habits of:
379
638 reads
We are more likely to repeat a behaviour when the experience is satisfying.
The consequences of bad habits are delayed while the rewards are immediate. With good habits, it is the reverse: the immediate outcome is unenjoyable, but the ultimate outcome feels good.
369
533 reads
The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards.
Our preference for instant gratification reveals an important truth about success: because of how we are wired, most people will spend all day chasing quick hits of satisfaction. The road less traveled is the road...
372
446 reads
"Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line to cross. It is a system to improve, an endless process to refine."
379
681 reads
Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing.
You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.
The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise to become more aware of your behaviour, by creating a list of your daily habits and categ...
389
1.24K reads
Mastery is the process of narrowing your focus to a tiny element of success, repeating it until you have internalized the skill, and then using a new habit to advance to the next level of performance.
Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery
Life is constantly ...
376
463 reads
People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.
I will [NEW HABIT] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]
394
1.02K reads
We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.
Reduce the friction associated with good behaviours:
379
609 reads
"When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do."
Instead of trying to engineer a perfect habit from the start, do the easy thing on a more consistent basis.
The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it become...
401
637 reads
Create a commitment device:
Is a choice you make in the present that controls your actions in the future and increases the odds that you'll do the right thing.
Examples:
371
583 reads
Habits are easier to perform, and more satisfying to stick with, when they align with your personality and skills.
Trial and error:
As you explore different options, there are a series of questions you can ask yourself to continually narrow in on the habits and areas that will be most...
372
461 reads
"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it-but all that had gone be...
417
1.84K reads
385
504 reads
Related collections
Other curated ideas on this topic:
"The purpose of setting goals is to win the game, while the purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking and it's a cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement."
...
The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. It’s not about any single accomplishment, but about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine y...
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