There’s a nationwide shortage of coins because of the pandemic - CNN
These are the kinds of weird things you never think of when this kind of stuff happens.
Interesting to hear what developers are saying about the App Store. inessential: The iOS App Store Brings Users Only Because It’s the Only Choice
It's all about hard work
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell claimed that it requires 10,000 hours to master a skill. That’s an average of 90 minutes per day for 20 years. Now, there has been some debate about that number and, obviously, it depends on what you’re trying to master, but it sufficiently makes the point: there is almost never a shortcut to success.
People who are successful make it look easy, but 99% of them will tell you that it took a lot of hard luck to achieve their success. Sure, a few people here and there get lucky, but that’s akin to winning the lotto. If you’re waiting around expecting something to just happen, you’re going to be sadly mistaken. Remember, you’re often viewing successful people without understanding their journey to success. That’s like seeing a beautiful butterfly without realizing it started out as an ugly caterpillar. This is why most successful people have an origin story. They started small with no money, but through hard work and determination achieved success. Remember, sweat equity almost always compensates for a lack of money. Just look at how many great companies started out of garages and bedrooms with only a couple of people doing all of the work.
Most people don’t realize that “big breaks” don’t just happen. Too many people wait around for good things to happen to them but that’s not the way success happens for most people. Putting in the hard work lays the foundation for success. That foundation then creates the environment necessary for those “big breaks” to occur. Professional athletes put in 1,000s of hours of practice to prepare for that one big moment in a game.
Many people want to make excuses about why they’re not successful. They complain about a lack of money or social standing, or perhaps their born at the wrong time or the wrong color, but the world’s harsh reality is that life isn’t fair. You can keep complaining or start doing something about it. Now, as a disclaimer, I’m a white male born into a middle class family so you can choose to vilify me and discredit what I have to say, but it doesn’t make what I’m saying any less true. I know a lot of people who have started life on third base and face planted halfway to home never to make anything of themselves. You know why? Because they weren’t willing to put in the hard work to take advantage of their extraordinary advantage. I’m also making no excuses for the injustices that still exist in the world and acknowledge the great privileges I enjoy based on no merit of my own. But, remember this, regardless of your race, class, gender, or sexual orientation, if you were born in a Western country, especially the United States, you’ve already won the lottery. You could have been born into a third world country struggling everyday just to survive. As much as we try to coddle people, at the end of the day, the world just doesn’t care about your excuses.
But here’s the good news, time is life’s great equalizer. Assuming all other variables remain same, two people have exactly the same amount of time. It’s how you choose to spend your time that defines who you are and how your life will go. Many successful people will tell you that they knew people who were comparatively smarter, wealthier, or more athletic, but hard work can overcome all of those barriers. So, how are you spending your time? Watching Netflix, hanging out at the bar, or working towards your goals?
I do want to make one important clarification. Hard work without a purpose and a plan is just misery. That’s a recipe for burnout and unhappiness. Just like in sports, there’s no point in playing a game where the requirements for victory have not been defined. You need to define success in your own life and everyone is going to have a different definition success. However, that’s part of a much bigger topic that I hope to discuss in a future post.
So, here’s the takeaway. Define your goals then get to work achieving them. It’s that simple. Don’t make excuses, just start working. Every journey begins with one small step, so what are you waiting for?
You are the average of the people you spend the most time with. Always a good reminder that the company you keep rubs off on you. If you want to be better, spend time with people who help you grow.
Here’s a great video of basic time management tips. There’s nothing revolutionary but I think when you combine all these things together, it can help you get a lot done.
Sen. Burr to Step Aside as Intelligence Panel Chairman While Facing Stock-Trade Probe
I hate to get too political but I think we can always agree, regardless of party, that politicans need to be held accountable.
This idea for a resonance calendar is a really compelling idea. I’m not sure I’m set on the name but I’m definitely going to be trying it out. I like that it’s a much more intentional version of a read later app. A great solution to not just piling up a bunch of cruft that never gets read
Looking into using notion. Trying to decide if it lives up to the hype. It seems like a really cool tool, I’m just not sure I need something with so much power.
Someone explain notion to me. Downloaded the app and it seems really cool, just not sure what makes it better?
Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
- Warren Buffet 💬
What a weird dude.
Elon Musk, Tech’s Cash Poor Billionaire
“I am selling almost all physical possessions.” Elon Musk, in a burst of tweets, renews intrigue about his perplexing personal finances.
Great read on how to organize all your photos danielvreeman.com
PSA: gloves don’t do anything if you never take them off and touch everything. I see people wearing one glove but then touching everything with both their gloved and ungloved hand. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?
Plus, when you get checked out at the store, remember that the checker is touching your stuff after touching everyone else’s stuff so whatever you were trying to accomplish was probably pointless. Oh, and then you go and touch everything inside your car with your gloves. I appreciate what you’re trying to do but it’s probably pointless.
Sometimes there are big things hanging over my head that aren’t even very hard to do but I put them off anyway. Then they weigh on me as I continually procrastinate. I can’t quite figure out why I do it or how to completely cure that habit.
Currently reading: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity 📚
Turn your old iPhone into a webcam
Webcams are sold out everywhere but I much prefer to use my computer instead of my iPhone or iPad for videoconferencing. To solve this problem, I’ve started using https://www.kinoni.com/ to use my old iPhone 7 as a webcam. It’s been collecting dust and now it works great as a 1080p webcam. It took about 10 minutes to get up and running and it was almost plug and play. I would recommend using a USB cable instead of WiFi for a more reliable connection.
I’ve had 0 problems with it but I have heard that it might not work with the newest version of zoom because of their heightened security now that they’ve come under so much scrutiny.
Automatic shutting down
I always thought their tech was cool. I almost pulled the trigger on buying one of their dongles many times. One of what I expect to be many more Covid-19 casualties. I know that people haven’t been driving much but I don’t quite understand how this pandemic leads to them going out of business. Either I don’t fully understand their business model or there were other issues already brewing.
Right to repair is a super important issue, especially in agriculture. Farmers buy equipment but then can’t work on it because the manufacturer locks down the software.
A report on fitness in quarantine
Meh…I’m doing it. I’m doing mostly bodyweight stuff along with some jump rope and running. I don’t like it as much as lifting weights in the gym, but I continue to live by the motto “something is better than nothing”.
While that sounds a little lackluster, I’ve found that when it comes to building habits, setting low expectations as the foundation helps me work my way up to higher and higher expectations. The only potential trap is complacency. At some point you do have to continue to push yourself to improve. However, for me, the hardest part is starting so once I set the bar low to get started, I slowly start getting more and more invested.