3-2-1: The value of questions, the power of small acts, and how life rewards courage

Happy 3-2-1 Thursday!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week.

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I.

"Is your reading and research supplementing your actions or substituting for them? Research is useful until it becomes a form of procrastination."

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​II.

"Life rewards courage.

The person who is brave enough to bet on something or someone—as long as they avoid irreversible mistakes like running out of cash or going to jail—is in a position to win."

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III.

"Whether or not something is deemed a "failure" is dependent on when performance is measured.

I signed the book deal for Atomic Habits in November 2015 and it was published in October 2018. If you were to measure the performance of the book at any point during those three years, the project would have been deemed a failure. In January 2016? It was incomplete. A failure. In August 2017? Still unfinished. A failure. In February 2018? Again, a failure.

But after October 2018, it looked like a success. Same project. Different time when the outcome was measured.

This idea applies in many areas of life. You're not failing. You're just in the middle of succeeding."

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I.

Professor and author Neil Postman on the value of questions:

"Once you have learned to ask questions – relevant and appropriate and substantial questions – you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or need to know."

Source: Teaching as a Subversive Activity​

​II.

Poet Danielle Doby on the power of small acts:

"When you create a difference in someone's life, you not only impact their life, you impact everyone influenced by them throughout their entire lifetime.

No act is ever too small. One by one, this is how to make an ocean rise."

Source: Ripples poem, found in I Am Her Tribe​

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Is this project pulling me in or am I pushing it forward? Is this relationship pulling me in or am I pushing it forward?

Some of my best outcomes arise when I double down on the things that are naturally pulling me in.

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Want to share this issue of 3-2-1 via text, social media, or email? Just copy and paste this link:

​https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/june-30-2022​

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Until next week,

James Clear
​Author of the #1 worldwide bestseller, Atomic Habits​
Creator of the Habit Journal​

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p.s. The prophecy has been fulfilled.