Feb 25, 2024 | #565 | read on fs.blog | Free Version

Welcome to Brain Food, a weekly newsletter full of timeless ideas and insights you can use in life and work.

FS

“Amateurs have a goal. Professionals have a system.”

— Going Pro

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Insight(s)

1.

Anne Lamott, on using writing to open a door:

"There is a door we all want to walk through, and writing can help you find it and open it. Writing can give you what having a baby can give you: it can get you to start paying attention, can help you soften, can wake you up. But publishing won’t do any of those things; you’ll never get in that way."

Source: Bird by Bird

2.

Richard Garriott on believing in what you do so much that you do it anyway:

“Luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity. Opportunities parade past all of us all the time. The key is that you must be paying attention to see them, you must be willing to take risks, you must expose yourself to the possibility of massive failure and you must believe in what you are doing so much that you do it anyway."

Source: Explore/Create

3.

Thomas Edison on perseverance:

“Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Tiny Thought(s)

1.

"So much advantage in life comes from being willing to look like a failure in the short term."

2.

"A lack of patience changes the outcome."

3.

"Consistent progress compounds.

Inconsistent progress is a lie.

Make a little progress today on your most important objective. Repeat tomorrow."

(Share Tiny Thought 1, 2, or 3, on X).

Success and Failure

The world's best performance psychologist, Dr. Gio Valiante, on how your mindset matters more than you think:

“People think of success and failure as opposite things—that the more I succeed, the less I fail. But that’s really sort of a modern conception of success and failure. The fact of the matter is [that] failure is woven into the fabric of success. It’s not “How do you avoid failure?” That’s the wrong question. The right question is, “How do I fail, or how should I fail in ways that lead to the type of skill development and belief system that allow me to succeed long term?” It’s “How do we fail?”

[...]

Two individuals, everything else being equal—same education, same ability, same training, same everything. One of them goes at their craft or at their domain or at their career from a place of “I love to learn. I love to problem-solve. I go into depth with these things and … I’m not engaged in image management.” The second individual goes in, competing against other people, over-caring about what people think. Success is only defined by that which is palpable or tangible, like they’re playing for trophies. Then you fail—because if you’re … trying to get at the tail end of the curve, you’re going to fail—and you react with embarrassment. When we talk about the toxic emotions, embarrassment is—depends on the person—but it’s one of the two most painful psychological experiences a person can have."

The entire conversation is worth a listen (Apple Podcasts | Spotify) or listen to the start of the excerpt above.

Clear Thinking is not just another self-help book—it’s a transformative guide that hands you the tools to master your own fate, sharpen your decision-making, and position yourself for success. Order your copy today and follow these steps to claim your free bonuses.

Thanks for reading

— Shane

P.S. How my mom wanted me to make my bed.

P.P.S. I appreciate your patience while I play around with the design a bit. I've noticed many people taking screenshots, posting them on Instagram, and tagging my account, so I wanted to clean it up a bit while retaining the clean text-based approach.

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