3-2-1: How to connect with others, what causes old age, and the recipe for success

read onJamesClear.com|April 25, 2024

Happy 3-2-1 Thursday!

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

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3 Ideas From Me

I.

"Never outsource what you enjoy."

(Share this on Twitter)

​II.

"How to connect with others:

Share with someone who wants to listen or listen to someone who wants to share."

(Share this on Twitter)

III.

"People can help you in many ways throughout life, but there are two things nobody can give you: curiosity and drive. They must be self-supplied.

If you are not interested and curious, all the information in the world can be at your fingertips, but it will be relatively useless. If you are not motivated and driven, whatever connections or opportunities are available to you will be rendered inert.

Now, you won't feel curious and driven about every area of life, and that's fine. But it really pays to find something that lights you up. This is one of the primary quests of life: to find the thing that ignites your curiosity and drive.

There are many recipes for success. There is no single way to win. But nearly all recipes include two ingredients: curiosity and drive."

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2 Quotes From Others

I.

Programmer and writer Conor Barnes on advice:

"Selfish people should listen to advice to be more selfless, selfless people should listen to advice to be more selfish. This applies to many things. Whenever you receive advice, consider its opposite as well. You might be filtering out the advice you need most."

Source: 100 Tips for a Better Life​
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​II.

Writer and designer Edith Wharton, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, on what causes old age:

"The producer of old age is habit: the deathly process of doing the same thing in the same way at the same hour day after day, first from carelessness, then from inclination, at last from cowardice or inertia.

Habit is necessary; but it is the habit of having careless habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive... one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways."

Source: A Backward Glance (lightly edited for clarity)

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1 Question For You

What lifestyle do you love 80% of the time?

No lifestyle is perfect 100% of the time. I love having a few days each year to relax on the beach—but I wouldn't want to do that every day, or even most days.

What lifestyle feels ideal for you most of the time? Cultivate that.

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https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/april-25-2024

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Until next week,

James Clear
​Author of Atomic Habits, the #1 best-selling book
Creator of Atoms, the official Atomic Habits app
Writer of the 3-2-1 newsletter with 3 million subscribers

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p.s. Built different.