September 1, 2024 | #592 | read on the web | Free Version

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

Insights

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“It is so much more fun to be a little richer than you were yesterday, than merely to be rich.”

— Alice Wellington Rollins

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“I’m very pleased to think that there are people with whom I agree on some issues and not others. I don’t want a world in which we all agree. I want a world in which people feel that they have the standing and confidence to feel that they can disagree. I’m interested in why people think as they do.”

— Mary Beard

***

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.”

— C.S. Lewis

Tiny Thoughts

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“The right time was yesterday. The best time is now.”

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“Too many people want to be something to everyone and end up being nothing to anyone.

Universal appeal means universal indifference.”

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“School tests weaknesses. Life rewards strengths.

Spending more time on our weakest areas is tempting, but life mostly rewards us for investing in our strengths. Imagine a student who struggles with math but excels at writing. In school, they might spend hours raising their math grades from a C to a B. However, spending the same time on writing might move them from an A to an A+. Focusing on math makes sense when you're taught to think in grades. It doesn't make sense if you think about life. The difference between an A and an A+ in writing ability might mean the difference between a New York Times bestseller read by millions and a book that only 100 people read.”

Address weaknesses only to the point where they stop holding you back. Then concentrate effort on your strengths.

Mental Model

V2 | Physics | Reciprocity

"Reciprocity underlies everything from basic human kindness to the most complex trade systems. At its core, reciprocity is the simple idea of treating others as they treat us—giving what we get. From this simple principle grows a vast web of social interactions and expectations that shapes nearly every aspect of our lives.

Many people seem to expect the world to hand them things without effort. This is a poor strategy because it doesn’t align with the human behavior you can observe around you every day. Reciprocation teaches us that if you give people cynicism and curtness or nothing at all, you are likely to receive the same. But if you give people an opportunity and the benefit of the doubt, you will often be on the receiving end of the same behavior.

Become what you want to see in the world, and the world will return it to you. If you want an amazing relationship with your partner, be an amazing partner. If you want people to be thoughtful and kind to you, be thoughtful and kind to them. If you want people to listen to you, listen to them. The best way to achieve success is to deserve success. Small changes in your actions change your entire world.

One of the biggest misperceptions about reciprocity is that people should sit around waiting for others to go first rather than unlocking the power of reciprocity in their favor by going positive and going first without expectation.

Reciprocity reminds us that our actions tend to come back on us. It’s an important reminder that we are part of the world, and thus our actions do not happen in isolation but are instead part of an interconnected web of effects.”

— Source: The *Updated* Great Mental Models v2: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology

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Thanks for reading,

— Shane Parrish

P.S. Rooftop pools are not always a good idea.

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