“The most wisdom per word of any
newsletter on the web.”

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3-2-1: On the secret to youth, how to achieve what you want, and the challenge of being yourself

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.

"The person who experiences the consequences should make the decision."

​II.

"You are as old as the risks you take. In many ways, aging is not the process of growing old, but rather the slow death of becoming overly protective, scared, and worried about losing what you have. Youth is found in the energy of going for it, taking the risk, and trusting that you'll figure it out along the way."

III.

"The Process:

1. Decide what you want to achieve.
2. Try different ways of achieving it until you find one that works for you.
3. Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t.
4. Don’t stop doing it until it stops working.
5. Repeat.

It is both this simple and this hard."

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2 Quotes From Others

I.

Toymaker, inventor, and author Roger von Oech on wide-open thinking:

"The amount a person uses their imagination is inversely proportional to the amount of punishment they will receive for using it."

Source: Find a Pattern (edited lightly for clarity)​​

​II.

Novelist and screenwriter Ian McEwan on the challenge of being yourself:

"Everyone nodded, nobody agreed."

Source: Amsterdam

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1 Question For You

Is your default setting to defend your limitations or expand your possibilities?

Want to share this issue of 3-2-1? Just copy and paste this link: https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/march-13-2025

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Until next week,

James Clear ​​
​Author of Atomic Habits​
Creator of the 3-2-1 Newsletter​
Cofounder of Authors Equity​

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p.s. Yeah, I think the date went pretty well. ​​

What else am I working on?