3-2-1: How to excel, the health benefits of friendship, and the importance of bad days

Happy 3-2-1 Thursday,

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

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I.

"The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change:

What gets rewarded, gets repeated. What gets punished, gets avoided.

Don't reward behavior you don't want to see repeated."

(Share this on Twitter)​

​II.

"The bad days are more important than the good days.

If you write or exercise or meditate or cook when you don't feel like it, then you maintain the habit.

And if you maintain the habit, then all you need is time."

(Share this on Twitter)​

III.

"You can usually accomplish more by giving something your full effort for a few years rather than giving it a lukewarm effort for fifty years.

Pick a priority for this season of your life and do it to the best of your ability."

(Share this on Twitter)​

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I.

Longevity researcher Dan Buettner on the health benefits of friendship:

"I argue that the most powerful thing you can do to add healthy years is to curate your immediate social network. In general, you want friends with whom you can have a meaningful conversation. You can call them on a bad day and they will care. Your group of friends are better than any drug or anti-aging supplement, and will do more for you than just about anything."

Source: The Power of Positive People​

​II.

Investor Graham Duncan on how to excel:

"[Tennis champion] Novak Djokovic said in an interview with the Financial Times that "I can carry on playing at this level because I like hitting the tennis ball." The interviewer replied in surprise: "Are there really players who don't like hitting the ball?" Djokovic answered, "Oh yes. There are people out there who don't have the right motivation. You don't need to talk to them. I can see it."
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If you can find the thing you do for its own sake, the compulsive piece of your process, and dial that up and up, beyond the imaginary ceiling for that activity you may be creating, my experience is the world comes to you for that thing and you massively outperform the others who don't actually like hitting that particular ball. I think the rest of career advice is commentary on this essential truth."

Source: Letter to a Friend Who May Start a New Investment Platform​

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Faster. If I had to go from start to finish in half the time, what would I do?

Slower. If I could afford to spend double the time on it, what would I do?

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Until next week,

James Clear
​Author of the multi-million-copy bestseller, Atomic Habits​
Creator of the Habit Journal​

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p.s. I have my whole life ahead of me.​

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