It was a bit spooky to see my own reflection in this bee’s eye. And the best bee photo I’ve ever taken is amazing, even if I do say so myself.
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Author: Craig Constantine
Cognitive biases
If our goal is to help people make better choices, it helps to first create better feelings.
~ Seth Godin from, Narrative and feelings | Seth’s Blog
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Godin often makes insightful points like this one. But I often wish he’d use his enormous reach to also talk about the other partâ
If our goal is to help people make better choices, it helps even more to show them how they can use their rationality. It’s an inbuilt feature of being humanâsometimes I’ve argued it is the defining characteristic of being human. It is, in fact, our planetaryily-unique super power. (We have other super-powers, like compassion, which I think may not be unique to humans.)
Yes, as Godin points out, we should create better feelings for others. But how great would each of our lives be if we weren’t governed by our feelings. The goal isn’t to eliminate feelings nor emotionsâthat’s a dumb idea. The goal is for all the parts of who we each are, to get the appropriate due.
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Education with Nicole Colter
How can podcasting serve as an effective tool for active learning and decentralizing power dynamics in the classroom?
Experimenting with podcasting helps students move from passive listeners to active creators.
They always get surprised at the end that, even as painful as it is in the process, you can look back and be like, âI knew nothing about any of this and now look what weâve created.â
~ Nicole Colter (19:36)
The conversation explores the innovative use of podcasting as a tool for active learning in higher education, particularly in a management class. Nicole explains how podcasting helps decentralize classroom power dynamics, allowing students to collaborate, manage projects, and co-create learning experiences. By recording interviews with textbook authors, students engage in active learning while gaining communication and organizational skills.
Nicole highlights the broader learning benefits of podcasting, such as fostering creativity, confidence, and reflective listening. She shares how students begin to see themselves as creators and take initiative beyond assigned tasks. Topics discussed include decentralized pedagogy, alternative assessment methods like “ungrading,” and the value of indirect learning outcomes. Nicole also reflects on challenges such as students’ initial struggles with conversation and project management, ultimately noting their surprise and pride in their final accomplishments.
Takeaways
Active learning through podcasting â Students engage deeply by creating content and interviewing experts.
Decentralized power dynamics â The course empowers students to manage their learning experience collaboratively.
Indirect learning outcomes â Podcasting facilitates valuable skills beyond stated course objectives, like communication and confidence.
Overcoming communication struggles â Students learn and practice the art of meaningful conversations.
The role of reflection â Listening to their own recordings helps students critically evaluate and improve their communication.
Project-based education â Podcasting replaces traditional tests with real-world, outcome-driven projects.
Encouraging creativity â Students begin to see themselves as capable creators, even outside assigned tasks.
Experimentation and adaptability â Nicole views each semester as an opportunity to refine processes based on reflections and feedback.
Practical management skills â Students apply concepts like planning, organizing, and leading through collaborative projects.
The value of open resources â Projects like interviewing textbook authors create accessible learning materials for others.
Resources
The Last Lecture â Randy Pausch’s book referenced for the concept of âhead fakeâ learning, which emphasizes indirect learning outcomes.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Education with Mark Hochgesang
What motivates someone to start podcasting as an educational pursuit after retirement, and what are the challenges they face?
Podcasting begins as a post-retirement pursuit but becomes an unexpected journey of storytelling and learning.
And also kind of express my point of view on a multitude of different things happening in that sports world. So that’s how it all kind of kicked off and as we talked about kind of pre-mic episode here I am a learner at heart and I knew that I was starting from ground 0 but that was invigorating for me.
~ Mark Hochgesang (1:21)
The conversation explores how podcasting became an unexpected post-retirement pursuit for Mark. Starting with a suggestion from former colleagues, podcasting offered a way to share perspectives on sports while continuing to learn and engage with others. The discussion touches on the personal aspects of podcasting, such as storytelling, preparation, and the intimacy of audio communication. His episodes often feature guests who have overcome adversity or achieved significant milestones, reflecting his interest in inspiring and game-changing stories.
The conversation also highlights the challenges of producing a podcast, from mastering technical aspects like sound quality to managing the editing workload. Preparation and thoughtful content development play significant roles, as does the balancing act of how much of the hostâs personality to include. Podcasting has also strengthened connections within his immediate circle and reconnected him with old colleagues, further emphasizing the communal and connective power of the medium.
Takeaways
The learning process â He views podcasting as a continuous educational journey.
Game changers in sports â The podcast highlights guests who have overcome adversity and made significant impacts.
The power of preparation â Extensive research and planning go into every episode to ensure engaging storytelling.
Podcasting as a post-retirement pursuit â It serves as a meaningful and creative way to stay active and connected.
The intimacy of audio â Podcasting creates a personal and compelling form of communication.
Balancing personal presence â He reflects on how much of himself should be included in his podcast episodes.
Technical challenges â Managing sound quality and editing initially proved time-consuming but rewarding.
Building connections â Podcasting reconnects him with former colleagues and introduces him to inspiring new people.
Resources
Heavy Hitter Sports â Marks’ podcast featuring inspiring stories of game changers in sports.
Zencastr â The recording tool used in the conversation.
The Rookie (Movie) â A Disney film about Jim Morris, a guest mentioned in the podcast.
Multipliers â Liz Wiseman’s book discussed during the episode.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Actions and perceptions
Operatics, combat and confusion. Sloth and servility. Every day they blot out those sacred principles of yoursâwhich you day-dream thoughtlessly about, or just let slide. Your actions and perceptions need to aim: at accomplishing practical ends; at the exercise of thought; at maintaining a confidence founded on understanding. An unobtrusive confidenceâhidden in plain sight.
~ Marcus Aurelius
When will you let yourself enjoy straightforwardness? Seriousness? Or understanding individual thingsâtheir nature and substance, their place in the world, their life span, their composition, who can possess them, whose they are to give and to receive?
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And speaking of cognitive biases
Confirmation bias is one of my faves. You know, where you suddenly notice all the other cars like yours when you buy one, or spot coincidences from which you draw an [erroneous] causal conclusion. I know right? Screw you cobbled-together-brain! But this coincidence can’t just be a coincidence:
I’ve been reading-around my copy of The Daily Stoic for about 5 years now. Each page of the book is for a specific date. I long-ago got sick of lugging the book around, so I photographed every page, and loaded them into my personal productivity software. For five years, I’ve had annually repeating todos with the day’s image attached. (Yes, it was a few hours of work to set up 365 todo’s, with “recurs every year on the same date,” and an attached image. Yes, it was absolutely worth it.) So every year, on the same date, the same photo of the same page of the Daily Stoic comes up for me to read. (Craig-level crazy: The image for February 29 is attached to the todo for February 28 and I read it every year.) Finally, you need to know that only a small percentage of the Daily Stoic entries quote from Marcus Aurelius’s, Meditations.
Recently, I bought a fresh, hardcover of my favorite translation of Aurelius’s Meditations. (My paperback copy of this same translation is mangled and marked up, and the typography isn’t as spiffy.) I photographed each page, and set it on recurring todos. This was slightly more complicated because it’s not a page-for-each-date. I simply counted the images and made the todo’s recur that often. So each day a page comes up, but it’s not the same page on the same date each year. (There are 139 pages of content, so I’m reading Meditations 2+ times per calendar year.) For added complexity, the modern book is comprised of Aurelius’s 12 original books; Each was a long scroll on which he wrote entries in sequence. What’s on each page of the modern book is simply determined by book layout: It might be Aurelius’s original book 4, entries 11 and 12, or it might have part of an entry continued from the previous page, or an entry which is cut short that runs to the next page. Sure, it’s messy to try to read a book a-page-a-day if it wasn’t designed that way, but it works, and I get to visit Marcus each day.
That’s the setup. Here’s the coincidenceâŠ
Today I hit a Daily Stoic entry that quotes Meditations. The page that’s up for reading in my sequence from Meditations, CONTAINS THE QUOTED PASSAGE.
o_O
After looking around suspiciously⊠“Am I on Candid Camera?” After looking up suspiciously⊠I decided I better blog about this.
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Campfire, marshmallows and conversation
Many moon ago, Movers Mindset had a weekly team meeting with 5 people. It was simply a video call to socialize. Work-related discussion was allowed, but mostly we were just talking about training, sharing instagram videos, discussing news and events in our sports and its surrounds, ⊠that sort of stuff. Just hanging out with people who have a shared interest.
From the start we knew we didnât want to record those calls. That suddenly makes everything too permanent; You have to show up looking not-insane, and you automatically hold back some of your energy to be on the safe side. But we also felt that we were losing something by having no artifact at all. Much of what we were discussing and sharing in the team call would be of interest to othersâ but we didn’t want non-team-members attending our private call. Thus, no recording. The meeting gave us what we needed, and that was good enough.
Time passed. (And many great team meetings were had.)
One day, as I sat around wondering how to make the already-great calls even better, my mind drifted as it so often does. It wandered back to the 80s/90s and I thought of the seemingly endless hours I’d spent on text-based chat with people in far off places. Stuck underground in some computer lab, (for real,) I’d open a text window and visit some distant friend. It was real-time interaction, but in a restricted medium; Restricted, at the time, because that’s all we had. But still, it was magical to have real-time access to other people. It felt so much more alive than bullentin boards (the online kind), Usenet, and email. Still wondering how to make our team meetings better, I recalled this once-in-a-lifetime experience I had.
It went like thisâŠ
A group of friends had all being doing Parkour together for several years. To be clear: We found ourselves doing Parkour together, and wound up a group of friends through countless shared experiences. (Ask me in person and I’ll tell ya’ some stories.) Two of the group eventually got married. The fellow ended up deployed to Afghanistan in a intelligence role with special forces. (I may have the details wrong, sue me.) Suffice it to say: Half a world away from everyone, and while not physically in immenent danger, his day-to-day surroundings drove him to depression. One day he apparently reached the cliffâs edge and in a fit of frustration he sent a message to a dozen-or-so of us, (which included his wife,) with an enormous brain dump of his current state.
He’d sent a Facebook Messenger direct-messageâapparently one of the few channels he was permitted. This wall of text arrives in my phone, with a bright and cheery *ding* I suddenly have this giant message from my good friend. I was delighted to hear from him, but all of it was news to me, and frankly none of it was good. Then, two magical things happened:
We promised that weâd do pushups immediately when he wrote to us, if he promised to never miss a day. It had a terrifically witty nameâwhich I’m not sharing because then I’d have to tell you his first name. Every day, around 2pm my timeâbut it was unpredictableâ*ding* and Iâd end up doing pushups right in the middle of the super market. Literally. Once I got caught driving, and pulled over to the side of the road to do my pushups, and message back, done! It didn’t take us long before those of us on the dm-list were racing to see who could reply, “done!” first. Our far away friend became a sort of evil pushup assigning drill Sargeant. But there’s a twist. On day one, we all did 1 pushup. On day 2, we did 2. Then 3. Then 4⊠And yes, we were somewhere above 100 by the end of his deployment. (Spoiler: He returned home safely.) He repeatedly told us that every day he pretty much spent the entire day planning his daily entry in the back of his mind, and day-dreaming about making us all suffer the next number of pushups. Somehow, we small band of merry idiots managed to create a small daily dose of inspiration for our far away friend. (We all got pretty good at pushups too.)
The second piece of magic happened because we were all there for it in real time. Weâd each do our pushupsâas the numbers got stupid-large, youâd do them in sets and start reporting your reps in real-time. And somehow, the entire thing became performance art. Soon, we were having our friend pick an âanimal of the dayâ, and it had to be different each day. Finished our pushups, weâd try to find and share funny photos, making up our own silly captions. We tried constantly to Rick Roll each other. We did anything we could think of to make our friend, and each other, laugh. Because we were doing this at the end of our friend’s day, he’d eventually “call it” when he was ready for sleep, and we’d all drop off. Years later, we still have in-circle nicknames for each other, and inside jokes that make me giggle even now as Iâm typing.
One day, after it was over, I realized how special it had all been. I opened up Messenger on my desktop browser, and I tried to scroll back through the thousands of messages. I wanted to screenshot it all and somehow make a book to give just to those who were involved. But my browser crashed from all the images, animated GIFs, etc before I got even halfway.
Now, back to those weekly meetings I wanted to improveâŠ
Having that story about our far away friend flash through my mind was the spark I needed! In our team meetings, I wanted to capture some of that ephemeral, asynchronous-messaging based, magic. I wanted our cool meeting to somehow also be a little bit performance art that left us with something that others could enjoy, (and even find useful.) My “campfires” ideas was born.
Campfire, marshmallows and conversation! The MM team gets together occasionally in a sort of free-form discussion thatâs not quite a chat, and not quite a discussion. Itâs a cross between instant chat and performance art.
Each week, as before, we had a completely ephemeral video call. But at the same time, in real time, we would all co-create a long Google Doc. That sounds sillyâit is. And it’s hard to do as things move around in the document. But it feels like instant messaging. At the end of the set time, we ended the call, and I simply copy-n-pasted the contents into a Discourse thread.
We eventually stopped doing them as the team shrank. But if you want to see what they were, theyâre all still there, in https://forum.moversmindset.com/c/campfires/37 â they still make me smile, and I’m so glad we did them.
Whatâyou might wonderâmakes we write all this up now?
I’m bringing back this beloved idea as: Campfires in the Podcaster Community.
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The future
The future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed yet.
~ William Gibson
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Whimsy
This is Cathy Forest coming to you live from a big pile of primevial ooze for the running of the classic, Human Race. It’s the top of the Precambrian Era and âŠ
~ The Frantics from, The Human Race – YouTube
It’s 2 minutes and 18 seconds of audio, and is completely G-rated. If it doesn’t make you laugh, there’s something wrong with you. I first heard this in 1986âwhich, alarmingly, I figured out because someone has put the Doctor Demento Show’s play-lists online. So as I was hunting for this, I first discovered when I’d heard it, which just made me want to hear it that much more. Share the heck out of it, make it go viral and make the world a better place through laughter.
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Iterative
This is the iterative method of purpose exploration. You try a mini-version of something for a couple weeks. Maybe longer. And keep doing this until you hit on something.
~ Leo Babauta from, A Well Lived Life of Purpose – Zen Habits Website
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What do you think of the common advice, “follow your passion!” (Or sometimes it’s, “follow your bliss!”)
It’s utter crap. If I knew what my passion, (or “bliss”,) was, well no shit! âŠthat would make it easy. The hard part is figuring out what I’m passionate about. The impossibleâliterally not something you can do in a lifetimeâpart is figuring out what my one, true passion is.
The advice I find useful is to follow my interests [discovery], find things I’m passionate about [via reflection], and then pursue them [efficacy]. It’s critical that I build in some feedback to reality-check what I’m doingâmy commitments to others, my morals, my valuesâto make sure I’m not off on narcissistic navel navigation. But an interative approach is the best way to live the actual purpose life.
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Alignment with Dafna Gold Melchior
What role does alignment play in sustaining motivation and purpose when creating a podcast?
Practical insights emerge about overcoming the challenge of balancing self-promotion with authenticity.
The thing that I find most problematic about self-promotion is that it very quickly becomes obnoxiousâ and I am physically allergic to obnoxious self-promotion.
~ Dafna Gold Melchior (14:12)
The conversation focuses on the importance of alignment when producing creative work, particularly a podcast. Dafna describes her experience of starting a podcast based on practical and professional interests, initially centered on researchers and entrepreneurs. However, she notes how a sense of disconnection emerged when she pivoted to cover remote work during the pandemic. While producing episodes was enjoyable, the content lacked deeper personal resonance, leading to waning motivation. Eventually, she revisited her original themeâworking with researchersâand found renewed energy by aligning their podcast’s focus with their expertise and passion.
Another key topic discussed is the challenge of balancing self-promotion with authenticity. Dafna highlights her discomfort with overt self-promotion, stemming from their upbringing and values. She struggles with leveraging her podcast to communicate her professional services without coming across as pushy or self-indulgent. The conversation emphasizes the value of subtly aligning a podcastâs purpose with its creatorâs broader goals while maintaining its standalone value for listeners.
Takeaways
Alignment and motivation â Aligning a podcast’s theme with personal expertise can sustain motivation and satisfaction.
Balancing self-promotion â The challenge of self-promotion lies in finding a tone that feels authentic yet effective.
Creative pivoting â Reassessing the original purpose of a creative project can reignite energy and focus.
Avoiding burnout â Choosing a personally meaningful topic can prevent creative projects from becoming a chore.
Podcast structure â Standardized intros, outros, and episode synopses can streamline podcast production.
Listener connection â Audiences value the host’s insights as much as they appreciate the guest’s story.
Resources
Seth Godin’s Podcasting Workshop â A program designed to help individuals learn podcasting through hands-on exercises.
Podcaster Community â A community for independent podcast creators to connect and collaborate.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Pitfalls with Jennifer Myers Chua
What pitfalls and challenges arise when launching and growing a podcast, and how can they be managed?
Starting a podcast reveals unexpected challenges, even with careful preparation and an existing audience.
I tried really hard. I had a good launch strategy, I thought. I used my existing audience and was giving away gift cards from some of the businesses that I was featuring, as well as a gift card from ours. I asked for people to download and rate and review. I did everything by the bookâ Marketing 101! But I think I was really just not well versed on how podcasts operate, and how podcast audiences are built.
~ Jennifer Myers Chua (6:07)
The conversation explores the challenges of launching and growing a podcast, particularly the difficulty of converting an engaged social media audience into regular podcast listeners. One significant topic is the expectation versus reality of audience growth, where traditional marketing strategies may not work as expected in the podcasting medium. Despite careful preparation, such as giveaways and surveys, the reality of podcast listenership often requires a mindset shift about success and audience engagement.
Another topic discussed is the value of podcasting as a passion project and a vehicle for meaningful human connection. Jennifer highlights the personal reward of interviewing guests on topics such as sustainability and small businesses, which align with their personal values. She also reflects on balancing creative fulfillment with the challenge of building a listenership. Additionally, the importance of finding community among other podcasters as a support system is emphasized as a way to overcome frustrations and shared struggles.
Takeaways
Existing audiences donât always convert â Many social media followers may not transition to a podcast listenership.
Podcast growth is harder than expected â Even with a strong launch strategy, podcasting requires unique approaches to audience building.
Passion-driven work sustains motivation â Creating content aligned with personal values offers fulfillment, regardless of metrics.
Mindset shifts are necessary â Success in podcasting may require re-evaluating audience expectations and personal satisfaction.
The value of human connection â Podcasts can provide opportunities for meaningful conversations and relationships.
Metrics can be misleading â The focus on downloads and statistics may detract from the creative purpose of podcasting.
Community provides support â Engaging with other podcasters offers encouragement and shared insights into common challenges.
Content curation matters â Delivering intentional, well-curated content increases the potential for audience connection and impact.
Resources
Hip Mommies â Jennifer’s business focused on sustainable and family-friendly products.
The Cost of Goods Sold Podcast â Jennifer’s podcast highlighting brands with social and environmental impact.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Epithets
Epithets for yourself: Upright. modest. Straightforward. Sane. Cooperative. Disinterested.
~ Marcus Aurelius
Try not to exchange them for others. And if you should forfeit them, set about getting them back. Keep in mind that “sanity” means understanding thingsâeach individual thingâfor what they are. And not losing the thread. And “cooperation” means accepting what nature assignes youâaccepting it willingly. And “disinterest” means that the intelligence should rise above the movements of the fleshâthe rough and the smooth alike. Should rise above fame, above death, and everything like them.
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A mover’s mindset
It’s become clear, that somewhen in the last few years, I’ve lost a certain sparkâ some urge that used to be the initial impetus that got me moving. Out. And about. Moving and playing. It’s probably, simply age.
Efficacy is the power to produce a desired effect. Recognition of your own efficacy means that you have recognized your own potential for continued success and growth. Your choices of actions at this point are not based on concerns about current limits of your ability or understanding. Instead, your choices are guided by what skills, practices, and accomplishments will give you the most enjoyment, make your life better, increase your skills, or broaden your knowledge. Your experience in life changes from asking âWhat can I do?â to asking âWhat should I do to make my life the best it can be?â
~ From «https://forum.moversmindset.com/t/discovery-reflection-efficacy/614»
Where once I used to simply begin each day, and sooner or later I’d realize I’m doing something active, now I find that most days were going by without doing something active. I don’t like that trend. I went over everything in my environment and, quite honestly, little has changedâcertainly nothing that would have sabotaged my being active. If the problem isn’t without, then it must be within.
And so, I’ve made a small change: What am I doing tomorrow? âŠthen make a plan for that to happen.
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This might get personal
these nine principles for interviewing people about tender, personal, tough subjects are tactics that are helpful in any hard conversation. You want to be clear about your objectives for the conversation, to be prepared to listen closely and actively, to prepare the person you are talking to for a different, deeper sort of exchange. You need to respect the dignity of the person youâre talking with, and respect yourself enough to speak up when you disagree.
~ Anna Sale from, Treat an Interview Like a Relationship – Transom
Whether or not youâre doing recorded conversations with guests, thereâs a bunch of great advice in that article. Iâm particularly drawn to Saleâs point about how her interviews are enabled by the fact that she is creating a relationship with the guest. In any conversation, everything we do either builds up, or tears down, a relationship bit by bit.
In any conversation, it’s my experience that the more intentional I am, the better it goes. Part of that is intentional listening; listening primarily to understand. Another part is being mindful of the other person; deploying empathy and compassion. Another part is keeping sight of where you are headed, and also where it is not possible to get to; knowing what to stretch for and what to let pass is critical.
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Skepticism and cynicism
The result of this kind of influence is twofold: one is a skepticism and cynicism towards everything which is said or printed, while the other is a childish belief in anything that a person is told with authority. This combination of cynicism and naïveté is very typical of the modern individual. Its essential result is to discourage him from doing his own thinking and deciding.
~ Erich Fromm from, Erich Fromm on Why It’s Difficult to Think Originally and Critically in the Modern Age | The Art of Manliness
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Philosophical Skepticism, “is a family of philosophical views that question the possibility of knowledge.” (That’s a quote from the Wikipedia entry. If you want to go deeper, try the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s entry for Skepticism.)
As far as I understand itâyour mileage may varyâFromm, in that quote, wasn’t condemning philosophical skepticism. Rather, and I agree, let’s all condemn the little-s-skepticism; the naivete driven, disbelieve everything, skepticism that turns away from anything it doesn’t understand.
I prefer to turn towards just about anything I don’t yet understand. (See: “Oh. That’s interesting⊔) I’m am frequently asking myself: “What is true, and how do I know it’s true?”
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Curiosity with Steve McCready
What role does curiosity play in creating engaging and authentic podcast interviews?
Following the energy in a conversation uncovers insights that even guests donât anticipate.
One of the things that is very very true for the folks that I work withâthe sensitive rebels as I call themâis they often feel isolated. They feel alone. They feel like some weirdo. There’s no one like them. And so when I have guests who have wrestled with some of the same things, who had some of the same struggles, some of the same thoughts, and I put that out there, I’m like ‘No, you’re not alone. Listen to these right here. Here’s all of this.’ It’s such an important thing for them to see.
~ Steve McCready (17:48)
The conversation focuses on the role of curiosity in podcasting and the importance of being present during interviews. Steve explains how curiosity serves as the driving force for exploring meaningful topics with guests. Instead of relying on a long list of prepared questions, the process involves following conversational âenergyâ and identifying interesting threads to explore further.
The discussion touches on the themes of coaching and podcasting as parallel practices. Both rely on creating space for people to share their stories and identify strengths they may not have recognized. Steve also discusses his perspective on âsensitive rebels,â individuals who often feel isolated but can connect through shared experiences highlighted in podcast conversations. The conversation emphasizes the balance between structure and spontaneity to create authentic and engaging dialogue.
Takeaways
Curiosity as a guiding principle â The process focuses on following what sparks interest or energy during a conversation.
Balancing preparation and presence â Over-preparation can distract from being present and responding intuitively to the guest.
Serving the audience and the guest â The interviews aim to inspire listeners while also highlighting the strengths and stories of the guests.
Energy as a conversational cue â Noticing and following the energy of a guest helps uncover unexpected and meaningful insights.
Coaching and podcasting as parallels â Both practices involve identifying possibilities, connecting dots, and helping people see strengths they may have missed.
The role of isolation and connection â Sensitive individuals often feel alone, and the podcast provides a platform to illustrate shared struggles and connections.
Resources
Krista Tippettâs âOn Beingâ â Mentioned as inspiration for thoughtful and reflective opening questions.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Controlling the mind
Controlling the mind doesn’t take one to freedom. Controlling the mind adds another link to one’s shackles.
~ Wu Hsin
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Forward. Backward. Preferred. Dis-preferred.
Like any good algebraist, he is made to think sometimes in a forward fashion and sometimes in reverse; and so he learns when to concentrate mostly on what he wants to happen and also when to concentrate mostly on avoiding what he does not want to happen.
~ Charlie Munger from, Stop Crashing Planes: Charlie Mungerâs Six-Element System
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That item from a list of six elements, originally from the best pilot education program in existence, made me realize there’s this thing that I do. For me it’s such an intuitive, automatic thing, but it occurs to me to share it to make it explicit.
Let’s begin by thinking about planning and learning. (I’m done. You are now thinking about planning and learning. :) Next, we’ll trot out three magnificently useful, relative adverbs: how, when and why. Six sublime questions instantly appear:
How do I plan?
When do I plan?
Why do I plan?
How do I learn?
When do I learn?
Why do I learn?
I’ve certainly spent a lot of time thinking about those questions. For example, I’ve a bunch of blog posts about knowledge systems that came from thinking about, “how do I learn?” I could spend all my time thinking about those six questions. Exploring those questions, understanding myself, and learning in general, are fine projects to spend time on. But it’s tough to get started. Each of those questions is a deep, Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole.
What I want to share is how to use a different framework to flip the entire process over. I want to share my way of making progress on those fine projects without intentionally working on them. Things happen. Thoughts arise. (Your experience may be similar to mine?) The following framework will take anythingâhappenings or thoughtsâand guide it into being deep work on those six questions.
Simply ask:
Forward or backward in time: Is the event in the future or past? Am I thinking about the future or past?
AndâŠ
Prefer or dis-prefer: Do I prefer or dis-prefer the event? Do I prefer or dis-prefer what I’m thinking?
For me, the act of examining somethingâan event, a thoughtâin the light of those questions, (forward/backward? preferred/dis-preferred?,) leads me to learning about one, and sometimes several, of those six, big questions.
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No too hot. Not too cold.
Self-motivated, self-starting individuals are incredibly motivated to find their weaknesses. Itâs not far-fetched to say that some of us actually seek to make ourselves perfect â rational, calculating beings making the right type of decisions at just the right times. But weâve learned from Star Trek; we donât look to eliminate emotion either and turn ourselves into Mr. Spock. We want just the right amount of emotion in our lives.
~ Shane Parrish from, Tiny Gains. Massive Results.
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Here’s the two-pronged approach which has been working for me:
First, I remind myself to resist my innate urge to make things worse. Don’t add energy to emotions themselves, nor to things which cause emotions. Emotions are real. We are emotional beings. Emotions get their due. And no more. If things are going badly: relax, they won’t last. If things are going well: relax, they won’t last.
Second, I take note ofâliterally in my journalâthings which cause me to be emotional. It turns out that sometimes I can simply eliminate chronic causes. My goal isn’t to remove all the causes; That’d be a stoopid plan. But sometimes a pain in my foot is simply caused by a stone in my shoe, and is easily removed.
Those could be summarized as, “reminding myself, and taking note.” Those two things are always possible, and always easy. The hard part is remembering to do them. But if I simplyâas in: gently, and with self-kindnessâdo those two things when I do remember, they slowly become habitual. I can’t say I even understand what, “âŠjust right,” would be. But I know for sure what, “just right,” is not.
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