Focus on what you do best →

Published May 14, 2020  ·  All posts on May 14

My suggestion? Let more qualified people or tools tackle the “stuff” that forces you to slow down, lose productivity, and create something less than what your clients deserve. Sure, it’s scary to think about how much it will cost to outsource … anything else that isn’t in your wheelhouse. But think about how much momentum and overall quality of work you lose whenever you let that fear take over. I say: focus on what you do best, outsource the rest, and be happily surprised when you see how much your business soars as a result.

~ Suzanne Scacca from, Focus on What You Do Best and Outsource the Rest

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This is just an awesome point. The article is set in the context of freelancers who build web sites. Strip off the context, and it’s still perfectly true.

But also, I’ve been searching for an excuse to link to A List Apart. It’s not at all obvious from their web site, but they’ve been doing what they do since 1998. It started as a mailing list that was being separated off from I-forget-what… it was to be a “a list apart.” Then they unassumingly began leading discussion and pioneering best-practices for 20+ years.

Also, they have a nice web site chock full of great reading and resources. If you think you have an interesting or challenging problem related to a web site—A List Apart probably covered that 10 years ago.

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Stephen Leung | Growth Hacking your Parkour Business →

Published May 13, 2020  ·  All posts on May 13

On Castbox.fm — Stephen Leung | Growth Hacking your Parkour Business

How can growth hacking techniques help small Parkour businesses compete and succeed in a market dominated by larger competitors?

The key to building a successful Parkour business lies in understanding and addressing the real needs of the community through product-market fit.

[I]f you want to build a business, you want to build a brand. It’s a little meta— but it’s having a clear understanding of your product-market fit. And I spent the beginning of the session there, even teed it up… that some of you may not want to hear this. It’s a really big thing, going back to the tech startup world.

~ Stephen Leung (4:38)

The conversation explores how growth hacking techniques from the tech industry can be applied to small Parkour businesses. A core focus is the importance of identifying product-market fit, emphasizing that no amount of marketing or tactics will succeed without a real understanding of what the market needs. The discussion highlights that Parkour businesses may need to rethink their identity, realizing they are not simply competing within their own community but addressing broader lifestyle needs.

Another topic discussed is the idea of “jobs to be done,” suggesting that businesses succeed by identifying the fundamental problems customers are trying to solve. Parkour businesses could benefit by addressing tangential needs like community building, after-school care, or personal growth, rather than solely promoting physical training. Collaboration among Parkour businesses, rather than competition, is emphasized as a key driver for collective growth.

Takeaways

Growth hacking — Small businesses can leverage creative tactics to compete with larger companies.

Product-market fit — A Parkour business must align with real market needs to grow sustainably.

Jobs to be done — Understanding the broader needs customers seek to fulfill is critical to success.

Community focus — Parkour businesses can benefit by emphasizing the community aspect rather than just physical training.

Collaborative competition — Growth should focus on lifting the entire community rather than outcompeting peers.

Market adaptation — Parkour businesses must adapt to serve evolving market needs rather than clinging to narrow identities.

Resources

Art of Retreat

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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Unrestrained moderation →

Published May 13, 2020  ·  All posts on May 13  ·  

I’m finding myself draw to this phrase. It’s clearly messing with me; At first brush it might seem to be an oxymoron. However it depends on which definition of “moderation” I choose. If moderation is something I have—say, I am moderate in my opinions—then that moderation simply is. That moderation is neither short nor tall, slow nor fast, and neither restrained nor unrestrained.

But if moderation is thought of as an action—something I am doing continuously, like running or living or talking—then it can clearly be done to different degrees. My running can be slow or fast. (Technically, my running is uniformly slow, but bear with me for this simile.) My living can be conservative or outlandish. And so my moderation can be restrained or unrestrained. Currently, my moderation dial is turned to about, 2; Picture me knocking on the control panel asking, “Hello? Is this on?” I need to twist that moderation up to 11.

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Update Oct 2020: See also, Festina Lente.

Bryan Riggins: Awareness, process, and books →

Published May 13, 2020  ·  All posts on May 13  ·  

Bryan Riggins: Awareness, process, and books

What can be learned from training parkour and engaging with challenges of height about composure, awareness, and personal growth?

Bryan Riggins discusses his motivation, goals, and process of training descents, and his experiences and relationship with fear. He shares how it relates to his love of coaching children, and the challenges he personally works on. Bryan unpacks his reasons for training parkour before delving into the many books that have influenced him and what is on his reading list.

I think that fear has a place always. I think that if people think that it doesn’t exist or that they don’t have it, they’re lying to themselves.

~ Bryan Riggins (14:18)

The conversation discusses the lessons drawn from parkour, particularly training descents, and how these experiences shape personal awareness and composure. Central themes include managing fear, the importance of intentionality, and the application of these principles in teaching children and coaching others. Bryan reflects on how parkour serves as a means for self-discovery and resilience building.

The discussion also drops into the philosophical aspects of parkour, such as the value of breaking challenges into manageable parts and the role of journaling in tracking progress. Broader reflections on teaching emphasize equipping students with tools to manage emotional responses, fostering a growth-oriented mindset, and creating meaningful connections between physical practice and personal development.

(more…)

Presuming, of course, you actually know of something better to do →

Published May 12, 2020  ·  All posts on May 12  ·  

“If you don’t dedicate your time and attention to working with this roto-mill,” the clerk warns, “you might miss out on some benefit that we’re not thinking of now. I don’t see how you could afford such a risk in today’s age of modern yard tools.”

~ Cal Newport from, Would You Buy a Yard Tool if You Had No Idea What to Use it For? So Why Would You Sign Up For Snapchat?

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Maybe I’m going about this all wrong? We—me, Newport, everyone that I’m following and reading—keep saying things like this. (Read the article, it’s super short.) I keep talking about how engaging in certain things is a waste of one’s precious time. But it occurs to me that maybe for some people it is not a waste of time. Maybe for some people, playing Nimecraft, scrolling through Bacefook or Twettir is actually the best thing they’ve yet found to do with their time. (Data point: I do remember when that was the case for myself!)

Today, I have a list of things that I want to do—that I enjoy doing, that yield benefits, and which make me and the world a better place. I also have a list of things which I find pointless which I do not want to do. Maybe it would be far more useful for me to be asking, rhetorically, of the world at large:

What do you want to be doing with your limited time here?

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Tell me if this sounds crazy →

Published May 11, 2020  ·  All posts on May 11  ·  

All of our books have a small dot on their spine.

It’s one thing to try to keep your books physically under control. It’s another task for Sisyphus to keep track of your books in general. Here’s how I do it:

  • Create a free account over on LibraryThing. Set up three collections: One for the books currently in our possession; “Library.” A second for books we’d love to have join us; “Wishlist.” A third for books that have passed through; “Previous.”
  • Get some small stickers, (1/4″ round ChromaLabels work great,) and some sticky notes.
  • Add each book to your “Library” collection in LT and put a sticky note inside the cover marked “LT”. I also track digital books, so I tag all the books in LT with “physical” or “digital”. Then put a dot on the spine so you don’t have open the book to check if there’s a sticky note inside.
  • Why both? Some books can’t accept the spine sticker, and sometimes the dot falls off. So the sticky inside the cover is the definitive mark that a book is in LT.
  • New book arrives? Add it to LT’s “Library” collection, tagged as “physical”, insert sticky note in the front, and add a dot to spine.
  • Book leaving my possession? Remove the dot and sticky note, and shift the book to the “Previous” collection in LT.

As you come across books you might want to read, add them to your Wishlist collection in LT. My Wishlist contains hundreds of books. (That’s not a brag, that’s a confession.) LT has a notes field and I often leave a clue about where/why I’m adding the book. When I later—having forgotten all about that book—go into LT to add it, only to discover it’s already there… “Hmmm, that’s twice now I’ve ‘discovered’ this book. Maybe I should read this book sooner than ‘some day’?” Such books I then tag, “priority.” I’ve about ~20 books tagged priority at the moment.

Yet another reason this is useful is that you can search via the LT website, or the mobile app, to see if you have/have-had any book. You can even wander through a bookstore, and know that your Wishlist is always in your pocket.

Does that sound crazy? Dammnit, that does sound crazy now that I typed it all out.

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Shout out →

Published May 10, 2020  ·  All posts on May 10

It’s Mother’s Day here in the United States. So this is just a simple shout-out to my mom, Theresa, Love ‘ya!

(…and, yes, my mother follows my blog. I know, right? It’s like having my mom staring over my shoulder as I do my homework every day. ;)

Anyway. If you’re lucky enough, regardless whether you’re in the U.S. or not, you should probably call your mom more often.

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True happiness →

Published May 9, 2020  ·  All posts on May 9  ·  

True happiness is to enjoy the present without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied, for he that is wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.

~ Seneca

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I reiterate →

Published May 8, 2020  ·  All posts on May 8  ·  

If you’d like to retain and secure more of the information you consume instead of letting noteworthy knowledge pass right through you, here’s the best way to do so: share it with someone else. The secret of why this method works is in the number of times it forces you to reiterate, and thus solidify the memory of, a piece of information.

~ Brett McKay from, The Best Way to Retain What You Read

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McKay goes on to make several good points, but one in particular jumps out: That by sharing I am giving a gift to other people, and the anticipation of that—noting something now, that I’m planning to share with others later—is inherently pleasant and that pleasure also helps reinforce my memory.

I had never realized that aspect of blogging; this pleasurable feature, well in advance of the actual writing and sharing of things. But upon reflection this morning, I can assure you that it is a significant effect. I’m often caught yammering on about how everyone should have a place where they write in public, and henceforth I’m adding this pleasurable anticipation of sharing effect to my already long list of benefits to writing.

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Tiny incremental improvements →

Published May 7, 2020  ·  All posts on May 7

James Clear talks about the importance of becoming just one percent better every day. This may not seem like much but he writes “The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.” None of us know how long the crisis will last or how long we’re going to be stuck at home. But we are in control of what we do to improve during this time. Don’t be fooled, the version of you that comes out of quarantine can be much better than the person that went in, if you make tiny positive changes every single day.

~ Ryan Holiday from, How To Remain Calm When The Rest Of The World Is Freaking Out

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In any given moment, of any given day, of any given year, wether or not I’m freaking out, there are a few ideas which do well to help me live a good and meaningful life. This succinct collection covers those ideas better than I ever could. ‘nuf said.

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