5 Day Reading Challenge in May 2023 📚✨

Day 1️⃣

1. How to Make Sure You Keep Growing and Learning by Susan J. Ashford (8 mins)
   Small, everyday experiments can help us reach our goals and get better at the skills that are important to us. Leaders who are widely viewed as effective and highly successful in their organizations will tell you that 70% of the learning that got them there was through their experiences, 20% was through other people, and 10% was through courses, books, and other types of education.
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2. The Eggbeater Effect: How Time-Saving Technology Just Makes For More Work by Tara McMullin (14 mins)
   The "eggbeater effect" refers to how labor-saving devices often raise our expectations of how we use our time, leading to more work. This can be seen in the use of project management apps, which can lead to taking on more work to increase revenue and grow the business. However, we need to be critical about how these apps shift our expectations and recognize what getting enough work done looks like.
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3. Seeking Wisdom — Lessons on Becoming an Outstanding Thinker by Thomas Oppong (4 mins)
   "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” Our biggest hindrance to self-improvement is not our ignorance but our unwillingness to learn.
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Day 2️⃣

1. The Paradox of Self-Improvement by J.W. Bertolotti (3 mins)
   In The Art of Self Improvement, author Anna Katharina Schaffner explains that self-improvement is not achieved through exertion and determination, but by yielding, accepting, and giving up resistance. Psychologist Viktor Frankl advocated "self-transcendence" by dedicating oneself to an external cause or to people we love. Paradoxically, the more we forget ourselves, the more we actualize ourselves. We must identify meaning that is located outside our own psyche, and remember that whatever we do in life will be insignificant, but it is essential that we do it.
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2. Why Friendships Among Men Are So Important by Jill Suttie (6 mins)
   Men are experiencing a "friendship recession" with fewer social ties overall, according to a recent American Survey report. Intimate friendships with men, sometimes called "bromances," can be even more fulfilling than romantic relationships with women, as men feel more understood by other men and assume male friends will be more loyal and willing to help in times of need. However, societal pressures to conform to a particular model of masculinity can hamper the development of intimacy with others.
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3. Growing Old Gratefully: How to See Each Year as a Gift by Suzie Headley (3 mins)
   The fear of aging is often rooted in vanity and societal pressure to remain youthful. However, aging is a natural part of life and can be seen as a gift. In Japanese culture, aging is celebrated as a time of maturity and rebirth. By cultivating a grateful mindset and embracing the natural process of aging, we can drown out negative societal messages and live each day to its fullest.
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Day 3️⃣

1. Variability, Not Repetition, is the Key to Mastery by Scott H. Young (6 mins)
   Variability plays an essential and oft-neglected role in mastering complex skills. Considerable research shows that practicing in varied contexts with varied methods and performing with varied task constraints results in more robust learning than simple repetition.
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2. Leverage is brittle by Seth Godin (1 min)
   Debt can be a financial miracle, but it also makes organizations brittle. Leveraged companies often prioritize short-term gains over long-term stability, leading to supply chain issues and potential collapse if property values decrease. Leverage accelerates everything, making it important to recognize and address in order to prevent further damage.
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3. The Winner’s Edge by FS Blog (3 mins)
   Taking risks is essential for success, as most lucky people have been willing to take risks at some point. Many talented people are too pessimistic to take risks, preventing them from achieving their potential. It's better to be overly confident than pessimistic, as confidence can serve your skills and vice versa. There are two types of confidence: phony and expert. Phony confidence fools us into taking risks we don't understand, while expert confidence allows us to understand the risks we take. Over-estimating risk can be as costly as under-estimating it when it prevents us from moving forward.
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Day 4️⃣

1. The psychology of prestige: why we play the social status game by Hannah Rose (4 mins)
   The pursuit of social status can be a bad idea, as it can lead to decisions that are self-defeating and lower our self-worth. To avoid this trap, we should practice metacognition to reflect on our long-term goals, explore unconventional paths, and focus on learning new skills. Surrounding ourselves with explorers and reading memoirs and biographies of those who have achieved their dreams without striving for wealth or status can also help.
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2. How MrBeast learns by Henrik Karlsson (11 mins)
   MrBeast, a successful YouTuber with 221 million subscribers, learned by treating his mind like a neural net and consuming a gargantuan amount of data. He believes in learning by doing and working in public, sharing insights on Twitter or a blog. He formed a core team by "cloning" himself, training his team to think like him. He also sought access to more data and better mentors to improve his skills. MrBeast's success is attributed to his dedication to learning and constantly seeking improvement.
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3. First Principles: The Building Blocks of True Knowledge by FS Blog (16 mins)
   First-principles thinking is one of the best ways to reverse-engineer complicated problems and unleash creative possibilities. Sometimes called “reasoning from first principles,” the idea is to break down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassemble them from the ground up. It’s one of the best ways to learn to think for yourself, unlock your creative potential, and move from linear to non-linear results.
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Day 5️⃣

1. Everything is aiming: forget the target and focus on your aim by Anne-Laure Le Cunff (5 mins)
   Kyūdō, the Japanese martial art of archery, teaches an alternative philosophy where the aim matters more than the goal. The master encourages the student to forget about the goal and focus on the way they are aiming. In life, the goal is the target we want to achieve, while the aim is the course we set to reach that target. Focusing on our aims is a mindset shift that allows us to break free of the arrival fallacy and enjoy the process.
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2. How To Think In Funnels (And Achieve The Best Possible Outcomes) by Frontera (4 mins)
   Thinking in funnels is a mental model that breaks down goals into stages to improve conversion rates and achieve the best possible outcomes. To apply this model, map out the stages of what you want to achieve and normalize failure as a part of the process. Improving conversion rates is key, and funnels can be useful tools beyond marketing. Don't spend too much time on analysis and precision, but keep trying new things to achieve better outcomes.
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3. The absurdity of over-optimizing by Khe Hy (3 mins)
   Over-optimizing can lead to absurdity in productivity culture. Instead of asking how to get more out of an activity, ask why you fear being ordinary or can't take a walk without headphones. Learning is crucial for staying relevant and winning. Consider if you're playing the right game and who deserves your best energy. Obsession with productivity can lead to the Deferred Life Plan, trading time and mind space for a better tomorrow. Don't forget to ask why and prioritize what makes you come alive.
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