5 Day Reading Challenge in October 2023 📚✨

Day 1️⃣

1. Identity-Based Habits: How to Actually Stick to Your Goals This Year by James Clear (5 mins)

• Identity-Based Habits: Lasting habits come from changing your self-identity, not just your behaviors.
• Levels of Change: Behavior can be changed through outcomes, processes, or deep-rooted identity shifts.
• Success Strategy: Choose who you want to be, then reinforce that identity with small, consistent actions.
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2. How to Get Out of a Rut by Sahil Bloom (4 mins)

• Stop Digging: Recognize and cease behaviors that are worsening your situation, like negative self-talk and avoiding necessary rest.
• Change Direction: Reflect on internal and external factors that contribute to your rut. Make necessary adjustments to mindset, actions, and environment.
• Create Movement: Initiate positive actions, no matter how small, to build momentum and motivation. Utilize the concept of "Minimum Viable Progress" to start with achievable tasks and gradually expand from there.
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3. How to Grow Up: A Guide to Being Human by Mark Manson (28 mins)

• The article traces human maturation from childhood exploration driven by pleasure and pain to adulthood.
• Early experiences shape our preferences and form our identity.
• True maturity involves adopting genuine values beyond transactional behaviors.
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Day 2️⃣

1. To make great changes in your life, follow the philosophy of kaizen by Jonny Thomson (4 mins)

• Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy, popularized in the 20th century by Toyota, emphasizing gradual and continuous improvement over time.
• Rather than seeking immediate perfection, kaizen advocates making consistent small changes, which cumulatively result in significant transformations.
• Practical applications of kaizen include tidying one room at a time, setting small milestones in sports or endurance feats, and incrementally cultivating positive character traits or habits.
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2. Three Filters Needed to Think Through Problems by FS Blog (7 mins)

• Literate Filter: Dive deep into the true intent and meaning behind words to assess whether they genuinely represent the matter at hand.
• Numerate Filter: Place importance on numbers, understanding the scale, proportions, and ratios of a situation to grasp its magnitude and implications.
• Ecolacy Filter: Consider not just immediate outcomes but also secondary and tertiary consequences of actions, understanding the interconnected ripple effects of decisions.
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3. Designing a better thinking-writing medium by Linus (8 mins)

• Writing as Thinking: Writing extends and clarifies the thinking process, with Richard Feynman highlighting its role in conscious problem-solving.
• "Infinite Room" Metaphor: Envisions a limitless space for all ideas and thoughts, emphasizing the interconnectedness of knowledge.
• Ideaflow's Potential: Aims to be more than just a writing tool; it's designed as a medium to enhance and capture evolving thoughts over time.
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Day 3️⃣

3. The Fine Balance between Short-Term & Long-Term Planning by The Knowledge (2 mins)

• Time influences decisions; "finite time" is controlled short-term planning, while "infinite time" addresses uncontrollable factors.
• Over extended periods, risks increase, illustrated by the cell replication analogy.
• Navigating uncertainty requires optimizing short-term gains and using strategies like the barbell approach for risk management.
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2. How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You) by Tim Urban (60 mins)

• Society's conventional wisdom on careers is often outdated and misinformed.
• The "Yearning Octopus" symbolizes the complex desires and fears shaping our career choices.
• Modern careers are flexible and multifaceted, not linear, requiring continuous self-reflection and adaptability.
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3. How to Create Luck by swyx (6 mins)

• Active Luck Creation: Instead of viewing luck as purely chance-based, individuals can cultivate it by creating optimal conditions for fortunate events.
• LSA & Four Types of Luck: Increasing one's exposure (LSA) by doing and sharing, coupled with recognizing four kinds of luck: Accidental, Active, Prepared, and Magnetic.
• Strategies for Luck: Adopting actionable habits like Claiming a Domain and Prospecting can enhance one's chances of encountering and creating luck.
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Day 4️⃣

1. Writing is Thinking: Learning to Write with Confidence by Steph Smith (15 mins)

• Writing's Value: The author transitioned from doubt to leading a large Publications team, emphasizing that with practice, anyone can write effectively.
• Writing Equals Thinking: Writing helps clarify and communicate thoughts, with the real challenge being the thinking behind it. These processes are interlinked, reinforcing each other.
• Author's Method: The writer follows a six-step process from ideation to final writing, which helps reduce friction and improve the quality of the output. Consistency is key to mastering the skill.
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2. How to Make Smart Decisions Without Getting Lucky by FS Blog (11 mins)

• Decision-Making Significance: Effective decisions profoundly impact life and business, but most aren't formally taught this skill.
• Pitfalls in Decision-Making: Common mistakes include cognitive biases, misinformation, and prioritizing appearance over genuine outcomes.
• Improving Decision Quality: Utilizing diverse mental tools from various disciplines and adopting structured thinking frameworks can enhance decision-making.
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3. The danger of emotional reasoning and using our emotions as proof by Dr. Hannah Rose (5 mins)

• Emotional reasoning is believing something is true based on feelings, not evidence, which can lead to negative thought cycles and self-fulfilling prophecies.
• Originated by psychiatrist Aaron Beck, it's connected to "automatic thinking" where emotions sway perceptions.
• To counteract, individuals should seek objective evidence, journal their thoughts, and discuss feelings with trusted peers.
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Day 5️⃣

1. The Deathbed Regret List by Sahil Bloom (5 mins)

• The article introduces the "Deathbed Regret Exercise" to identify and avoid potential life regrets.
• The exercise consists of pinpointing potential regrets, deriving core values from them, and setting actions to live by these values.
• The author shares his personal regret list and strategies for prevention.
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2. A Brief History & Ethos of the Digital Garden by Maggie Appleton (18 mins)

• Digital Gardening Concept: A shift from traditional blogs to evolving, contextually linked digital spaces, embracing imperfection and ongoing growth.
• Historical Roots: First introduced in Mark Bernstein's 1998 hypertext essay, the idea was refined by Mike Caufield in 2015 to its current understanding.
• Modern Influence: Rising as a counter to standardized web templates, digital gardens emphasize personalization, diverse content, and platform independence.
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3. Metacognition: the mind’s Swiss Army knife by Anne-Laure Le Cunff (8 mins)

• Metacognition Defined: Metacognition is "thinking about thinking," encompassing awareness, control, and feelings about one's learning process.
• Benefits: It enhances learning, speeds up decision-making, boosts creativity, and supports mental health.
• Practice: Key strategies include planning, monitoring progress, and evaluating outcomes; tools like learning journals and mental models can aid in this process.
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