- Getting more better things done
- Choosing direction is tough
- Being bad at things
- 2nd most common regret
Surprisingly useful for getting things finished
‘Allow yourself only 3 projects’
or 3 books
or 3 tasks
to be worked at a time. Don’t start the next until it’s finished.
My brain is like a dog – It gets excited over everything and has the attention span of, well, a dog. I love starting projects, but can have a tough time finishing them. My mind goes to 100 different places and jumps about all my ideas.
They suggest having a ‘Closed To-Do List’ consisting of maybe 2-3 things and then an ‘Open’ which feeds idea. I got this from, you guessed it, 4000 Weeks
“You are always neglecting most things by choosing to work on anything at all”
In a Similar Vein- Tough Choices
“You can’t become an ultra successful lawyer or artist or politician without first settling on law or art or politics”
There are an infinite number of directions we could go with our lives. But we also want to be really good at whatever we do. We like the indecision because it ‘keeps the options open’. However, it also prevents us from actually starting anything meaningful. By not choosing, I’m realizing, we’re choosing anyways.
Be bad at stuff
“Decide in advance what to be bad at”
As much as we’d like, we cant be great at everything. That would require infinite time. Expecting excellence then coming up short results in shame and disappointment. We get to be really good at a handful of things in life and pretty mediocre at most other things. Deciding in advance allows us to get truly good at the things that truly matter, and simply enjoy the process of the things that don’t
Number 2 Most Common Regret
“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard”
After getting sucked into project after project at work, I find myself coming back to this regret over and over again. And then I look back to a project from 3 years ago and realize I don’t really care about it all that much.
A prominent story told in the book describes the come up of a female engineer in a male dominated career. She worked incredibly hard and worked and worked and worked eventually even came out on top… but at what cost?
Her whole life was centered around proving these people wrong… and she did. But she also noted at the end of her life, to Bronnie Ware, that she forewent many happy experiences in her life because of it.
What was it all for? Is the top really worth it? At what cost?
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