A few months ago, it seemed like everyone was asking about Bitcoin (and many were investing heavily). While it's still a common topic of discussion, the sentiment has definitely flattened out.
Making sense of cryptocurrencies is tough. There are over 1000 currencies out there – and the list is growing. But it isn't just about first-mover advantages or features. You have to consider government policies and regulations, and a host of other issues.
Consequently, it's hard to recommend putting money in any coin, as an investment.
Trading is a different conversation.
There is a lot of momentum and interest in this space. If it seems worth learning more, here's an infographic on some of the more notable currencies.
Each currency has it's own strengths and weaknesses, but I stay much more bullish on the underlying technologies (like Blockchain) than any individual coin.
I love books … bookshelf after bookshelf confirms that (I’ve even read most of them!)
So far, however, none of the books on those shelves were written by me.
Not surprisingly, it’s a lot easier to read one than write one.
The Internet makes being a bestseller seem easy, and writing the book even easier. It feels like everyone and their mother has a book.
But it’s not that easy.
After reading several posts on writing books, listening to experts, talking with friends that have written them, I’ve tried a lot of different approaches. I’ve transcribed speeches and presentations, I’ve chronicled dozens of stories on key points, etc. I've used book writing software, voice transcription services, grammar checkers, and even text expansion software, trying to make it easier.
I've spent more time not writing a book than many successful authors spent from start to finish.
Technology makes most things easier and faster … but, whether we’re talking about writing a book or a trading algorithm, at some point, you realize that it’s not enough to use tools, you also have to know how to use them.
If you don’t have the right skills and knowledge, tools only help you create garbage faster.
That is where Tucker Max and Book in a Box come in … When it's time to write your book, they can help.
Tucker Max has written 4 Best Sellers (for himself) with 3 on the Best Sellers’ List at the same time.
Here is an interview I did with Tucker about the book-writing process, and why it can be hard, even for very smart people, to write a book.
I just got back from Asia and have been jet-lagged. Consequently, my mental clock-speed is not yet back to normal.
It got me thinking about productive output … and how to increase it.
According to VisualCapitalist, the level of a person’s raw intelligence, as measured by aptitude tests such as IQ scores, is generally pretty stable for most adults.
While it’s true that there are things you can do to fine tune your natural capabilities (such as doing brain exercises, puzzle solving, and getting optimal sleep) – the amount of raw brainpower you have is difficult to increase in any meaningful or permanent way.
For those of us who constantly strive to be high-performers in our fields, this seems like bad news. If we can’t increase our processing power, then how can we solve life’s bigger problems as we move up the ladder?
The world’s most successful people, from Ray Dalio to Warren Buffett, are not necessarily leagues above the rest of us in raw intelligence – they have simply developed and applied better mental models of how the world works, and they use these principles to filter their thoughts, decisions, strategies, and execution.
Today’s infographic comes from best-selling author and entrepreneur Michael Simmons, who has collected over 650 mental models through his work. The infographic (in a similar style to one VisualCapitalist previously published on cognitive biases) synthesizes these models down to the most useful and universal mental models that people should learn to master first.
Concepts such as the 80/20 rule (Pareto’s Principle), compound interest, and network effects are summarized in the visualization, and their major components are broken down further within the circle.
If you want to be a top performer, it’s worth looking into mental models. They can help you better frame reality, so that you can harness your intelligence and effort in the most effective way possible – and it’ll allow you to deliver results along the way.
Growing a company is in many ways similar to raising a child.
In parenting, you watch your child crawl, walk, and then run. You also watch them go through phases, tackle new problems, and come out the other side of their trials a changed (and hopefully) stronger person.
In growing a company, you watch the idea take form (and evolve), and you watch a plan and path unfold. You also watch your team grow and mature as they encounter problems and strategy pivots that (hopefully) result in a stronger company.
In my opinion, persistence despite discomfort is a master key to success. In other words, learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Breakthroughs happen in response to challenge.
The only companies that don't have problems are the ones that no longer exist. The goal is to hope for better quality problems.
Below is a framework that explains the 7 Stages of Small Business Success. For each of the seven stages, it identifies the critical success factor (problem to solve) that it takes to move the business forward to the next stage of success.
And, ultimately, it's inspiring and momentum building to a new age of future space explorers.
When I was growing up, the space race caught the public's hearts and minds. I was a kid, but I still remember watching the lunar landing. It was a big deal!
Likewise, I remember when astronauts were positioned as national heroes. Now, we're more jaded.
In the past decade, rockets, space-stations, satellites, etc. were often just an afterthought or a small filler news item. Meanwhile, A.I., Cloning, Voice Recognition, 3D Printing, Drones, and other technological advances were the sexy attention-getting topics.
Recently, that has changed. The space race is getting hot again. Resources are pouring into this area, and SpaceX's launch is proof that we are making progress (and probably altering life's history).
Take a look.
This was supposed to be captivating. Teachers can show their students a rocket launch where a man shot a car into space … then they can watch the car float through space. It's taking what we're used to only seeing in movies … and making it real.
Passion in the sciences is important, and successes like this can ignite passion in our future, in more than just space exploration.
The adoption of Artificial Intelligence by more industries, and it's subsequent advances, raise a lot of questions.
For example, Saudi Arabia recently gave "Sophia the Robot" citizenship. That makes Saudi Arabia the first country to grant a robot citizenship. This isn't the first time non-persons have been granted the rights of a citizen, but it does raise questions.
Another question I hear more often is:
How long until the machines are better at my job than me?
Automation used to mean big, bulky machines doing manual and repetitive work, but today, automation can land aircraft, diagnose cancer and trade.
Kurzgesagt, a YouTube channel specializing in explaining things "in a nutshell" took on the new wave of automation. It's a little long at 11 minutes, but it's worth watching.
Kurzesegast asserts that in the past, innovation created new industries or allowed increased scale … but the number of jobs the internet and Artificial Intelligence create aren't matchingthe number of jobs they're making obsolete.
Personally, I believe that freeing us to do more has always been a boon to society. Electricity put a lot of people out of work as well. Nonetheless, look what it made possible.
To date, human progress has been based on the division of labor. As our society progressed, our jobs have become more and more specialized. Now, machines will be able to break-down complex jobs into simple parts and complete them faster than we can.
Machine Learning is being done faster and better. And you can bet that will only become more true. So, yes, the same technology that's currently creating opportunities could eventually put you out of a job … but it also creates an opportunity for something new.
Basic concepts (like what constitutes a person and which things are alive) are not so basic anymore. And the implications are fascinating as well. For example, people are discussing the taxation of robots, a Universal Basic Income, and even One-Child Policies.
There's a lot of change coming, and that can be scary, but there's plenty of reason to be excited as well.
It was just announced that Chinese scientists have cloned two long-trailed macaques using the same technique that produced Dolly.
Since humans are primates as well, this is an exciting, and mildly terrifying, step towards cloning humans.
Pragmatically, this bolsters medical research by making it possible to study diseases on uniform subjects, but it also raises tough questions on human cloning.
