Personal Development

  • Avoiding Death by Snowmobile

    I was in Saskatchewan, Canada last week for my first-ever snowmobiling experience.

    When I got there, everyone was in great spirits. Apparently, this is a sport done with day drinking, lots of laughter, and abandon.

    We split into groups: Insane, Merely Crazy, and the Turtles.

    I figured I was relatively safe with the Turtles. Still, I have to admit that I was a little nervous. The machines are capable of gliding over the snow at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour. And, I heard stories that 70 percent of these outings ended in some form of injury. Those are some sphincter-tightening things to put together.

    The scenery was majestic.

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    But I didn't notice till it was over.  Humans are deletion creatures. That means they can hold seven things (plus or minus two) in their memory. Everything else gets filtered or deleted. For example, in chess, a grandmaster can focus on the portion of the board that is most proximately related to winning. A novice, however, wastes their buffers with thoughts like "the horsey-thing goes up two and over one."

    While everyone else was focused on having fun, I focused on how to make the sled do something. There were no instructions that said click this, press that. Here's the brake, or, the three most important things to remember are … 

    I quickly learned two rules. The first, you have to lean in the direction that you want to turn (otherwise the sled tips over). By the way, it took me a few iterations to figure this one out. 

    Here is a picture of me just after they dug me out from under the sled.

     

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    The second rule is to try to stay on the sled. I never quite figured that rule out fully. 

    I guess you can be skillful, you can be lucky, or you can pray.

    Luckily, I saw Father Rac before we started.   My question was whether he was here to bless the participants or perform last rites.

     

     

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    After a nice conversation, he said he'd pray for me.

    In my industry, we call that hedging.

    I did last longer than the sled.  It had to be towed.

    Meanwhile, I still have ten fingers and ten toes, ended the day vertically, and had a ton of fun.  Victory!

    I’ll suck less next time.

  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – March 11th, 2018

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    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

    Lighter Links:

     

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  • Pro Tip: You’re Not An Author

    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. 

     

    via YouTube

    Are you planning on writing a book?

    I am!

     

  • Ikigai – A Japanese Concept About Finding Life’s Purpose

    I just read that they sell more adult diapers than baby diapers in Japan.

    Getting old is tough, and it gets tougher the older you get.   As a result, finding your 'reasons for being' and joy in life becomes even more important. 

    Many people (all over the world) struggle to get up in the morning. 

    There's a Japanese concept called Ikigai that may help.

     

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    via InformationIsBeautiful

    Finding your "reason to be" and living with purpose is a key to making the most of your time.

    The graphic highlights something interesting (yet almost counter-intuitive) … When two areas intersect, it creates a something positive (e.g., a passion or a mission).   However, where three areas intersect, it creates a pain point (for example it could be what you're good at, you love doing it, the world needs it … but it doesn't make you any money – so now you're struggling).

    Worth examining and thinking about for a bit.

    On a related note, here is a TEDx talk about the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that help people live past 100.

     

    TED-ED via YouTube

    Live long and Prosper!

  • 12 Ways to Get Smarter – In One Infographic

    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 Key is Mental Models

     
    The good news is that while raw cognitive abilities matter, it’s how you use and harness those abilities that really makes the difference.
     
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    via VisualCapitalist – Click the image to see a larger version.
     
    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.
     
    Otherwise, caffeine and modafinil help.

  • Will I Survive the AI Revolution?

    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.

      

    Kurzgesagt via Youtube

    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 matching the number of jobs they're making obsolete. 

    According to this study, approximately 50% of jobs will be automated by 2034.

    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.

    We live in a golden era of innovation, and we have longer life-expectancies than ever before. 

    We truly live in interesting times!

  • Scientists Have Just Cloned Monkeys

    Do you remember Dolly the Sheep?

    She was the first mammal cloned "from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer."

    Dolly was cloned from a mammary gland and was named after Dolly Parton … for obvious reasons.

    Since then, many other large mammals were cloned, including pigs and horses. 

     

    TIME via Youtube

    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. 

    As A.I. and cloning advance, some tough bio-ethic issues will take front stage.  It is time to start thinking about what defines a person (or even a living creature) and what rights they have.

    Innovation stops for no one … and Nature finds a way.

    Onwards!

     

  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – January 21st, 2018

    It's day 2 of the government shutdown; but what does that actually mean?

    In short: 

    • "Essential" government services will still run even if employees aren't getting paid – USPS, TSA, Social Security
    • Other "non-essential" government employees will be "furloughed" and told to stay at home. 
    • Military will be required to work, but won't be paid until Congress comes to an agreement
    • Employees will be paid retroactively once an agreement is met. 

     Efficiency at its finest … or a force function to get the children to play nicer with each other?

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    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

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  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – January 14th, 2018

     

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    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

    Lighter Links:

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  • The Time Value of Time

    Einstein_1979_USSR_StampIn many senses time is relative. 

    You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand this quote from Einstein.

    "When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second.  When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour.  That's relativity."

    It is about more than perception. 

    Here is something that highlights the relative value of time. 

     

    The Value Of Time:

    • To understand the value of a year, talk to a student who has failed an important exam.
    • To understand the value of a month, talk to a mother who has given birth to a baby a month prematurely.
    • To understand the value of a week, talk to the publisher of a weekly newspaper.
    • To understand the value of an hour, talk to a couple in love who are separated and want only to be together again.
    • To understand the value of a minute, talk to someone who has just missed their train or plane flight.
    • To understand the value of a second, talk to someone who has lost a loved one in an accident.
    • And to understand the value of a millisecond, talk to someone who won the silver medal at the Olympic Games.

    Time waits for no one.  So it is important to remember to make the best use of the time you have.

     

    That Doesn't Mean Time Is Scarce Or Has To Be A Constraint:

    090614 time Time is often thought of as a constraint or a scarce resource. There are lots of phrases that highlight this type of thinking.  For example: I don't have enough time; I'm running late; I'm up against a deadline; There are only 24-hours in a day; or, I’m going as fast as I can. As you might guess, that list goes on further.  Yet, time does not have to be that way … it can be a tool instead.

    So, I started to think about how I used time. 

    Was I making the most of it … or taking it for granted?  It didn’t take much introspection to notice a few of the ruts I fell into.  I'm going to talk about one of them, here, because a small shift can have a massive impact. 

    To start, let's talk about pace.

     

    A Change of Pace:

    When I jog, the beginning and the end are the hardest for me. Yet, after I find that initial pace and I settle into a comfortable rhythm, the majority of the run is relatively painless. My mind and body switch to a nearly automatic mode and I have time to think about many things.

    Work is similar in many respects. Once a team gets into a rhythm, work and progress are somewhat automatic. Breaking inertia is a challenge; but, people recognize that it's a challenge. The more insidious problem is to fail to recognize that the work rhythm that's comfortable, and which produces progress, is still a rut. It doesn't stretch and challenge the team to strive for more. Yet, this stretching is what drives innovation. It's the thought we haven't had yet … and a new perspective that changes everything.

    Changing your pace can be an incredible catalyst to make that happen for you. For example, imagine that we put together a new portfolio in two weeks, on a wholly new tech platform, with new markets, and using new techniques. Then we tested, re-balanced and rebuilt that portfolio in one week. What we did, or the time in which we did it, wasn’t important. The important part is that it caused the team to work at a radically different pace than before. It was a sprint.

    Moreover, this sprint caused us to re-think what we do, and more importantly, how we do it.  Many of the innovations and new distinctions that we discovered through this process will work their way into other areas of our work (and will act as a catalyst for us to re-evaluate the way we do things).

     

    A Challenge For You:

    I challenge you to consciously change the pace of something that you are already comfortable doing a certain way. The pace can be faster, or the pace can be slower … it doesn't matter.  Then notice what comes up for you, and what new opportunities and possibilities you discover.

    Time is a valuable resource. Take this opportunity to re-examine how you can best view and use time to make the most of it.