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Unstick's avatar

I love this. I send a lot of your stuff to my teenage kids. I’m not sure if they read it, but I hear persistence is persuasive;) Thanks!

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Tom White's avatar

Brilliant per usual Adam. I think it boils down to the nefarious language of finance being inserted into every facet of life. This article is one of my favorites:The Trouble with Optionality

"Optionality is the state of enjoying possibilities without being on the hook to do anything." https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/5/25/desai-commencement-ed/

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Jake Park's avatar

Hehe yes, there's no point in maximising optionality if by doing so you turn all the options into shit.

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Chris Fawthrop's avatar

Excellent point on commitment. I think another big component as well is not challenging assumptions, whatever they are. Assumptions about it being too late, assumptions about overcrowding, assumptions about how much effort it will take, assumptions on capability, and so forth.

The intersection on commitment and assumptions is uncertainty. Most people aren't willing to move forward through uncertainty, and would rather stay in comfortable stagnation.

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Jake Park's avatar

Also related is this post I found a while ago: https://danluu.com/p95-skill/

The same idea: 95th percentile isn't that good.

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Randall J Moore's avatar

Best read this weekend!

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Stefano Boscutti's avatar

Yes, all you have to do is outlast the vast majority who give up.

But before outlasting the majority, you have to outlast your own creeping doubts, second-guessing and dumb-ass thinking out to riven you with self-doubt and short your dreams.

You have to supersede your own skepticism, suspicion, and uncertainty. Replace it with a sense of wonder and adventure.

With a sense of manifest destiny.

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