Here is a collection of quotes and ideas that have an active influence in the way I think and perceive the world. Sometimes you’ll hear something repeated 10 times, but only on the 11th it finally clicks with you. This list is not meant to be particularly profound or unique, and I plan on keeping this an evolving list.
The Best Workout Plan is the One You Stick to
When I was traveling for work, I spent a lot of time sitting and not a lot of time working out. It didn’t take long for my body to feel like crap. Stuck frequently in planes, trains, and cars, I knew the precious few hours I had at the gym needed to be spent efficiently. So I began to obsessively research workout plans.
I followed lifting programs in the past, but being on the road made finding good gyms a chore in itself, which I had to factor into the plan I created. After several months, I was able to piece together my own 3 day split which included some accessory work I could do without a gym. Problem was, I almost never did all 3 days, so my body continued to feel like crap. I prioritized the quality of the plan over the activity itself, and that’s part of why I failed. The other was too much salt.
“Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights.”
Ronnie Coleman
When you learn as a kid, you don’t start with theory and science–you just do the thing a million times until you figure it out.
As an adult, it’s impossible to take this child-like approach to learning simply because there are too many competing responsibilities to conscientiously spend, like, 6 hours a day dribbling a ball. So we focus on optimizing our training time, understanding the ins-and-outs of what we’re doing. We rely on our prior experiences to contextualize the activity, and we can access better resources to improve our practice conditions.
But if you’re trying to learn something, there’s no substitute for actually doing that thing.
Opportunity Cost
Choosing to do something comes at the “cost” of not doing other things. This isn’t something we intuitively think when making decisions, but this concept has made me much more mindful of the future when I am evaluating options.
Sunk Cost
Being a quitter means you aren’t able to finish a task. Being sensible means you know how to weigh the cost to complete a task and accept when that cost is too high.
Comparative advantage
In microeconomics, comparative advantage exists when a business can produce an item at a reduced opportunity cost than a competitor, rather than absolute cost.
As a product manager you’re constantly collaborating with experts in various domains. And that can cause a pretty nasty case of imposters syndrome. It’s worth remembering that generalists don’t need to have an absolute advantage in order to be effective. Knowing where your comparative advantage lies gives you the jumping off point to working with a team effectively.
Net Present Value
The classic explanation is that a dollar now is worth more a dollar one year from now. This concept gained new significance when I applied it to time. Conventional career thinking presents a comfortable retirement as one of the primary goals. If the NPV of one year in your 20s is worth more than one year in your 60s, a singular focus on the future is actually not the best use of your time. Don’t forget that time is your most limited resource.
“The chief enemy of creativity is good sense”
Pablo Picasso
For me, creative thoughts usually need to pass through two preliminary gates before I truly begin exploring them. The first is: does it excite me? The second is: is this practical? Most of my ideas die in the second phase, and then some time later I’ll see that idea fully formed in the world and think “that could’ve been me”.
Rather than listen to the voices in my head, I want to prioritize the creation of a Minimum Viable Product for that idea. This ties in with the Ronnie Coleman quote above–you’ll never have any creative ideas if you stop executing your creative ideas. Directing the logical part of my brain on creating the MVP feels like a much better use of energy than tearing the idea apart. (I’m using the term MVP to broadly refer to any simple validation of an idea, not software specifically.)
Ima fix wolves
KANYE WEST
Even after you put your creation out into the world, you have the option to fix it. So go ahead and just put it out there.
“Be the change you want to see in the world”, and the Bystander Effect
I whisper this to myself when I cut 6-pack rings apart, or forgo plastic shopping bags in favor of holding everything in my hands and pockets, or willingly let myself freeze/sweat with the seasons to use less energy on temperature control. I think it’s completely selfish to expect global climate change to be fixed by silver bullet inventions or top-down economic reform. If you aren’t willing to inconvenience yourself constantly for the benefit of the planet, then you probably weren’t that concerned to begin with.
Since then, I’ve noticed more opportunities for the application of this phrase. If a work problem has been troubling your team, or you wish you caught up with your non-local friends more, then…be the change you want to see in the world. Fix it yourself. Call them yourself.
On the opposite end of the spectrum lies the bystander effect, where crowds witnessing emergency situations are prone to inaction as each individual assumes “someone else” will do it. Fuck that. Be the change you want to see in the world.
It is to prevent the possibility of permanent anguish that we can be led to shut our eyes to most of what is around us, for we are never far from damp stains and cracked ceilings, shattered cities and rusting dockyards. We can’t remain sensitive indefinitely to environments which we don’t have the means to alter for the good – and end up as conscious as we can afford to be. Echoing the attitude of Stoic philosophers or St Bernard around Lake Geneva, we may find ourselves arguing that, ultimately, it doesn’t much matter what buildings look like, what is on the ceiling or how the wall is treated – professions of detachment that stem not so much from an insensitivity to beauty as from a desire to deflect the sadness we would face if we left ourselves open to all of beauty’s many absences.
The Architecture of Happiness, by Alain de Botton
The first time I read this paragraph I knew my life had just become more negative. There’s a sad irony that seeking beauty opens you up to all of its absences. And that most of your life will be spent in situations where that beauty if lacking. I’ve mostly focused on the bold part of this except, since those are clearly the most upsetting and also the most well written, but I’m realizing there the value of the lesson in between those words. Don’t fixate on things outside of your control.
I have not finished the book.
Yzma: This isn’t poison! This is extract of…. LLAMA! Oooohhhhh…
[She tosses the vial at Kronk]
Kronk: You know, in my defense, your poisons all look the same. You might wanna think about re-labelling some of them.
The Emperor’s New Groove
When creating a design language it’s tempting to have things share several common patterns, and use minor variations to distinguish between them. It gives the design uniformity, depth, and it feels really good once you figure it out.
Problem is, then it becomes harder to understand. And it’s important to remember the purpose of design is to get rid of Kuzco be functional.