Good morning friends! 😌
I hope everyone had a good first week in 2024. I want this post to be relatively simple and discuss four key things I learned last year that I am going to apply in 2024 as much as I can.
✏️ 1. Create > Consume
Many people would acknowledge they spend too much time on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), YouTube, or any other social media app. So much consumption is not good.
Social media apps are designed to keep you on them as much as possible. Teams of software engineers work for weeks on optimizing one button to make it more attractive to customers. That’s the scale of effort we are talking about when it comes to creating addicting apps.
I don’t know about you, but I get much more satisfaction from creating something rather than consuming it. Creating could be anything. The obvious ones are making videos, blogs, articles, etc.
Stuff like playing sports, knitting, or coding up some fun app is all creating.
I know that if I spent the same amount of time creating than consuming, then I would be much more satisfied.
🎯 2. Focus
After reading Stolen Focus by Johann Hari (affiliate link), I realized how fractured my focus is.
If you think about it, most people nowadays are always using two screens at once. Going on your phone while watching TV or listening to a podcast while working.
Human brains can only process one thing at a time, but we are overloading ourselves unnecessarily.
Constant stimulation is becoming worse as Hari discusses in his book. It creates a fragmented mind, reducing our ability to focus on one task for long periods.
Being able to focus is a superpower nowadays.
✅ 3. Consistency
I read somewhere that “B+ content with A+ consistency” is how you grow online, personally and professionally. B+ content is subjective at best, but I resonate with the statement.
Consistency refers to a myriad of things.
Showing up to the gym every two days and having a B+ workout is better than showing up once a month and having an A+ workout.
Delivering consistent B+ work is often better than a one-off A+ every blue moon.
Posting good content online every week is better than great content once every year.
Quality also follows consistency. Over time B+ results will grow into A results.
😓 4. Don’t “Try Harder”
Working full-time, writing blogs, this newsletter, and making videos can get stressful. Instead of thinking I need to work harder and dedicate more time, it’s better to reevaluate my systems and environments.
Pressing the “try harder” button will only lead to burnout.
For example, I have reduced my YouTube posting schedule to once per week, two blogs a month, and this newsletter once a week. I have coupled this with better systems. I write every morning before work from 8-9 am, my filming gear is always out, and I write this newsletter every Friday evening from 6:00 - 7:30 pm.
Creating systems is the closest thing to a silver bullet to meet your goals.
What’s Been Cooking 🥘
Some tasty stories this week:
OpenAI GPT Store — Open AI sent an email to users saying that their GPT store will launch this week.
Google Layoffs — Rumours have that Google is exploring to lay off 30,000 employees and replace them with AI.
Microsoft AI PC — Microsoft is planning a “Copilot key” to seamlessly integrate AI into their PCs.
Weekly Favourites ❤️
🎬 YouTube - NeetCode. Binged so many videos on this channel already. Neet does a range of videos on tech tutorials, careers, and coding advice while making it so entertaining at the same time.
✏️ Article — So, what is a physics-informed neural network? Very interesting article on how you could solve the dampened harmonic oscillator equation in physics using machine learning.
🎬 YouTube — Nischa. A fantastic personal finance channel. Like the simplistic approach and making finance accessible.
(PS: Some links are affiliate links that I get a kickback from with no extra cost to you 😎)