Weekly Wisdom Newsletter #35

Published Date: Sunday, June 23, 2019

Hi All!

Here are this week's chosen learning points:

1. Career Decisions: According to Derek Sivers, in the beginning of our careers, we should say yes to everything because we need to build up experience and we have the time. Once you are established and time becomes scarce, the decision-making method should change to a "Hell Yes!" or a "No." Otherwise, we'll let too many mediocre things fill our lives, such that when the occasional amazing opportunity comes along, we don't have enough time to give it the proper attention it deserves. (Source)

2. Be Mindful of Drift: According to Gretchen Rubin, drift is when "Instead of making mindful decisions for yourself, you go along with other people's wishes for you, or when you take the path of least resistance, or you choose the choice that feels like the least commitment." We should figure out, for ourselves, what we want for ourselves. (Source)

3. Evaluating Product Reviews: When deciding whether or not to buy a book (or anything with hundreds+ online reviews), filter the reviews to the 3 star reviews first. Don't bother with the 5 star or 1 star reviews because those tend to be too one-sided. (Source)

Here are this week's recommended actions:

1. Answer this Yes/No question: "Am I drifting in any areas of my life right now?"

2. Identify a book you've been thinking of buying. Go look at the 3 star reviews on Amazon. Scroll to the bottom of the reviews to find a hyperlinked text saying "See all XXXX number of reviews." Click that to access a filtering system that allows you to filter for 3 star reviews. Another option is to filter for all critical reviews and then look for 3-star ones.

If you think someone else would find this newsletter useful, please forward it to them. Thanks, and have a wonderful week ahead!