The Top Productivity Podcasts: What you could have learned this week- March 4-8, 2024
Spend more time implementing wisdom, not collecting it.
Asian Productivity Podcast
Episode - Stuck to Streamlined
Only specific goals and targets get done. Example: I will read a book tomorrow vs. I will read a book at 6 pm tomorrow for 15 mins.
If you struggle to follow a schedule, then focus on the outcome. Focus on reading for 15 minutes every day. Daily to-do tasks can help provide structure. Habit stacking - tie an existing habit to a new one you are trying to build. For example, if you drink water first thing after getting up in the morning. Then, put your electrolytes next to the water filter or tap. This will make it easier and over time automatic to add electrolytes to your water. If you take your dog out for a walk, put your workout shoes next to the leash, etc. etc..
If sticking to a routine is an issue, make it super easy. If you intend to work out for 4 hours every week, start with 5 mins per day.
Find an accountability buddy. If you have to pick someone up for the gym, your likelihood of going to the gym increases dramatically.
Clutter, complacency, and complexity (CCC) are productivity’s nemesis. From today, you are the CCC exterminator, remove them with a vengeance.
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Huberman Lab Podcast
Episode - AMA#16, Sleep, Vertigo, Tips for Travel and Gut-Brain Axis
Your fundamental health protocol should include: 1) Morning sunlight, 2) Red light [I use this one], 3) Exercise 4) Healthy social interactions
NSDR (Non-Sleep Deep Rest) is a powerful and zero-cost tool for deep relaxation and overall well-being. (developed by Dr. Huberman). Try it here.
Everything you need to know about optimizing sleep. Mesure for QQRT - Quality (REM vs. Non-REM sleep), Quantity (5 hours or 8 hours), Regularity (going to bed approximately around the same time), and Timing (does early to bed, early to rise or night owl schedule works better for you).
Vertigo, feeling sick sensations, and boat sickness can be helped by fixating on the horizon or an object 4-5 feet away. This helps stabilize your oculovestibular system.
Inflammation isn’t the enemy. Inflammation can be healthy and downright necessary in some instances. Use caution while self-prescribing natural anti-inflammatory supplements such as Curcumin/Turmeric.
5-10 grams of creatine monohydrate is linked to assisting in many beneficial processes with minimal side effects.
The cause of OCD is miswiring in the basal ganglion. This should be treated neurologically with a focus on neuroplasticity.
Avoid jet lag by resetting your circadian rhythm by adjusting your sleep pattern/timing 2-3 days before traveling. For example, if traveling from LA - NY, go to bed 1-2 hours early, 2-3 days before traveling.
Fish oil and omega-3 are a terrific tool with many studied benefits. Use credible sources as they can have contaminants.
Exercise to your 70-80% max threshold. This leaves enough room for the body to recover and adapt without jeopardizing the ability to work throughout the day. Always training to failure can be detrimental.
The most important thing is to avoid injury. Just because you can train hard, doesn’t mean you should.
Use fermented foods and sleep to enhance gut function. Probiotics and fiber intake are well-studied tools with good levels of efficacy.
For oral health, re-mineralization of teeth is critical. Clean your teeth, gums, and tongue, gently. Not abrasively.
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Deep dive with Ali Abdaal
Episode - Tell People Your Goals - The secret to accomplishing anything with Cliff Weitzman
Learn the fundamentals of computer science. It can be extremely useful in the modern world.
Entrepreneurship can be defined as the process of converting resources with low yield into high yield by creating value. Read Emerson’s essay - On Wealth.
#1 role of a founder should be to learn. Learn how to code, how to market, how to recruit etc. As a CEO, your role is different. A CEO should 1) Have money in the bank 2) Build the vision 3) Put the right people in the right seats.
Relentless pursuit of excellence and knowledge is a skill that can be cultivated. Cliff spent the time to ingest 100s of books on subjects like SEO optimization and coding a year. He also spent the time to create a list of the Top 10 experts in a field. He then did strategic cold outreach via, emails or social media. Leverage the internet to build relationships with people who are already in a position you wish to be.
While doing cold reach, be genuine. Show that you genuinely follow and consume their content. Politely follow up if you don’t hear back.
If you’re looking for an inspirational start-up story then this is the episode to listen to - starts around 20 minutes in - the 1-hour mark. Cliff is a beast at bootstrapping and strategic outreach! What a legend.
Idea generation: Notice what sucks in your day-to-day life, an app you use that has bugs/problems, a service you would pay for or you wish existed, etc. Start by scratching your own itch.
Ask what technology exists today or will exist in the next three years that I can build towards/on. This will give you a long-term competitive advantage.
Aim to build something simple, and sustainable with a well-thought business model ( it’s scalable).
Determine if you will sell your product or service directly to end consumers or other businesses.
How will consumers find out about your product? Will you run ads, if yes, which channel and why? Should you employ someone in sales or marketing?
Validate your idea. Publish it on social media or discuss it with your friends. The key is to ask for money to confirm people see the value in your product. Ask them - would you pay X amount for X product or service?
Effort = Outcomes. The person working 100 hours/week vs. 40 hours/week will get exponentially greater results.
Publish your goals. Share them on social media, and tell your friends. This enforces social accountability. You will be too embarrassed to quit publically therefore it forces accountability and action.
Create a clear vision in your head of who you want to be. How much time do you spend creating a vision of your future self and working out the steps necessary to accomplish that vision?
When you are willing to work harder than everyone else, people notice. This creates opportunity.
Self-improvement vs. self-acceptance - Don’t punish yourself for not accomplishing your goals. Reacces and attack them again. Aim to give your best in everything you do.
Speechify is an emerging (and the only) competitor to Audible. It can turn pdfs, emails, and any text into audio. Worth checking especially if you have a learning difficulty like dyslexia or ADHD.
Fitness: 1 gram of proteins is 4 calories, fat =9 & carbs is 4 calories. Figure out your maintenance caloric intake. Example: if you're 150 lbs then it’s most likely 2000 calories. Then, add or remove calories depending on if you want to lose or gain weight. As a rule, consume 1.3 grams of protein per pound of body weight. (Not a general prescription)
If you only measure success by money, you will probably never be happy. Value health more than money.
Remove money-related stress: Calculate your projected yearly expenses based on what sort of life you wish to have (realistically) ie. where you wish to live, the car you wish to drive, etc. If that lifestyle demands 50k/year then that is a great data point to have. Additional things to consider will be a) add 10% extra for unexpected expenses and b) save 10-20% to create a buffer or options for your future self. This exercise gives you control. It also rids you from having lofty ideas i.e. you need 10 million dollars to live a good life.
Definition of Success (Tim vs. Cliff). A person's success in life can be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have (Tim Ferriss). Cliff’s version - Success can be defined by the number of conversations you finish with ‘I love you.’ Takeaway - Call your loved ones. Regularly.
The equation for happiness - What you expect minus what you get. Growth makes you happy.
Create goals that are self-directed i.e. lose weight so You feel good in clothes not for people to tell you that you look good.
Aim for feeling proud of yourself, and your choices and having meaningful relationships.
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Deep Questions with Cal Newport
Ep.290: Financing the Deep Life with Noah Kagan
Video Podcasting will directly compete with TV (streaming services) in the future.
The start of a big business is always small.
Frequent failures if explored intentionally will get you closer to success. Failure is not final.
Successful entrepreneurs are willing to fail and they are always hungry for feedback (the goal is to validate the idea and make the product better).
Obsess over a problem you wish to solve. Start with problems that your ‘clients’ already have, then build a solution and a business around it.
Confidence is built via courage and both are built by taking action. Put your stuff out in the world.
Take massive action. Track what’s working and double down on it. This will help you get to your core consumer base.
Look for longevity. Look for a balance between what excites you and what the world wants. Most Billionaires get rich over time (10-20 years). They find something they like working on that solves a problem (has value) and they stick to it for years.
Don’t let the allure of money suck you into a ‘hectic’ life.
Dream Life - don’t chase someone else’s idea of a successful life, create your own. Know what you want. Build towards that, intentionally.
Track your weeks. Ask if this week represented your entire life then is it a good life? Dream life? What would you change?
If you feel lost when it comes to lifestyle design, think ‘What can I do to create a better life with the power I have right now.’
Power of asking. Get better at knowing what you want and asking for it. People aren’t mind readers. Learn to communicate your wants, clearly.
Top Life hacks - focus on improving yourself, building a positive self-image/self-talk, and choosing the right partner.
Allocate time each week towards important things. For example: if health is important, schedule time in your calendar for health-related activities, ahead of time. At the end of the week, access if you stuck to your scheduled time for each activity.
Color code your calendar based on activity. Green could represent workouts. If you don’t see any green for next week then the color-coding system will act as an alarm bell.
Two options: you either invent or iterate.
Surround yourself with high performers.
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The Greg McKeown Podcast
Episode - Strength in Belonging with Sue Johnson
We all walk around having conversations in our heads with the people that matter to us. This makes other people one of the most influential contexts. This is crucial for our psychological growth.
EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) uses attachment sciences that link your human body (physiology) to the relationships around you (the external context).
Disconnection and emotional isolation (feeling alone either because you don’t let people in or are not surrounded by nurturing relationships) are at the center of mental health crises.
‘Bonding conversations’ is the solution for creating lasting, emotionally calibrated, supportive relationships (Love Relationships).
Attachment goes from cradle to grave. Needing other people is not a weakness, it’s a source of strength.
We only need 1 ‘love relationship’ to feel happier, healthier, and at peace. This is the one person you know will come when you call them. The absence of this (at least) 1 reliable, supportive relationship, makes our brains go into a ‘primal panic’. We feel unwanted and undesired; like we don’t belong.
I highly recommend studying Sue Johnson’s work. Start here
Attachment science provides a map of one’s inner vulnerabilities and insecurities and shows you how to manage them.
Human connection, attachment, and a sense of belonging are critical to human existence. The relationship is the water we swim in so, take a human out of that water and their survival is at risk.
Remove where the use of technology is hampering your ability to build a connection with another human. Call someone rather than text. Visit them in person. Hold the hand of a loved one while talking to them. Invest time and energy in building true, lasting connections.
Microsoft’s President Brad Smith on technology: “For 100 years, we have built the technology to connect with people a long way from us at the expense of losing connection with people closest to us.” This is a bad trade-off.
Modern communication technology is based on the assumption that you can translate the entire social experience into the digital world. This seems to be a fundamentally wrong assumption.
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A Bit of Optimism: Simon Sinek
Episode - Lessons from 4 years in Solitary confinement with political prisoner Leopoldo Lopez
Win every day. Define what winning may mean to you. For Leo Lopez, as a prisoner, it was 1. Pray 2. Exercise the mind by reading, writing, drawing, and contemplating 3. Exercise the body. Good start for everyone in my opinion.
Don’t create false timelines because if that time comes and you haven’t achieved what you hoped, it becomes an invitation to demoralization and demotivation. Instead, focus on winning each day.
Praying is interoception. People pray for 3 reasons: 1. Need (praying for winning the lottery) 2. Fear (God, please don’t let X happen) 3. Gratitude. (being thankful for what you have). Out of the three, gratitude is the most powerful.
I hope this was helpful. Please like, share, and comment. I welcome any feedback to make this newsletter more useful. Thanks for reading.
PM