"I found this in a pile of notes to myself, and share here simply as food for thought... "You want two things:
1. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. No wasted movement. No wasted effort.
2. Compounding. Every project should have a long runway and feed the others."
- James Clear
"Although losing is never fun, there is a certain satisfaction that can be found on the other side of losing — but only when you give your all. To lose with half effort offers no pleasure in the moment and no peace in the long run. But if your ambitions were full and your attempt was genuine, after the sting of losing wears off you'll be left with something resembling contentment. The reward is not always in winning, but in striving."
- James Clear
"Remain playful as your responsibilities increase. It's easy to become serious when people and results depend on you, but nearly everyone's performance improves when they proceed lightly through the world."
- James Clear
"Stories of failure resonate more than stories of success. Few people reach the top, but everyone has failed—including those who eventually succeed. If you're teaching people how to succeed in a given field (or talking about your own success), start with how you failed."
- James Clear
"Even bad luck is a source of opportunity—but only if you live each day as if that is true."
- James Clear
"Each year, Steve Jobs would hold an annual meeting with the 100 most important people at Apple.
Crucially, these were not the top 100 executives, but rather the 100 people who were most important to the company that year. Jobs personally chose attendees based on their direct contribution, creativity, vision, and impact within the company, regardless of their official titles or positions.
I always loved the spirit of that practice. Competence over credentials."
- James Clear
"You are as old as the risks you take. In many ways, aging is not the process of growing old, but rather the slow death of becoming overly protective, scared, and worried about losing what you have. Youth is found in the energy of going for it, taking the risk, and trusting that you'll figure it out along the way."
- James Clear
"The Process:
1. Decide what you want to achieve.
2. Try different ways of achieving it until you find one that works for you.
3. Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t.
4. Don’t stop doing it until it stops working.
5. Repeat.
It is both this simple and this hard."
- James Clear
"To understand others, watch what they reward.
To understand yourself, watch what you envy."
- James Clear
"What you push down doesn’t vanish. It festers and wields quiet power over your thoughts and actions.
What needs to be addressed that isn’t currently being addressed?"
- James Clear
"Things that keep people from fulfilling their potential:
-Lacking the courage to try
-Trying to please everyone
-Imitating the desires of others
-Chasing status without questioning why
-Playing superhero and trying to do it all alone
-Dividing attention between too many projects"
- James Clear
"Think about self-control less as the quality of a person and more as the quality of a place. There are some places and situations that lean toward lower self-control and others that lean toward higher self-control. Self-control is about your context as much as your character. Put yourself in good positions."
- James Clear
"There are two ways to live a longer life:
1) Biologically. Extend the timeline between your birth and your death.
2) Psychologically. Fit more lives into whatever time you are given.
Make each decade rich with experiences and perhaps you can live a handful of lives before you are done."
- James Clear
"Spend today interpreting whatever people do in the most generous way. See if you feel better as a result."
- James Clear
"If you do not bend, you will break.
The adaptable prevail. Determined, but flexible."
- James Clear
"People frequently get what they deserve, but it doesn't feel like it because the unspoken rule is that you only deserve it if you have (1) the courage to attempt it, (2) the guts to ask for it, and (3) the willingness try again when it doesn't work out the first time."
- James Clear
"When accessing all information is common, paying attention to important information is rare."
- James Clear
"People can sometimes be held hostage by their expectations. They have a dream of something they would like to achieve or a path they intend to follow, but their mindset falls apart when things don't work out how they had hoped.
The key is to reach for an extremely high bar, but to be adaptable enough to reframe the failures, disappointments, and defeats into fuel for the next thing. Give your best effort, but no matter how it works out, trust that life will be good for you. Focus on how the world is working with you, not against you.
Everything you are given is material for the next move. Everything."
- James Clear
"The source of healthy boundaries is self-love and self-respect. When you learn to love yourself, you are less likely to put up with people who don't love you back."
- James Clear
"At any moment, you are one good choice away from a meaningfully better life."
- James Clear
"If you keep showing up, you'll almost certainly break through — but probably not in the way you expected or intended. You need enough persistence to keep working and enough flexibility to enjoy success when it comes in a different form than you imagined. "
- James Clear
"Savor the little victories as much as you criticize the little mistakes."
- James Clear
"Use what you already know. People are so busy searching for a shortcut — or hoping an easier path will reveal itself — they let numerous moments slip by when they could get results simply by doing what is right in front of them."
- James Clear
"Your habits are often a byproduct of convenience. Humans are wired to seek the path of least resistance, which means the most convenient option is often the one that wins. Make good choices more convenient and bad choices less so. Behavior will improve naturally."
- James Clear
"Writing is the superpower of humankind. It is our truest form of magic. Writing allows you to conjure up something of value where nothing previously existed. It costs little for you to write down the lessons of your life and yet those few minutes spent writing can be life-altering for the right reader. As I once saw it put: "there is someone out there with a wound in the exact shape of your words."
Furthermore, writing is the foundation of nearly every technology and innovation because we have to record what we know before we can build upon it. And these innovations are passed down from generation to generation, allowing our children to inherit a richer intellectual fortune than what we were born into. The world is richer because we write and nobody is made poorer in the process."
- James Clear
"You have to work hard to discover how to work smart. You won't know the best solutions until you've made nearly all the mistakes."
- James Clear
"You can't make a comeback if you don't start."
- James Clear
"The quality of my life is significantly higher on days that I publish an article. The creative process and well-being go hand-in-hand."
- James Clear
"To learn, wander. To achieve, focus."
- James Clear
"You are better equipped to deal with stress when you are moving.
When you feel tense or frustrated or worried, it is difficult to think your way into feeling better. The more you think about the situation, the larger it becomes in your mind. Trying to think your way out of it often leads to a spiral of overthinking and rumination.
The first step is not to think something different, but to do something different. It doesn’t matter what. Stretch on the floor, go for a walk, work on a project. Get out of your mind and move your body."
- James Clear
"When dreaming, imagine success.
When preparing, imagine failure.
When acting, imagine success."
- James Clear
"You draw out of the world what you put into it.
Want to attract reliable people? Be reliable.
Want to attract trustworthy people? Be trustworthy.
Want to attract welcoming people? Be welcoming.
Want to attract exceptional people? Be exceptional."
- James Clear
"You can lose yourself one small compromise at a time.
You can transform yourself one small win at a time."
- James Clear
"You don't have to be good at everything, you just need to double down on what you're naturally suited for."
- James Clear
"Train hard and focus on what you can control."
- James Clear
"If you're eager to learn—even if you aren't particularly talented—then you can make it a long way despite your shortcomings.
But if you're not eager and curious, you'll find your natural abilities often fall short of what is required."
- James Clear
"Limiting your options now will expand your opportunities in the long run because you can remain focused enough to master something.
Keeping your options open now will reduce your opportunities in the long run because you divide your attention and end up doing an average job on seven different things.
Are you falling into the pattern of always mastering one thing or always chasing the next thing?"
- James Clear
"Decide the type of person you want to be.
Prove it to yourself with small wins."
- James Clear
"The creative process:
1. Discover - Read a lot. Observe the world. Notice.
2. Collect - Immediately record anything that strikes you.
3. Generate - Build on your notes to brainstorm lots of ideas.
4. Combine - Connect previously unconnected ideas.
5. Refine - Edit, edit, edit. Select the best."
- James Clear
"A critical quality to develop in life is the willingness to try. You simply must find enough confidence to give it a go. The human mind is fabulous at learning. You will get better at whatever you practice. But before you can develop the skill to succeed, you must find the courage to attempt."
- James Clear
"When you think you are too old to do something new remember you will never be younger than you are right now."
- James Clear
"Grow fast, built to crash.
Grow slow, built to last."
- James Clear
"Ideas that are hoarded help no one. Success follows generosity."
- James Clear
"Self-talk strategies:
If you need confidence, talk to yourself the way you would talk to a friend.
If you need persistence, talk to yourself the way you would talk to a student.
If you need patience, talk to yourself the way you would talk to a child."
- James Clear
"In many cases, you'll find the only thing preventing you from learning is your ego.
No one enjoys feeling foolish, but attempting something new requires that you climb down from your perch and struggle as a beginner. You must ask questions that reveal your ignorance or attempt skills that make you look uncoordinated.
Learning demands the willingness to live in a brief state of discomfort. You must believe that looking like a fool for an hour will not ruin your reputation for life."
- James Clear
"Before you worry about how to win the game, figure out whether the game is worth winning."
- James Clear
"There is no need to fear any problem you are working on. If you are working on it, then you are influencing the outcome.
It's the problems you don't address that should concern you."
- James Clear
"Being kind to others is mostly about your actions.
Being kind to yourself is mostly about your thoughts."
- James Clear
"Two is twice as good as one, but one is infinitely better than zero.
-One minute of making sales calls is infinitely better than zero minutes.
-One minute of meditation is infinitely better than zero minutes.
-One minute of writing is infinitely better than zero minutes.
Sure, it might be ideal to spend an hour doing these things, but one minute gets you in the game. Now you're learning. Now you're improving. Now results are possible. One doesn't seem like much, but it's something real. At zero, you're still dreaming."
- James Clear
"The secret is to do a few things for a long time.
The challenge is...
(1) You need to experiment and explore quite a bit to find the thing that is worth doubling down on. It may take a few years (or a decade) to find the project or relationship or cause that you want to commit to for a long time.
(2) New things are always coming up. Once you find something you want to do for a long time, you need the courage and discipline to say no to the shiny, new opportunities. After years of exploring and experimenting, it can be hard to flip the switch and remain focused.
You have to be willing to explore widely enough to find your thing, then willing to focus narrowly enough to make it something great."
- James Clear