Author: richbowdler

What does “Document your journey” actually mean?

hi so a friend of mine asked me he’s
getting he’s in the growth world helping
companies and build and scale and I
encouraged him dared him to challenge
which was to create and publish content
on a daily basis and he said well you
know how when I said we’ll just document
your journey and he said the question he
asked was what does that even mean
documenting your journey and then
immediately followed and a text
conversation by saying the cab driver in
my cab he’s got two inch hairs coming
out of his ears he slash tag no given
and just like that’s your journey your
literal journey so just start there and
then tie that into a broader story about
the the narrative and the career journey
that you’re on and that’s it
so grab people’s attention with a hook a
compelling story about what’s going on
in your world based on your observations
and then just start and I think the main
reason that people don’t start not not
necessarily just with content creation
but whether it’s getting up and doing a
presentation or public speaking within
their company or going for a raise or
starting the company that they want to
is because you think that you just need
to learn a bit more now sure you learn
as you go but you’re ready right where
you are just start and I think it’s
because we do really give a whoop what
people think about us too much which
stops us from starting and there’s a
really interesting study where two
groups – art art schools our classes
were taken one control group you may
well have heard of this it was written
about in the first 20 hours by journal
era and one group was told that there
would be assessed on the quality of
their work over the course of
or a period and the other group were
told that they would be assessed on at
the quantity such as pure volume of
output measured in weight by creating
clay sculptures
it’s a quantity versus quality and as
you might guess the group that were
assessed purely on the quantity also
produced the best quality work that’s
just because you’ve got more data points
you’re creating more you can learn as
you go so you learn as you go so the
point is don’t give a hope what people
think about you get on and do your thing
because then you’ll learn and then
you’ll be able to you’ll be further
ahead than you were yesterday that’s it
bye

Is THIS the flux capacitor you’re looking for…?

Did you say time travel?
What is it that makes time travel possible?

 

 

Non, non, non, non.
Not time TRAVEL.

I said “What makes time tracking possible?”
And delightful time tracking at that…

Toggl – it’s completely free.

 

 

 

You can get a timeline view by project, to ensure you are focusing on your ONE THING.
If you’re not familiar with the ONE THING framework (and even if you are), you really should check this out:

 

https://www.the1thing.com/

(Question to define: What’s the ONE thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will become easier or unnecessary?)

…which will ensure you focus on what’s important to get extraordinary results.

Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Mental Models are fantastic tools, but what about a nice toolbox to hold them in?

Ok, so this is pretty niche.
If you are a fan of Farnam Street and mental models, then this might well be for you.

You know that article with all the mental models? (This one: https://fs.blog/mental-models/)
…and the philosophy that for these to be of use to you, then ideally you want to have them kind of in a latticework in your head?
Well, we’re going to take this fairly well recognised article, and put all of those models in your head.
Yes. Straight into your head, so that you have your very own latticework of models in place.
Charlie would be proud of you.
You should be capable of thinking about the world and problems you encounter, in a truly, ever-increasingly multi-disciplinary way. (Phew! Try saying that with a mouth full of marbles).
Presumably you’re familiar with this video explaining the value of mental models:

Farnam Street: Mental Models from Shane Parrish.

The true value in learning any mental model in the first place, (in fact the value of learning anything) is that you remember it so that you’re able to consciously recall it at will, and use it at the opportune moment.
That’s exactly what this free 1hr video below is all about.
It will put 23 models on human nature and judgement in your head, using a done-for-you memory palace and talking you through spaced repetition.
There’s some pretty cool stuff towards the end on interconnected memory palaces for larger scale personal knowledge management, but for now, I encourage you to just watch through from the beginning.

 

Here’s what Dan Smith of Exponential Ventures said about the 1hr course:

“Will be the best use of an hour this year and it’s completely free!”

Best watched NOT on a mobile, because you really need to see what’s going on.
Even better if you watch with the screen enlarged.
So grab a cup of coffee, sit back and relax.
Perhaps also grab a pen and paper because you’re gonna be testing yourself… and enjoy the video below:

 

Only once you’ve watched that video and have decided that you seen that there is value in that and that you’d like to have the rest of the mental models sets built out for you in a similar format and placed in your long-term memory using the spaced repetition software as described in a video and then check out this next piece taking you further down the rabbit hole.
If you want all 8 mental models sets mapped out in done-for-you memory palaces, then this is the course you’ve been waiting for.

 

If you sign up today, you will get access to the full course loaded in spaced repetition software, memrise, to help ensure these models really do make it into your long-term memory.

 

 

 

What is the worst advice in the world?

Bad advice.

And what constitutes bad advice?

Whatever it is that you’re trying to do, seek advice from somebody (or several people) who have done the exact thing it is that you’re trying to do.

 

Whether that’s raise money hire a founding team, find a co-founder or grow your business, go down a customer development route and find VC backing, raise funds another way… whatever it is, seek advice from other person, or multiple people who have done the very things that you are trying to accomplish.

Anything else is just stupidity and seeking bad advice there are plenty of people out there who will give you advice, give you coaching, give you mentoring, and have not done the thing that you are actually trying to do.

But when it comes down to it, that’s just opinions.
It’s not useful advice. It is opinions.

 

We all know what the Big Lebowski has to say about opinions

 

And if you are the giver of advice, as a coach, mentor, leader, then you have a moral obligation to call yourself out if you have not done the thing that your coachee / mentee is trying to accomplish.

This is a matter of integrity.

So that’s it!
Find, and use, advice from people who have done what it is you’re trying to do.
End of.