- Compound interest. Start investing early and let returns multiply over decades. ‘It’s the eighth wonder of the world.’
- 80/20 principle. 80% of outcomes come from 20% of activities. Focus efforts on your vital few priorities. Eliminate the rest. Saves you from wasting time, energy, and headaches.
- Delayed gratification. Forgo instant pleasures for greater long-term rewards. Patience and discipline pay off. People who delay gratification are most likely going to become the best.
- Mental models. Learn key concepts from multiple disciplines to analyze problems from all angles.
- Habit stacking. Chain new habits onto existing routines to integrate them seamlessly. Start reading? Read while you take public transport.
- 10000-hour rule. Mastery requires massive amounts of deliberate practice over the years. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
- Value generation. Provide scarce solutions to pressing problems. Skills that create value will always be rewarded.
- 110% is impossible. Pace yourself for the long haul. Avoid burnout.
- Influence. Learn techniques of ethical persuasion and negotiation. Many doors open for those able to sway peers.
- Network power. Real opportunities come from people, not job boards. Nurture win-win relationships.
- Luck surface area. More experiments and chances taken increase the likelihood.
- Wealth-building assets. Accumulate income-generating assets that make money whether you work or not.
- Run cost/benefit analyses. Weigh the downsides and opportunity costs before acting. Think long-term impact.
- No zero days. Do at least one concrete thing daily for progression. Compounded micro gains add up.
- Mental contrasting. Envision future goals but also current reality checks to formulate a plan.
- Metabolism myths. Calories in, and calories out dictate weight. You can’t “boost” metabolism enough to compensate for a poor diet.
- Future pacing. Vividly imagine having achieved your goal. Raises confidence and motivation.
- Cognitive dissonance. Once we make a difficult commitment, our minds will find ways to rationalize it. Use this to cement change.
- Triggers. Engineer your environment and cues for desired habits to happen automatically.
- High-performance mindset. Train concentration and confidence with mental rehearsal. Become your best self first inwardly.
- Cost per use. Calculate cost over lifetime use rather than one-time price. A better metric for purchases.
- Sunk cost fallacy. Prior losses should not influence future decisions. Only prospective gains/costs matter.
- Vitamins are bunk. Eat real food over synthetic vitamins. Most multivitamins just produce expensive urine.
- Survivorship bias. We only see success stories, not the far greater failures. Don’t be misled by cherry-picked examples.
- Willpower muscles. Strengthen willpower by exerting it. Like a muscle, it fatigues without training. Start small.
- Lifestyle creep. Increasing your means also raises spending if you’re not mindful. Save raises rather than inflate lifestyle.
- Hedonic adaptation. We quickly adjust to new income and possessions. Chasing external rewards is often unfulfilling after the high. Find purpose.
- Iterate. Try endless small experiments to build skills fast. You learn more from many small fails than a few big bets.
- Bottlenecks. Identify roadblocks holding you back, then focus efforts on eliminating them first.
- Feedback loops. Seek regular candid feedback to course correct. Don’t rely on assumptions.
- Stress antibodies. Inoculate yourself by intentionally experiencing manageable forms of stress. Bounce back stronger.
- Rate limiting steps. Improve the slowest high-leverage step in a system to boost the entire process.
- Parkinson’s Law. Work expands to fill the time available. Impose constraints via deadlines to increase efficiency.
- Anxiety alchemy. Reappraise anxiety as excitement. Both produce similar physical arousal. Reframe it.
- Beginner’s mind. Approach old problems as if for the first time. Fresh eyes prevent mental ruts.
- Occam’s Razor. Simpler solutions are often correct ones when problem-solving. Don’t overcomplicate.
- Opportunity cost. Evaluate choices by the value of the next best alternatives you’re forgoing. Weigh tradeoffs.
- Ladder of inference. Question assumptions and trace back to raw data. Don’t leap to conclusions.
- Hanlon’s Razor. Assume ignorance over malice. Don’t attribute to ill intent what can be explained by misunderstanding.
- Attitude of gratitude. Write down a few things you’re grateful for each day. Gratitude boosts happiness and resilience.
- Progress compounds. Small improvements accumulate exponentially over time into profound change. Start.
- Practice mindfulness. Take 5-10 minutes daily to sit quietly and focus on your breathing. When your mind wanders, gently return focus to your breath.
