Question to make continuous progress:

What are the boring, basic actions that you are avoiding right now?

There's a Zen Buddhist saying that changed my life:

"What do you do before enlightenment? Chop wood, carry water. What do you do after enlightenment? Chop wood, carry water."

My interpretation: The internal state may change, but the external action never does.

Every single day, chop wood, carry water.

As you level up and grow, there's a tendency to lose sight of those boring basics that got you there in the first place.

You feel the pull towards complexity (which is a trap!) and start looking for the new actions for the new you.

But as the saying reminds us, you will change, but the actions needn't change with you.

So, what are the boring, basic actions that you are avoiding right now?

How can you chop wood and carry water today?

Quote on the importance of pain:

"Learning is a gift, even when pain is your teacher!" ― Michael Jordan

The most important lessons are often those learned through the most painful experiences.

Embrace the pain and reap the rewards.

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An idea on the nature of innovation:

The Fosbury Flop

This story completely changed the way I think about innovation...

The high jump is a track and field event in which a participant runs toward a raised bar and attempts to leap over it without touching the bar.

Throughout history, high jumpers had used a few traditional techniques—like the scissors or the straddle—to clear the bar by leaping forwards or sideways over it.

But that would all change when an Oregon State University high jumper named Dick Fosbury came onto the scene.

His progress had stagnated using the traditional jumping techniques, so he started experimenting with new ways of clearing the bar. In particular, he challenged the conventional methods of a forward or sideways approach, instead developing an angled approach that culminated in him arching his back as he went over the bar backward.

Fosbury was widely ridiculed for the technique—some remarked that it looked like an "airborne seizure" or a "fish flopping in a boat" when they first watched it.

But at the 1968 Olympics, Dick Fosbury used the technique to win gold and set a new Olympic record.

Within a few years, the Fosbury Flop (as it became known) was the standard in the sport, and it remains so today, over 50 years later.

The lesson: True innovation is often met with ridicule. Enduring that non-belief is the price of admission for anyone who wants to alter the status quo.

Innovation is about everyone agreeing with you...later.

The importance of the present:

How can you radically change the future by taking a tiny action in the present?

One of my favorite essays:

​Repair & Remain​

This is one of the best articles I've read in the last few years. I come back to it every few months because I experience it a bit differently each time.

My three key takeaways:

• Repair the small things before they become big things.
• Make the minor upgrades that keep your life feeling fresh.
• Work with what you've got, learn to appreciate what you've got, and don't fall for the "shiny object" trap.

I imagine everyone will experience this in their own way. It's a must read.​