Everyone needs a side project


Books that I'd like to read:
- [ ] Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do
- [ ] The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
- [ ] I, Steve: Steve Jobs in His Own Words
- [ ] The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business
- [ ] 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
- [ ] Hacking Growth

Need inspiration? Try James Clear's [list](https://jamesclear.com/best-books) of best books or his [book summaries](https://jamesclear.com/book-summaries).

Bookshelf


You don't need permission to create impact.

Creation Is Permissionless


> "Creativity is just connecting things." — Steve Jobs

- [There are no original ideas](/notes/there-are-no-original-ideas)
- [The future belongs to deep generalists](/notes/the-future-belongs-to-deep-generalists)
- [Everyone needs a side project](/notes/everyone-needs-a-side-project)
- [Creation is permissionless](/notes/creation-is-permissionless)
- [To be creative is to write](/notes/to-be-creative-is-to-write)

Creativity


Our hobbies and interests help us learn and grow to become better at what we do, even when they seem somewhat unrelated. Pick a keystone habit to keep creativity juices flowing.

Working on more than one project at a time makes us more creative. [Multiple side projects yields creativity](multiple-side-projects-yields-creativity).

Do work you can't resist and see where your passions take you. It will lead to serendipitous innovation.

> “If you’re struggling to make progress with your side projects, give up. They’re not for you. The best work – in my opinion – comes naturally, and comes from the heart. It’s a gut instinct to want to make stuff. You shouldn’t need to motivate yourself to do this stuff: it should be a passion; a thing that you feel you just have to make.“ — Mr Bingo


First principles thinking is a cycle of breaking a situation down into its core pieces and then putting them all back together in a more effective way. Deconstruct then reconstruct.[^s1]

Elon Musk explains first principles as: "What is the most efficient way to solve a problem if you started from scratch? If you look past humanity’s attempts to solve it, what is the best approach if you reasoned back up from its fundamental principles?"

To learn how to think for yourself, apply first principles thinking. It does not remove the need for continuous improvement, but it does alter the direction of improvement.

To identify which system is worth optimising, use the second mental model: [Local or Global](/notes/local-global).

[^s1]: [James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/first-principles)

[//begin]: # "Autogenerated link references for markdown compatibility"
[local-global]: local-global "Local or Global"
[//end]: # "Autogenerated link references"

First Principles


> Local or Global — Repeatedly ask whether you’re optimizing a cog in a machine instead of the machine itself. The higher the level you optimize at, typically the greater your ROI.

**Don't optimise the cog, optimise the machine.** Take a pause and rethink the systems that make up your life. Optimise your problem by going high level. Don't fall prey to the flow. This gives you the highest possible leverage in achieving your desired outcome.

For example, if your goal is to increase your income, you can strive for a 15% raise in your current job *(optimise the cog)*, or look for a job that pays much higher *(optimise the machine)*.

After optimising the system by applying [First Principles](/notes/first-principles) together with Local or Global, we apply [Regret Minimisation](/notes/regret-minimisation) to make better decisions.

Local or Global


Growing up, we become accustomed to think like the others without questioning why things are done in a certain way. We then believe this is the way things are.

> "When a certain worldview dominates your thinking, you’ll try to explain every problem you face through that worldview." — James Clear

How do we change that? By training our brains to think better. To think better, expand your set of mental models.

Ever wondered what makes a person an outlier? Outliers resist the habit of following the gut/instincts—they switch to mental models instead. They see things differently because they have a broader set of mental models. Examples of outliers include Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Warren Buffett.

A mental model guides our perception and behavior. It shapes how we think and affects everything we do. Mental models help us **optimise systems** (assessing how systems work) and how they help us make **better decisions**.

There are 1,000+ mental models in the world but we only need to learn a few dozen to grasp how the world works. Block 20 minutes weekly to reflect and run our life decisions through mental models from the third-person point of view.

Here are some mental models that I find interesting:
- [First Principles](/notes/first-principles)
- [Local Global](/notes/local-global)
- [Regret Minimisation](/notes/regret-minimisation)
- [Pareto Principle](/notes/pareto-principle)

Mental Models


Switching between projects or tasks keeps us excited and motivated. Multiple projects cross-fertilize. The benefits from doing one make their way to the other.


Multiple Side Projects Yields Creativity


> Pareto Principle — 80% of your output will come from the top 20% of your inputs. To maximize ROI, preferentially invest in the 20%.

This is one of the most used mental models for medium-term decision-making.

Pareto Principle


Generating lots of ideas increases your chances of having brilliant ideas.

When ideating, diverge first then converge later. Top performers excel at what they do because they produce a lot of work.

Quantity Leads to Quality


> Regret Minimisation — To maximise your long-term happiness, prioritise the projects you’d most regret not having pursued by the time you’re old and looking back at your life.[^s1]

This is my favorite mental model! Jeff Bezos applies this mental model in life.[^s2] 

Ask yourself: If I don't do this, will I regret this when I'm old? If yes, prioritise this project.

Then, apply the [Pareto Principle](pareto-principle) to maximise output.

[^s1]: [Julian's Blog](https://www.julian.com/blog/mental-model-examples)
[^s2]: [Jeff Bezos - Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwG_qR6XmDQ)

Regret Minimisation


Versatility is valuable. Narrow specialisation suppresses creative thinking and problem-solving abilities.

A deep generalist is someone who generalises but does it deeply, with a balance of knowledge depth and knowledge breadth. They adapt well and turn change into opportunities.

Many great thinkers are generalising specialists. Most of humankind's significant breakthroughs come from multi-faceted individuals. Famous deep generalists include Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Marie Curie.

> "Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses - especially learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else." — Leonardo Da Vinci

Is there a middle ground between generalists and specialists? Every day, we have to decide where to invest our time — do we become better at what we do or learn something new?[^s1]

Relevant reads:
- **Range** by David Epstein
  - “We learn who we are in practice, not in theory.”
  - “The challenge we all face is how to maintain the benefits of breadth, diverse experience, interdisciplinary thinking, and delayed concentration in a world that increasingly incentivizes, even demands, hyperspecialization”
  - “The precise person you are now is fleeting, just like all the other people you’ve been. That feels like the most unexpected result, but it is also the most well documented.”
  - “it is difficult to accept that the best learning road is slow, and that doing poorly now is essential for better performance later. It is so deeply counterintuitive that it fools the learners themselves."
- **Nine Lies About Work** by Marcus Buckingham & Ashley Goodall
- **Loonshots** by Safi Bahcall


[^s1]: [Farnam Street](https://fs.blog/2017/11/generalized-specialist/)

The Future Belongs to Deep Generalists


Read more. Those who believe their ideas are original most probably haven't read widely enough.

> "It is much faster and less risky to read more widely and repurpose what is already working, or has worked somewhere else, than to attempt to come up with an idea that you think is original but actually isn’t.” — Emerson Spartz

You don't have to constantly come up with a new idea. Find classic ideas and repurpose them instead—Evergreen ideas that have stood the test of time.

There Are No Original Ideas


Creativity begins with a clear mind. A clear mind means clear thinking.

How to have clear thinking? Write. Write as much as you can. [Quantity leads to quality](quantity-leads-to-quality).

Think of writing as a way to exercise your creative muscles. When you write, you learn and discover ideas, not the other way around. Writing untangles the messy thoughts in your head and transforms them into powerful ideas. It keeps the mind engaged and serves as a creative outlet.

> "Writing provides a pocket of time in the present moment to reflect, digest, and to think deeply." — 99U

Everyone needs a side project

Related to #creativity

Other topics