End of the year, and then some…

Top 10 books, top 10 movies, top 10 sayings, to 10 learnings..

A lot of top 10s float around on the web, in the dying weeks of the year. I used to compile my own, but nowadays I don’t have the time. I kind of like the books and movies lists, since you end up discovering a gem or two.

There are other posts that I don’t relish so much, most have to do with leaving the year behind, quasi-motivational stuff and usually cheesy statements on love life and sometimes the lack of it.

So, from the genuine ones, here are a few further below. But before that, here is a random sample from the whole load of books that I read this year.

Mother Tongue – by Bill Bryson

The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell – by Paul Smith

Work Rules! – by Laszlo Bock

Pulse – by Julian Barnes

After the Quake – by Haruki Murakami

The Singularity is Near – When Humans Transcend Biology – by Ray Kurzweil

The Fourth Turning – by William Strauss & Neil Howe

Men without Women – by Haruki Murakami

How to Take Over the World – by Ryan North


Onto the posts!

Reframe Your Day

“Instead of feeling that you lost the day after a bad morning,

Reframe each day as 4 quarters: 

• morning

• midday

• afternoon

• evening

If you blow one quarter, just get back on track for the next one.

Fail small, not big.” 


Time Billionaires

1 million seconds = 11 days

1 billion seconds = 31 years

We all admire people like Warren Buffet. 

But he’s 91 years old. 

No matter how much money you have, you can’t buy another billion seconds.

Cherish it.


Willpower is Overrated

Successful people don’t have more willpower.

They build systems to make hard things easier to do.


Compounding

1% better every day for a year = 37,778% gain 

1% worse every day for a year = 97% loss

Your daily actions create your future. 


The Path Not Taken 

Obsess over the past and you forget to invent your own future. 


Comparison is the Joy Thief

“To improve, compare little things

• marketing strategies

• exercise technique

• writing tactics

To be miserable, compare big things

• career path

• marriage

• net worth

Comparison is a teacher only when applied narrowly.”