Going on an Information Diet
Hey friends, happy Sunday!
I just posted my 2020 year review and goals for 2021- I've been working on it for a little while but I found the whole process of writing it to be super helpful.
Besides that, I have one video coming on Tuesday and the Pickaxe site to launch once I get the testimonials back from previous clients.
Anyway, let's get into the Filter.
Going on an information diet
I've been thinking a lot this year about going on an "information diet". I don't mean restricting the amount of information that I consume but instead being much more mindful of the information that I let myself consume.
In this great article from David Perell (that I mention later on) he draws comparison between information and food.
He argues that we've never had access to better quality food than we do right now, but the majority of the population is obese and malnourished thanks to junk food.
We've also never had better access to high-quality information, yet the average person consumes junk food like media that plays on our fears and desires to drive traffic and steal our attention.
David says that Gresham's Law is the reason that low density information (and food) rise to the top...
"Gresham’s Law, a finance concept which states that bad money drives out good money until only bad money is left. Gresham’s Law can explain why the median consumer reads low-quality information online. On the Internet, low-quality content drives out high-quality content, as the most wide-read articles are polarizing and emotionally jarring."
What you consume shapes what you believe, how you think and who you become. So ensuring that your inputs are high quality is essential.
"Naval Ravikant, an angel investor who shares wise words on how to lead a healthy life, once said, “If you diet, invest, and think according to what the ‘news’ advocates, you’ll end up nutritionally, financially, and morally bankrupt.”"
With algorithms and instincts pushing us towards low-density information we need to make more of a deliberate effort to curate our consumption.
Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves - James Clear
In an effort to find signal in a world full of noise I am starting to heavily curate my consumption. Protecting my attention and focusing on high density information.
To do this I've setup a few rules:
- More books, less of everything else - Quit a book if it doesn't grab your attention and find another one.
- No new release books - With most modern books you'd be better off listening to the author appear on a podcast first, that's where they usually share their best ideas. If you still want to read the book after then go ahead.
- Focus on creation over consumption - I'd rather be a creator than a consumer, through focusing on creation and high quality inputs I will be able to improve my outputs.
- Spend at least 10 minutes every day with my own thoughts - mindless consumption tends to stem from an inability to sit with your own thoughts.
- Cull and curate all information streams - Who I follow on Twitter, what website I visit etc
I will report back on this over the coming weeks and maybe even make a youtube video around the experiment.
Let me know your thoughts on an "information diet" by replying to this email.
Here are this week's finds:
🛒 How Shopify grew without 80 hour weeks - Tobias Lutke
(Thread)
Here is a really interesting thread from Tobias Lutke [founder of Shopify] on how the company has grown and their policy on work.
This is my favourite quote from it:
"For creative work, you can't cheat. My believe is that there are 5 creative hours in everyone's day. All I ask of people at Shopify is that 4 of those are channeled into the company."
It is well worth checking out this thread for some great ideas around work and running a business.
🍕 The Paradox of Abundance - David Perell
(Article)
This essay from David Perell is well worth a read. As I mentioned earlier he draws parallel to how junk food and junk media seem to rise to the top. Yet the people who are deliberate about what they consume are better off now than ever before.
"Make no mistake. For the conscious news consumer, there has never been a better time to be alive. The Internet is filled with high-quality information, so savvy information consumers have access to more high-quality knowledge than at any point in human history.
So skip the news cycle, but double-down on measured consumption. Ignore society’s recommendations for what to consume and refresh your learning habits like you’re shaking an etch-a-sketch. Remember, what you should consume looks nothing like what you were taught to consume. Rebel against the mainstream spotlight, find some trusted curators, and chart your own path instead."
🔦 On how to be discovered - Steve Cheney
(Article)
Sharing your ideas and expertise is the single best thing you can do for your career, yet most people don't do this.
In this article Steve Cheney talks about how there is an abundance of noise out there making things seem saturated. But in reality, there is more demand than ever for high-quality content. And those who produce that content benefit from the smartest people in their industry gravitating towards them.
"A re-framing for a counterargument against writing can go like this (adjust this analogy to your own position): say you are a founder – if there were only 5,000 Series A startups funded last year, there are only 10,000 or so founders in your position to be able to write about what you deeply know and see. If you use that math – 1% of 10,000 is a hundred people – you can see why there is a thirst for content at any level. Same thing when you have achieved product expertise or developed a skill others don’t have. Your only competition is often not taking hold of the pen.
Writing is equivalent to giving back. It is about teaching others. It’s about opening yourself up to allow others to see what drives you – and seeing the world in other people’s eyes.
The fact is creative writing has no challenges today around discovery and distribution, it’s simply waiting for inspiration and to be created. "
End Notes
If you enjoyed this edition of the Sunday Filter then I'd love it if you share it with a few friends. You can send them over here to sign up.
Have a great Sunday,
- Stephen