why local maxima is holding you back...
Edition #068
Hey friends, happy Sunday!
Today I published an in-depth video on how to find your first freelance clients covering everything I'd do if i was getting started out as a freelancer.
Last Friday I re-launched WiseStudio moving over to a productised service business model.
And finally I got around to building out my personal site how I want it as I push towards becoming a full stack creator.
Alright, let's get into the Filter.
One Lesson
Local Maxima is holding you back...
If you were to search for the "best job" but only search in a 1 mile radius from your current house, you may be able to find the best job in those constraints but it wouldn't be the the actual best job.
Most of us limit ourself by only focusing on local maxima.
A local maximum is the highest possible value in a defined area, while a global maximum is the actual highest possible value.
We overvalue local maxima because it's comfortable, but local maxima creates unnecessary competition and sub-par outcomes for everyone involved.
The way to focus on global maxima is to expand your radius.
If you truly want to find the best job then expand your search worldwide, or at least to every city you'd be comfortable living in (or work remotely).
Often the best way to find the global maxima you should be competing on is by combining multiple pieces together.
Let's say you're a great marketer, sure that's a valuable skill but there are plenty of great marketers you will be competing with.
But if you're a great marketer with the technical chops and design skills to build tools, now there's almost no competition with an extremely high global maximum.
Finding your global maximum requires you to break free of artificial boundaries and find another way to do things.
Ultimately, you should try escape competition because competition is for losers.
Two Ideas
I.
If you always win, then you need to take bigger shots.
II.
Optionality is never as useful as you think.
By always trying to keep your options open, you never focus on solving problems.
Three Favourite Finds
The Problem With Note-Taking: Taking notes is universally seen as a net-positive thing to do, but Lawrence Yeo raises a good point in the trade offs we make when taking notes.
When you take a note you're giving yourself permission to let go of a piece of information so you can use it in future. In doing so you're giving up the present moment for future utility.
By capturing notes you're no longer experiencing the present moment to the fullest; rather you're focused on capturing it for your future self.
This paradox is also present when capturing photos and videos.
Umeshisms: "If you’ve never missed a flight, you’re spending too much time in airports."
This phrase from Umesh Vazirani communicates a great life philosophy: concentrate on the high-order bits.
I particularly enjoyed some of the Umeshisms in the comments, here are a few great ones:
- If you’ve never been rejected, you’re not asking enough.
- If you’ve never gotten food poisoning, you haven’t been eating interesting enough food.
- If you’ve never gotten a speeding ticket, you’re driving too slow.
In the comments Ari perfectly summed up the idea “If you try too hard to reduce the probability of a negative outcome, your positive outcomes will be of smaller magnitude — and your expected outcome can actually be worse.”
What you should write about: So many people tell you to write, but what do you write about?
This post from Nat Eliason shares some good advice. Nat suggests that you write about the things you understand until you're comfortable writing. When you're comfortable writing regularly it's time to push the boundaries and use your writing as a way to learn.
"The best writing is when we can tell the writer is truly lost in the fog with us, but their lantern is bright, and they're leading us in an interesting direction. Your goal as a writer isn't to be a lighthouse. It's to have a lot of kerosene."
Bonus Find: Summari: This app uses AI to summarise articles, distilling them down to a few key takeaways. I’m not entirely sold on it’s usefulness because most understanding happens from exploring an idea with the author before coming to conclusions but it’s useful as a refresher for old ideas.
End note
The Sunday Filter relies on word of mouth to reach more people, if you’re enjoying the newsletter I’d really appreciate you sending it to a friend or sharing on Twitter.
Have a fantastic week!
- Stephen