6 Alternative Strategies To Be A Smarter Human in 2024

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Today’s Thoughts ☠️

Hey there 👋,

You did it! You survived the first week of January.

My sugar comedown from the festive season has been hard this week. Fret not though, as my trusty tea has powered me to deliver today’s thoughts.

Today is all about non-obvious insights and strategies to be a smarter human in 2024.

I know that sounds like some lame course title but I promise you no snake oil here. Instead, we’ll explore how you can leverage little-known strategies to achieve your ambitions in the next year.

No stupid resolutions here.

You can even use these strategies in your company career development programmes - bonus 🥳

Get your tea 🍵 or beverage of choice ready. We've got lots to discuss!

In today’s chat👇

• 6 Alternative Strategies To Be A Smarter Human in 2024

• AI must deliver for the workplace in 2024

Est reading time: 12 mins

THE BIG THOUGHT
6 Alternative Strategies To Be A Smarter Human in 2024

The time is upon us once more, a new year is here with a feeling of new beginnings for many.

The infamous new year, new me movement is currently invading your local gym and many people are taking these first few weeks of the year to ponder what their resolutions for the year ahead should be.

New year resolutions are an age-old tradition within our society.

They actually date back to 4,000 years ago. The ancient Babylonians are thought to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions.

I personally find traditional resolutions to be less than effective for many.

I think we can all find examples of the same people who set the same resolutions each year and still feel no closer to those changes 10 years later.

Do a review

We’re so quick to set goals, we never think about what has been.

Introducing a yearly roundup can be incredibly beneficial. Think of it like a Spotify Wrapped but all based around your years activities. This roundup will form the foundation of what you want to build in the year ahead.

How can you know where to go next if you don’t know where you’ve come from?

How to do your review

1. Grab a piece of paper or open a word document, divide the page into three columns. Now label one – What went well? The second: What did I enjoy? And the last as: What can I work on?
   
   

2. Now spend 30 minutes reviewing the last 12 months. Place the thoughts that come into your head in each column.
   
   

3. Once you’ve completed this, make sure (and this is the really important bit) to read all of your responses in depth to appreciate everything you’ve noted.
   
   

4. The final step is to look over your what can I work on column. Take the final part of your reflection session to produce the 3-5 top things you want to work on in the year ahead. 

Your answers don’t need to be complicated.

This isn’t an EOY review for work. This exercise aims to understand your starting point for the year ahead.

A common example of this is when people want to improve their physical fitness.

Let’s say person x wishes to improve their physical fitness this year, great, so what do they do?

In my approach, you would review your starting point and what’s happened over the past 12 months.

• What physical activities have you been doing?

• How many times a week do you do these?

• Do these supplement your lifestyle? 

These are important points to review before making plans for the next 12 months. 

You might then say, I already workout twice a week. I feel like a 3rd session will bring more benefits to my lifestyle. Great, you’ve assessed your starting point, feel you can add a bit more and assess that this is a sustainable change.

Sadly, this is not the approach many of us take.

We often come from a place of having no historical physical activity practice and then jump into a gruelling body and mind-crushing routine of hitting the gym 5-6 times a week. 

This leads to running yourself into the ground with no energy. Those resolutions are out the door by week 2 of the new year.

4 non-obvious insights to fuel your growth over the next 365 days

1/ Grow slowly to go far in your career

This is a hard one for many to get their head around.

People want everything now. But, the overnight success story is BS.

This gives the false illusion of doing big things at pace.

There are outliers to this, of course. But, for the most part, the optimal method is to build slowly.

Some have done well at pace. Whilst others have seen their empires crumble. Often, we can attribute this to shaky foundations.

Speed can be great. 

But it needs strong foundations to scale properly. You can view your career in the same way.

You miss valuable learning opportunities if you move too fast through the ranks. Those same lessons can be the very things that stop you from performing in a role down the line.

So, don’t be mad if your journey is not going at breakneck speed.

This is not bad.

Your chances of doing well in the infinite space are bigger if you tread slowly. 

→ Good things take time and to those who work their assess off.

2/ You’re playing an infinite game. Don’t play by finite rules

I’m going to say it. 

If this sounds familiar, you’re using a finite strategy to play an infinite game.

Quick context. Finite = time-bound, Infinite = timeless.

We want too much too soon. Just as we discussed earlier, growth takes decades not days.

Sadly, too few think like this.

If they can’t get all the success, wealth and happiness in less than 6 months, they give up. 

This is a classic example of finite thinking in the infinite game. 

You can have all those things. Even more. Our time on this spinning rock is finite, but to reap the rewards is an infinite pursuit.

Instead, I encourage you to build micro-sprints across your time to reach your goals.

Think not just about short-term success, but long-term too.

3/ Compound change

You see the big changes.

But, do you recognise all the little changes that got you there? Perhaps, not.

We all fall into this trap. Especially at this time of year.

We sit down (or you can stand, your choice) to write goals for the next year.

You get excited because you feel this time it’s different.

With pen in hand and inspiration flowing through your body, you ravish your notebook (or google doc) with the big changes you want to make in the next 12 months.

When you finish, you look down to review the words staring back at you.

This is the place where 99% of us already give up. 

This is why ⬇️

• The changes are too big – you’ll need years not months to achieve them.

• You have too many – you find 20 + staring back at you when you really need the 3 most impactful.

• You’re not specific enough. Broad statements lead to ineffective goals. If you want to lose weight, great – but how much? By when? And how?

Thinking big is important.

It just needs the right structure to turn your aspirations into reality.

Try this instead ↓

Be brutal about what you can achieve in x months

Keep your big goals, but break them down into manageable chunks. 

As an example, let’s say you want to be a writer. 

A better approach is to say I will write something 2-3 times a week and learn how to build a system to scale my writing.

I didn’t start writing every day all of a sudden.

I spent years breaking down the process and putting infrastructure in place so I could do this long-term.

Unrealistic expectations lead to the death of too many goals.

Prioritise value and impact

What do you think is better?

20 goals that you half-ass across the year and feel meh about or 3 goals that you accelerate in??

I’m going to go with the latter.

Don’t worry, this is a classic goal-setting sin. You’re in good company too.

Society has drilled in the stupid slogan of “Go big or go home”. It doesn’t work – end of story. 

I’d prefer “Big things come from small moments of discipline” But that’s not very motivational, ya know!

The point is lack of prioritisation kills our performance.

We all try to do too much too soon and at the same time. The human condition you could say.

In other words, stop adding in filler and do the stuff that’s more killer (h/t to Sum 41 there).

You need more than motivation

According to research, a whopping 92% of people fail to reach their new year goals.

That's a lot of people not achieving what they set out to do. So, what's the problem?

Well, it turns out that motivation alone isn't always enough.

Sure, it's great to be fired up and ready to take on the world, but what happens when that initial burst of motivation wears off? That's where follow-through comes in.

Peter Bregman wrote an article for HBR where he suggests that the real issue is not motivation, but follow-through.

And he's right, to a certain extent. You can be motivated all you want, but if you don't follow through on your commitments, you're not going to achieve much.

Introduce a little anarchy

Not everyone is motivated by the same things.

Some people are all about positive goal setting, while others are more motivated by the fear of missing out or the consequences of not taking action.

I fall into the category of motivation by fear of what I don't want in life (which is something I learnt from Tim Ferriss in his fear-setting talk).

(Get more detail from Tim on his thinking on this topic)

This thinking stems from the concept of loss aversion.

This fancy psychological concept suggests that we're more motivated by the fear of losing something than the prospect of gaining something. In other words, we're more likely to take action to avoid a negative outcome than to pursue a positive outcome.

So, what does all this mean for goal setting?

Well, it means that setting fears instead of goals might be more effective for some people.

When we set goals, we tend to focus on the outcome we want to achieve. And while that can be motivating in the short term, it can also create anxiety and stress if we're not making progress as quickly as we'd like.

For example, let's say you're trying to save money.

Setting a fear of not being able to pay your bills or having to work longer hours might be more effective than setting a positive goal of achieving financial freedom.

An adaptable goal setting formula

Having spent over a decade helping people set goals for personal and professional development. I have a long list of case studies of the good, bad and ugly.

What's key is building an approach unique to you.

Cookie-cutter templates are great as a standing point, but it's your job to mould them to your unique style.

To achieve our goals, we need:

1. The right environment
2. The right mindset
3. Specific motivators

Consider these the next time you're thinking about setting goals for yourself.

It's not enough to simply write them down and hope for the best. Instead, focus on creating an environment that supports your efforts, and adapt your approach as needed.

Final thoughts

In sum:

• Don’t chase the New Year high

• Adapt and evolve

• Leverage the environment and motivators unique to your context

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SMART THOUGHTS

Content that will make you smarter.

🤔  Nobel Prize Winner Cautions on Rush Into STEM Subjects After Rise of AI

I know recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize are supposed to be super smart, but this chap sounds pretty spooked by AI.

Christopher Pissarides, a labor economist and Nobel laureate, advises younger generations to pursue skills beyond science and math, such as creativity and empathy, in a world dominated by artificial intelligence.

Pissarides’s argues that workers in certain tech jobs risk being replaced by AI, while those with skills that are harder to automate, such as social interaction, communication, and artistic expression, will thrive.

→ Another boost for investing in those human skills.

💡 2024 is the year AI must deliver for work

Gen AI caught us by surprise last year.

This year, it’s time to get clear on the practical uses for work (fyi, I explore this in my own AI for L&D course).

This article covers the movements that we could see in the year ahead. Importantly, how we move from gimmicks to value-driven outcomes.

🔥  Amazon founder’s tactical decision-making framework that turned them into a billion-dollar giant

I’ve been enjoying short clips from Lex Fridmans conversation with Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos.

A lot of companies are crippled by decision-making. We tend to get too caught up in our feelings to have clear judgment. I enjoyed the type 1 and 2 frameworks Jeff shared.

You can see a visual view of these ↓

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