I turned 30 recently.

While far from old and wise, I have learned a few things along the way - on life, business, writing, investing, and growth.

Here are a few important lessons learned...

To outperform, you need serious problem-solving skills.

Fortunately, these skills can be learned.

THREAD: A simple, powerful mental model for thinking clearly and solving complex problems:

When solving problems, the human mind is wired to think in linear, logical, forward terms.

But as the problems get increasingly complex, this forward, logical process often fails.

Enter our simple, powerful mental model: inversion.

What is inversion?

Inversion is a mental model and thinking tool used by some of the world’s greatest thinkers and problem solvers.

Simply put, it says that when problems become challenging to solve forwards, they may be more readily solved backwards.

Inversion as a general thinking tool has been around for millennia.

Stoic philosophers had premeditatio malorum - “the pre-meditation of evils” - an exercise in which they would imagine the worst case scenario ahead of time.

It allowed them to make plans to avoid this outcome.

The formal mental model was popularized by German mathematician Carl Jacobi in the mid-1800s.

When faced with difficult problems (which happened frequently in his field of elliptic functions!), he had a strategy: “Man muss immer umkehren.”

Translation: “Invert, always invert.”

The Feynman Technique—how to learn anything:

The Feynman Technique is a foundational learning method that prioritizes simplicity and depth of understanding.

It was developed by Richard Feynman—an American theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his groundbreaking work in quantum electrodynamics.

So yes, you could say that Richard Feynman was intelligent...

But there are a lot of intelligent people in the world.

Feynman's true genius was found in his ability to convey extremely complex ideas in simple, elegant, digestible ways.

He had observed that complexity and jargon are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding.

As a rule:

If someone uses a lot of acronyms, complexity, and jargon to explain something to you, they probably don’t understand it.

We've all encountered this type of "expert"...

The Feynman Technique is a learning framework that forces you to develop a deep, elegant understanding of a given topic.

It involves four key steps:
(1) Set the Stage
(2) ELI5 (Explain It To Me Like I'm 5)
(3) Assess & Study
(4) Organize, Convey & Review

Let's cover each step:

Powerful concepts everyone should know (to understand the world):

The Paradox of Advice

Taking more advice leaves you less well-equipped.

Most advice sucks.

It's well-intentioned, but it's dangerous to use someone else's map of reality to navigate yours.

Winners learn to filter and selectively implement—take the signal, skip the noise.

The Feynman Technique

To learn anything:

Step 1: Identify a topic
Step 2: Try to explain it to a 5-year-old
Step 3: Study to fill in knowledge gaps
Step 4: Organize, convey, and review

True genius is the ability to simplify, not complicate.

Simple is beautiful.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Humans tend to:

(1) Attribute someone else's actions to their character—and not to their situation or context.

(2) Attribute our actions to our situation and context—and not to our character.

We cut ourselves a break, but hold others accountable.

Time Billionaire

Time is our most precious asset.

When you're young, you are a "time billionaire”—rich with time.

Too many people fail to realize the value of this asset until it is gone.

Treat time as your ultimate currency—it’s all you have and you can never get it back.

Manipulation Sign:

If you are compromising too much, there is a chance that you are getting manipulated.

Why are you the one that's always compromising?

How come the other person always gets their way?

Be more curious.

If something seems off, stick up for yourself.

'Wait, you sure I am being manipulated?'

I have no clue, that is only something that you can decide for yourself.

'Dang is there anything I need to look out for?'

Plenty..

But let me give you a few things to look out for.

👇

I see manipulation as skillfully controlling someone's behavior for egotistical or unethical purposes.

'How come people don't leave when it's happening to them?'

Because most people have 0 clue that they are being manipulated.

1. Guilt Trip

You ever made a mistake around someone, only for them to hold it over your head?

The will always bring up the mistake when you 2 are not seeing eye to eye.

These people will use that mistake as leverage to get what they want from you in the future.

Look out.

2. The Rationalizer

This person will commit the worst acts & find a way to rationalize it.

Example: cheaters when they get caught.

They have every excuse in the book for why they did it.

Heck, they are so good at rationalizing, they will make it seem like your fault.

The story of Aare Ona Kakanfo Afonja, and the fall of the great Oyo Empire is absorbing. If you're interested in this beautiful history of pre-colonial south western Nigeria, keep a date with me later tonight. 🙏🏾

The Kakanfo and fall of Oyo Empire.
Thread.
Of the 14 Kakanfos so far, the tenures of three of them who were military commanders considerably impacted the history of, first, the Old Oyo Empire, and by extension, the rest of Yorubaland.

The three Kakanfos were Afonja of Ilorin, Kurunmi of Ijaye, and Obadoke Latoosa of Ibadan. The last two of the 14, who were civilians and honorary holders of the title nevertheless impacted the history of Yorubaland, and also the entire Nigerian nation.

Aare-Ona-Kakanfo Afonja:
In the mid-1700s, around 1750 and thereabouts, a powerful Oyo warrior was growing in stature; a man called Afonja. His father was Laderin. Laderin himself was the son of Alugbin, who himself was the son of Pasin.

Alaafin Majeogbe ruled Oyo from 1754 to 1770, and was succeeded by Alaafin Abiodun same year. Abiodun was on the throne for about 19 years, until 1789 when he was murdered by his own son, Aole.
Aole became Alaafin, and ruled from 1789 to 1796.

There are a number of steps you can take to protect yourself from being tricked by the clever and manipulative criminals who carry out #RomanceFraud.

#Fauxmance THREAD ⬇️

1⃣ Avoid giving away too many personal details when speaking online to someone who you’ve never met in person; this could lead to your identity being stolen.

2⃣ Stay on the platform’s messaging service until you meet in person. Criminals will want to quickly switch to other platforms that are less regulated and have better encryption, so there’s no evidence of them asking you for money.

3⃣ Whatever reason they may give to move away from the site where you met, consider – if they’re genuine, they'll accept your decision to stay on the platform until you meet in person.

4⃣ Most online platforms have a reporting tool. You can use this if you suspect someone online is using pictures that don’t belong to them, if you're suspicious of their behaviour, or if they ask you for money.

These 10 Truths Will Jog Your Mind.

It's been 24 months of learning, to be honest, I never knew this side of Twitter, until October,

A friend told me about it, gave me every encouragement I needed.

It has been an amazing journey to 100, Thank you.

1. Choices- what you and work towards always works. If you work so hard in a company, you get motivated. Same case to life, what you choose to work towards consistently, no matter how stupid it is WILL ALWAYS work.

2. You must be pushed hard to the wall to save yourself- the only reason why you are afraid of going an extra mile is because your condition isn't pathetic enough. If it's pathetic enough, you'll find ways to save yourself.

3. Nothing is really special- Go a few days without talking to some people. You'll see how they easily forget, you'll also forget. Aim at doing what matters. Don't attach your happiness to anyone or anything.