The strategies that have helped me write 10 books in 10 years
⬇︎⬇︎⬇︎

1. Always be researching

The bulk of the work is researching—collecting stories, anecdotes, and data to marshal your argument. The writing is stringing those pieces together.

2. Know where you’re going

You don’t “find the book as you write.” You have to do the hard work of solving the problem first. You have to figure out the best route, too.

3. It’s all material

Turn all your bad experiences, your struggles, your pain, your mistakes into material. The obstacle is the way / antifragile…

4. Have something to say

“To have something to say,” Schopenhauer said, “by itself is virtually a sufficient condition for good style.”

To celebrate the one month anniversary of this article, I thought I would do an update of everyone on this chart.

I even color coded them accordingly. 🤓
🔴 Trump
🔵 Distribution
⚪️ Ops
🟢 Tech
🟠 Former Intel
🟣 LARP

THREAD
#RIPQ #StupidCoup

Very excited to share this one with you all!

It was both a shock & an honor to get an email from the editors at Current Directions asking for a paper on this topic, and I'm glad to see it out in print.

Feel free to share/RT widely (please!)

Obviously, as I'm sure you all know, internet pornography use is incredibly common.

Yet, despite how common pornography use is, the premiere outlets for psychological science have all-but-ignored the topic for 30th years.

Now, it wasn't always this way. In the 1960s-1980s, there were actually quite a few excellent (though early) papers in JPSP and even American Psychologist about the use of "erotica," but since about 1985, there's just nothing.

Now, I suppose that this would be reasonable if nothing significant had changed about use in the past three decades, but, as I'm sure you are all aware, there have been some major technological changes that have affected use.

TIGER INSIDE FIX with VISU

ㅤ
ㅤ
( @/arcturusjae )

ㅤ"Don't~tie me, tie me up, tie me, tie me up!"

Part Jaewon berakhir saat kelima member mengangkat kedua tangan mereka serempak seperti dalam keadaan terikat, sebelum Yoonwoo mengambil alih dan mulai membawakan

ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ"Hwesaek jeonggeul dan hanaye Rule,"

Suara lembut sang adam mulai mengalun, seraya dirinya berjalan ke tengah-tengah formasi sambil menurunkan tangannya perlahan dari posisi awal. Yoonwoo berdiri tegap selagi pundak dibuang ke belakang,

ㅤ
ㅤ
satu tangannya yang bebas diarahkan ke depan sebelum melangkah ke sisi kiri formasi sesuai ketukan lagu.

ㅤ"...Geugeon nal deo jageukhaesseul ppun,
Dallyeodeureo geochilge, Let's growl~"

Yoonwoo menggesturkan tangannya ke arah

ㅤ
ㅤ
seperti tengah menyihir seseorang, sebelum ia membungkukkan badannya sedikit ke depan, lalu menghempaskan kedua tangannya ke atas sebelum ia mengakhiri part awalnya kali ini.

ㅤ"So bring it on, bring it on, bring it

Star Trek S1E02 "Who Mourns for Adonais?" #TOS #StarTrek https://t.co/LIkzMGcPIi has interesting features 1) sexism tempered by female crew members' competence, (2) advancement of Ancient Aliens theory & 3) use of Pre-Modern anti-Muslim slur 4) appearance of Walter Koenig: Chekov

For the 1st time, Michelle Nichols as Uhura performs a technical task. In previous episodes, she basically was a receptionist or a switchboard operator.

After Scotty the Chief Engineer oogles Leslie Parrish as Lt. Carolyn Palamas on the bridge, Capt Kirk basically states that women won't go far in Star Fleet because they end their careers for marriage. She's part of the landing party where she & Kirk exchange these lines:

Apollo changes her miniskirt uniform into an alluring evening gown and does her hairdo quite elegantly. The camera gives viewers multiple shots of her the remainder of the episode.

Despite her being tempted by the life Apollo offers her, she does her duty as a Star Fleet Officer and spurns him, thus draining him of his power so that the Enterprise's crew and the landing party could free themselves.

Philosophers if they were muppets, a thread I made so I wouldn’t have to think about it anymore:

Machiavelli is Ernie

John Locke is Hoots the Owl

Karl Marx is the Grouch

Hume is Fozzie Bear (credits and legal responsibility go to @KreetzTristan for this one)

Foucault is Bert

My 12 favourite quotes from Phil Fisher, from his wonderful book 'Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits'

Aside from Buffett/Munger, Fisher is the investor that has had the most influence on me and I would recommend his book to anyone:

"More money has probably been lost...

...by investors holding a stock they really did not want until they could 'at least come out even' than from any other single reason... Especially so when you consider foregone reinvestment gains."

"If the growth rate is so good that in another 10 years the company might well have quadrupled, is it really of such great concern whether the stock might or might not be 35% overpriced? Maintain the position and don't worry about losing a small part of the gain."

"If a company has changed for good it deserves to trade at a P/E premium to its history and will probably continue to do so. For young companies in particular many investors will mistakenly view them as overvalued...

…Stocks that at first glance appear to the highest priced may, upon analysis, be the biggest bargains."

Since today is my birthday, I thought I'd share a little something I wrote about life lessons learned to commemorate the day:
View from age 55…
1. Make intentional space for things that bring you joy.
2. It’s okay to take a nap when you get tired. This year has been exhausting.

3. Take care of yourself. No one can do this for you.
4. Notice small things. There is sacredness in the mundane.
5. Pay attention to your emotions. They give us needful information.
6. Listen to your heart’s desires -they give you guidance about how to spend your one life.

7. Never regret turning a year older. Not everyone had that privilege. Birthdays are a gift to be celebrated.
8. Don’t be afraid of silver hair. I feel like mine represents the experiences in my life and the (hopefully) wisdom I have gained.

9. Grief is a part of life. It is not weakness or lack of faith. Allowing yourself to grieve is the only way through.
10. What other people think of me isn't as important as I once thought.
11. I don’t have to live up to the expectations of others. I have to be true to my self.

12. I have learned to accept myself more. Not perfectly every day, but much more than I did in the past. I am who I am and I’m shaped how I’m shaped. I can only be who I am.
13. I’ve learned to be kind to myself.
14. The beach is always a good idea. It helps me reset.

Want to be a better thinker?

"Thinking in Systems" by Donella Meadows is the top book on Amazon for System Theory with 1,000+ ratings.

Here are some highlights (thread ↓)

"Donella Meadows (1941–2001) was a scientist trained in chemistry and biophysics (Ph.D., Harvard University), followed by a research fellowship at MIT. There she worked with Jay Forrester, the inventor of system dynamics."

"This book is about that different way of seeing and thinking. It is intended for people who may be wary of the word 'systems' and the field of systems analysis, even though they may have been doing systems thinking all their lives."

— Donella Meadows

"Today, it is widely accepted that systems thinking is a critical tool in addressing the many environmental, political, social, and economic challenges we face around the world."

— Diana Wright

"A system is a set of things—people, cells, molecules, or whatever—interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time."

— Donella Meadows

It’s time to post my top 20 films of 2020 and top 20 tv shows of 2020!
As usual, I need to have seen it, it was released in 2020 in the UK and it is just my opinion. If you disagree, please tell me about your choices, I’d love to know!
#FilmsOf2020 #TVShowsOf2020

One thing to note, that is different this year, due to Tier 4 restrictions in London, I am going to make #WonderWoman1984 eligible for next year’s list (2021). I am classing it’s release date as 13 January 2021.

#TVShowsOf2020
10. Ted Lasso
A real surprise and a gem of a comedy.

9. The Stranger
A bizarre Netflix mystery drama. Captivating watch.

8. The Twilight Zone
A brilliant reprisal of the old series. Such great, mysterious stories and incredibly entertaining.

#TVShowsOf2020
7. Manhunt: Deadly Games
Little known in the UK, but this series was fantastic. Thrilling.

6. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
This sitcom keeps going from strength to strength, so funny.

#TVShowsOf2020
5. The Boys
Action? Thriller? Drama? I’m not sure what to call this show. It’s bizarre, dark, controversial and well worth a watch!

4. The Mandalorian
Mando has brought peak Star Wars back. This series is just pure joy, and so much fun to watch. Plus, BABY YODA!

On our new podcast, we interviewed @angie_rasmussen, one of the leading virologists, who has been a guiding light during the pandemic. Thread here to summarize, transcript and audio https://t.co/Q6CabBsKCM @cuttingforstone /1

Current status
"We're essentially experiencing the equivalent of a 9/11 every day in terms of number of deaths; our hospital systems are overburdened. ...We're going to be dealing w/ this for some time to come, even after people get the vaccine, certainly #LongCovid is real." /2

On her strong efforts for dispelling misinformation
"My philosophy about public health is that you can't have it without the engagement of the public. And my philosophy about communication is that information empowers people to decide for themselves" /3

The diagnosis of #SARSCoV2 reinfection is very challenging and Dr. Rasmussen provides the best and complete explanation for why that's the case. One dimension of that is being able to culture the virus in a BSL (biosafety level)-3 lab /4

Many are not familiar with what BSL-3 and 4 labs are all about. Great summary here from her extensive experience. More in podcast/transcript on her response in BSL-4./5

10 Most Impactful Books Of My Life

1. Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by @kamalravikant

Kamal is honest, open, and authentic. But what I love most about this book is that it actually works.

2. Conscious Living by @GayHendricks

My life changed dramatically from August 2019 to August 2020. This book helps explain why: I started to follow the principles in this book without even realizing it.

3. A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose by @EckhartTolle

Recommended to me by an Uber driver in October 2019. Couldn’t put it down. The first “spiritual” book that clicked for me.

4. Resilience by @EricGreitens

Incredible writing, timeless lessons, historical examples. I can’t remember the last time I annotated this much in a book. Wisdom from so many different sources. Highly, highly recommended.

Steps on how to order a book via

https://t.co/M6J2AdfTO5 website

@NuriaStore
#NuriaStore #books #read #ShopAtNuriaBookStore

Thread

1/

1/ Read Bloomberg’s autobiography (from ‘97) this weekend. Covers the first 15 years of Bloomberg LP & and how Mike built such a dominant franchise. Written before “lean startup” and modern software startup nomenclature, but lessons sound like something @chetanp would share...

2/ Bloomberg initially focused on a narrow use case: real time yield curve data for bond traders. Today, Bloomberg covers equity & debt markets around the world, offers financials, news, messaging, alternative data & more. But it started with a simple product & seemingly tiny TAM

3/ They “nailed” product/market fit for this use case because they deeply understood their customers. Not only did Mike Bloomberg and the first four employees all come from the industry, but they also built a tight feedback loop w/ their first "lighthouse" customer, Merrill Lynch

4/ When Bloomberg installed the first 22 terminals at Merrill, they embedded themselves with initial users. They visited daily. They had two users who provided constant feedback, helping to rapidly squash bugs and improve the product.

5/ Bloomberg also offered professional services. In fact, their first $100,000 in revenue was from PS. The consulting work helped pay the bills, but more importantly helped the Bloomberg team map their customers' needs and to build relationships across the organization.

So I finished reading The Velvet Rage today( I think it was Owen Jones who first put it on my radar) and it's been on my wishlist for a while, I had some extra cash thanks to some stocks I'd invested in so I decided to treat myself.
I have some thoughts™ (thread)

First off, the beginning chapters of this book are very good. They describe an experience growing up gay that I as a self identified queer man can vibe with. Even in a supportive household queer kids learn all too quickly what is and isn't acceptable parts of themselves to show

It stresses the book is writing very clearly about the gay male experience and acknowledges that the broad strokes it paints with could apply to lesbians too but are expressed in different ways. No acknowledgement is made however in highlighting the exp of non cis, non white gays

Topping that off, the book feels horribly upper middle class; talk of clients from executive backgrounds being ashamed of who they are. That may not be the experience of every gay. Theres also an assumption that most gays come from a home with a caring mother and distant father

It takes a certain view on non-monogamy and promiscuity, framing it as a symptom of trying to overcompensate for a lack of validation in teen years and while that's certainly probably the case for some, it doesn't frame anything other than monogamy as intrinsically rewarding.