The Manual #31 - End of year learnings

We’re at the end of the year and I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned this year and spent time thinking about.

1. Consistency > everything. I used to think you had to be smart or special to achieve great things. But actually it’s about consistently showing up, consistently improving, consistently doing whatever it takes.
2. Discipline > motivation. It’s easy to be motivated by something or someone. But motivation means nothing if you don’t have the discipline to get shit done.
3. To achieve something great you first have to suffer through the pain of getting there. Sometimes you have to do stuff you don’t like or want to do.
4. Don’t be sad that it’s over. Be happy that you experienced it.
5. Nothing worth having comes easy. Otherwise it wouldn’t hold any value.
6. Learn to be alone.
7. Health > wealth. It’s easy to have money in your 40s. It’s not easy to be in good shape and healthy. Start in your 20s and you’ll be ahead of most others.
8. Create more than you consume.
9. No such thing as “no time”. When you want something, you’ll make time for it.
10. Delayed gratification is one of the most important skills to master.

Thank you

I wanted to quickly say a little thank you. This newsletter has become bigger than I ever expected and it continues to grow. The engagement is wild. Thank you for all of your support.

Link Lowdown

A collection of links to stuff I think are worth sharing.

Sleeve 2 — A sweet little music app for Mac. I’ve been using it ever since v1 came out.

Balance — A time tracking app.

Goody — I’ve been looking for a service like this for a long time. It lets you send gifts to people even when you don’t have their address.

What are unsuccessful people doing wrong — Interesting reddit thread on people’s thoughts on what “unsuccessful people are doing wrong”. Not sure I agree people who don’t have lots of money are considered unsuccessful.

Sleep advice no one tells you — A lot of good advice here. Sleeping seems to be one of my superpowers. I can go to bed any time between 11-12 and be asleep within 10 mins. I then naturally wake up between 8-9 without an alarm.

Obsidian Canvas — Interesting tool that I could see being very useful for brainstorming, mood boards, figuring out systems…it’s pretty limitless.