#107: not getting distracted
👋 Welcome to the 107th issue of Out of Curiosity, a weekly newsletter promoting ideas to help get 1% better everyday.
My name is Reza, and every week, I go through nearly 100 pieces of content (from books and podcasts to newsletters and tweets), and bring you the best in this newsletter.
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Hey hey 👋
Last week I competed at the HYROX event in Toronto.
Both the 8-week training and the competition itself were challenging.
Mentally and physically.
To make things even tougher, I came down with a fever just two days before the event.
Not exactly what you hope for when you’re about to push your body to its limits.
But I decided to show up and give it my all anyway.
It wasn’t just about finishing—it was about pushing through, even when things didn’t go as planned.
Sometimes the toughest moments teach us the most.
Now, let’s jump into this week’s snippets…
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I don’t know what I’m doing.
And if you don’t know what to do, there’s actually a chance of doing something new.
As long as you know what you’re doing, nothing much of interest is going to happen.
I recently came across the concept of pyrrhic victory; it reminded me of quite a few situations I’d encountered in the past.
It’s victory won at such a great cost that it was not worth the battle.
Yes, the product launched on time, but the team and the relationships therein barely survived, and people are unable to contribute quality work in the month afterward because they're exhausted and communication is brittle.
Don't ignore your dreams,
don't work too much,
say what you think.
cultivate friendships,
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.
— Joseph Campbell
90 percent of success is not getting distracted.
The person who carefully designs their daily routine goes further than the person who negotiates with themselves every day.
Let inertia work for you.
In order to concentrate on one thing you must, by default, ignore many other things.
Focus can only occur when we have said yes to one option and no to all other options. In other words, elimination is a prerequisite for focus.
Instead of doing the difficult work of choosing one thing to focus on, we often convince ourselves that multitasking is a better option. This is ineffective.
👋 Until next week,
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