Weekly Wisdom #287 - What we really need instead of that shiny new thing

Getting Coached, Two Free Books, The Best Inventions of 2023, Boosting Solar Efficiency & Decision-Making Tools

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Happy Monday!

Last week I had a bike fitting.

It was my second. The first had been to make sure the bike I was ordering would fit, and to determine the best size. The second was to optimize the bike fit after I'd assembled it.

During this follow-up fitting, my fitter, Geoff, pointed out a number of issues.

Almost all were opposites of the issues pointed out in my first fitting:

Instead of keeping my heel too high on my pedal stroke, now I was dropping it too low.

Instead of sitting in too aggressive a position, now I wasn't sitting aggressively enough.

In short: I'd overcorrected all my previous issues.

On a bike, it's very difficult to see this. I can't see how much my heel is dropping from above—it takes someone viewing me from the side.

The rest of what Geoff pointed out I didn't even realize required adjustment: the position of my cleats, the stiffness of my pedals. For me, they were unknown unknowns.

You can find a coach for everything these days: life coaches, business coaches, sports coaches.

But they exist for good reason. Their job is to do two things:

Provide a fast feedback loop

Show you what you don't know

The speed at which you can improve is limited by how fast you can get feedback and uncover new information; a great coach will do both.

Much of the time we think we need something new—in this case a new seat, or handlebars, or whole bike. A shortcut of some kind.

Often, what we really need is a coach.

Have a great week!

Graham

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Links

📚 Two Free Books: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant & The Anthology of Balaji - Eric Jorgenson - I've read The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, and it was excellent (haven't posted notes yet).

It was one of the most dense value-per-word books I've ever read, and sought to summarize the philosophy of Naval Ravikant, a successful entrepreneur-turned-investor/philosopher. Eric Jorgenson co-wrote the book, and made it available for free.

Jorgenson is now back, with a new book based on the teachings of another popular online figure, futurist Balaji Srinivasan.

Subtitled "A Guide to Technology, Truth, and Building the Future," I plan to read it soon and expect it to be just as good as the first book.

📖 The Best Inventions of 2023 - Time - All kinds of cool products on this list, from electricity-generating docks, to innovative toothbrushes, to drone detection systems, and the web browser that my colleagues have been raving about.

📖 Tracking The Sun Makes Solar Panels More Efficient On Land & Water - CleanTechnica - I'd been wondering how much more effective land-based solar arrays would be if they followed the sun, and my friend Justin pointed me to this article that showed just how much: up to 40%.

Add up the generation from arrays like this alongside potential from wind generators like these ones, and living electricity-neutral starts to look not only possible, but financially advantageous.

🎧 Ferias 27 - Chamandy - Ferias - Montreal-based friends Ferias, an electronic DJ collective, have a bunch of mixes available online which have been powering my work lately.

A mix of personalities and styles, if you're looking for a funk/electronic mix with few lyrics, you're bound to find something you like.

Tweet of the Week

A list of favourite decision-making frameworks:

Lenny Rachitsky-->

@lennysan

What's your favorite / most used decision-making framework (if you have one)?

5:43 PM • Oct 24, 2023

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Read 144 replies

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