Weekly Question & Framework: July 26, 2024

Hello and welcome to the Curiosity Chronicle Weekly Question and Framework in three minutes or less, I'll give you one question and one framework to get you thinking going into the weekend. Without further ado, let's dive right into it. A question on Getting out of the Rut what is one tiny action that would create momentum? I recently got this email from a subscriber. Hi Sahil, I'm feeling stuck in a rut. Things were going well, but recently I just can't seem to get motivated. Everything feels hard. What is one piece of advice you'd give me? Thank you in advance. First off, it's okay. We've all been there. In fact, my observation is that it's especially common for ambitious high achievers who tend to default to a state of burning the candle at both ends and wind up burning it out. My advice? Momentum is the most powerful force in the world. When you're in a rut, a tiny bit of momentum is all it takes. My favorite method for manufacturing momentum Minimum Viable Progress Minimum viable progress says to just do a tiny bit as anything above zero compounds if you're trying to get back into your workout habit, don't worry about going to the gym for two hours. Just go for a 15 minute walk outside. If you're trying to get back into your workflow, don't worry about executing four hour blocks of deep work. Just focus on one task for 15 minutes. Avoid the tendency to think that the movement has to be perfect or robust as atomic habits author James Clear says, just because it's not optimal doesn't mean it's not beneficial. Narrow your focus and start small, even tiny. Build from there. Ask yourself what is one tiny action that would create momentum? Focus there and the rest will take care of itself. A Framework on the Importance of the Two Types of Knowledge Here's a story about German Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Planck and his chauffeur that I often think about. After winning his Nobel Prize, Max Planck went on a tour giving lectures at a variety of universities and institutions around the country. His chauffeur drove him to all of these lectures, hearing him prepare in the car and deliver the talk over and over again. In fact, the chauffeur had heard the lecture so many times that he had it memorized. Before one of the final lectures of the tour, he jokingly asked Planck if he could go up on stage and deliver it on Planck's behalf. Surprisingly, the physicist agreed. The chauffeur put on the jacket and tie and proceeded to deliver a perfect lecture word for word. Just as Max Planck would have done. But at the end of the talk, a simple follow up question was asked by an audience member. Stumped by the question, the chauffeur quickly replied, that question is so easy, I'll let my chauffeur answer it, and pointed to Plank, who was wearing the chauffeur hat in the back of the crowd. While the story itself may not be entirely real, the lesson it brings to life is important. There are two types of real knowledge and surface knowledge. Real knowledge has depth. It is flexible and dynamic. It can be leveraged in different ways because the topic is truly understood, not just memorized. It is only acquired through hours and hours of working on a specific craft. Surface knowledge is the opposite. It's the amount of knowledge required to sound smart at a cocktail party or pass an easy exam. But it fails when put under any degree of scrutiny. There's a big difference between truly knowing something and just sounding smart talking about it. A lot of problems in the world are the result of people with surface knowledge masquerading as people with with real knowledge. The goal? Seek to build real knowledge in your own endeavors and to support those with real knowledge in theirs. That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you learned something, and I hope you'll share it with others. As always, until next time, stay curious, friends.