Danny Miranda

for those in pursuit of their highest version

Jim Collins’ Quirky Rules To Optimize Life

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Jim Collins has been experimenting on himself before it was cool.

Jim is a world-renowned author – author of Good to Great and Built to Last.

But perhaps Jim is less known as a life-optimizer. Not only is he an avid rock climber and hiker, but he has also conducted decades worth of investigations on… himself.

Today, there’s no shortage of people experimenting on themselves. Trying to be the best version of themselves. Trying to find out the ways they can optimize their performance.

Jim Collins has been doing it forever.

Jim Collins - Video/Audio

Jim has a few quirky habits.

Before he introduces these principles, he lets people know… “well, you know, I’m is not quite normal.” For anyone in pursuit of becoming the highest version, this makes sense.

Those of us who are obsessed with improvement? We’re not exactly normal. We’re making the decision to make the most out of our one life.

So here are some of Jim Collins’ quirky habits.

The 50/30/20 Rule

He carries three stop watches with him at all times.

The first stopwatch is to track the time he spends on creative work.

The second stopwatch is to track the time he spends on teaching.

The third stopwatch is to track the time he spends on “other stuff that he just has to get done.”

The 50/30/20 Rule states that 50% of his time should be spent on creative work, 30% of his time should be spent on teaching, and 20% of his time should be spent on everything else. Oddly enough, this is similar to the Pareto Principle (80/20).

For many years, Jim actually kept track of the time he spent on these activities.

Today, Jim carries three stopwatches with him, but he doesn’t actually use them. He merely uses them as reminders.

The reason why?

He figured out the 1,000 Hour Rule.

The 1,000 Hour Rule

At some point, Jim stopped tracking these stopwatches and instead realized the creative work portion was the most important. And he figured that for every 365-day cycle, his creatives hours must exceed 1,000 (averages out to around 2 hours, 45 minutes per day)… “no matter what.” That means February 26 to February 26. Or August 2 to August 2.

So what counts when he’s calculating these creative hours, exactly?

Any activity that has a reasonably direct link to the creation of something that is new or potentially durable. If he was an artist, he would count getting the paintbrushes ready. Sometimes, he counts activities that he doesn’t expect, like conversations.

But in general, he errs on the side of caution. It’s better to be a hard counter in your long march.

This rule also bears an interesting similarity to Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule (highlighted in Outliers). It’s likely Jim has spent more than 10 years applying this 1,000 Hour Rule. Which would mean he has spent way more than 10,000 hours doing creative work… and would help explain why he’s become such a prolific author.

Day Ratings

Humans have awful memories.

Ask someone what they had for dinner two weeks ago and they will have no idea.

So, at the end of each day, Jim rates the day on a scale from -2 to +2.

  • +2 = great day
  • +1 = good day
  • 0 = average
  • -1 = bad day
  • -2 = really bad day

Here’s the common theme of +2 days: Jim spends them alone working on a difficult problem and/or with people he loves.

Of course, just because these are the conditions that optimize Jim’s life doesn’t mean you will be the same. You need to figure out when you are having +2 days.

Everyone has good days and bad days. Because Jim tracks them, he is aware how to make more good ones and have less bad ones.

Tracking takes less than 5 seconds and probably gives Jim great data on how to optimize his own life.

Think of this as an easier form of journaling.

Sleep Monitoring

Jim went to a sleep specialist in order to optimize his sleep.

Similar to the 1,000 Hour Rule, he has found that for his body, he needs to average 70 hours of sleep every 10 days (average seven hours per night).

Jim believes you can function on no sleep. People pull all-nighters and are able to operate.

But can you function on no sleep for two or three days in a row? Probably not. Jim believes this is because he is dipping too far below the 70-hour average mark.

With that said, he knows people are different. He cautions that this is just what’s worked for him.

The 20 Minute Rule

If Jim wakes up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep within 20 minutes, he gets up and starts his day. Then, he ideally takes a nap from 7am until 10am, where he can begin work again.

Jim finds mornings are the best time to work for him. His mind is free of distractions, people don’t need him to do anything, and he can simply focus on work.

He loves days where he wakes up in the middle of the night because it means he gets two mornings.

This is a great way to take advantage of the time you would be up anyway and put it to good use.

Because Jim loves his work, this is easy for him.

Bug Book

Jim kept a Bug Book in college. It was basically a journal.

Except slightly different.

The premise was that he would observe himself in third person.

For example, in college he wrote:

“The bug Jim really loves to make sense of something difficult, breaking it down into understandable pieces, and teaching it to others.”

This is a pretty astonishing realization to be made as a college student, especially when taken in the context of his career. This is exactly what Jim ended up doing!

The Bug Book was doing experiments on himself to figure out what he liked to do and how he reacted to specific situations. By keeping a Bug Book, Jim was able to view his tendencies as a neutral observer.

Then, he would review his entries and come up with conclusions.

You can do the same by keeping a journal or Bug Book. Make sure to review your entries every week or month to really get the most out of it.

In Summary

  1. Spend at least 1,000 hours yearly doing creative work.
  2. Rate your days.
  3. Make sure you are averaging more than seven hours per night.
  4. If you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, get to work.
  5. Keep a journal where you look at yourself in the third person.

These rules were all taken from Jim Collins’ interview with Tim Ferriss. To access all notes on the podcast, click here.

The Age of the Micro

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We have more information in our pocket than ever before.

This information can be broken down into two categories:

  • Longform content – Books, academic papers, podcasts, lectures, speeches
  • Micro content – Summaries, quick clips, quotes, tweets

In this past, everyone would consume the longform content. (That was the only way to consume.)

But today, we consume primarily bite-sized micro content. (This is the easiest way to consume.)

This leaves a gap in the market. There are many people who would consume the longform content, but there isn’t enough time to possibly consume it all.

Welcome to Age of Micro.

Why does the Age of Micro exist in the first place?

The Age of the Micro exists because there is:

  • More content than ever. There was a lot of information before the Internet.
  • More accessibility than ever. People were making content about content before the Internet. Remember, the news? But the Internet allows anyone to do it.
  • More platforms than ever. Social media networks now own a form of expression. If you want to appeal to aesthetics, go to Instagram. If you want to share your resume, go to LinkedIn. If you want to check on your neighbor, go to Facebook.
  • Shorter attention spans. This leads us to check different platforms constantly. We constantly want to know the latest information, specifically as it relates to us. So people are checking these apps more than ever before.

In the Age of Micro, those who win will be the ones who not only produce great longer form content and ideas (think books, podcasts, academic papers), but those who distill those ideas into shorter forms (summaries, quick clips, quotes).

In this post, we’re going to explore a number of examples across the media of people who have successfully navigated the micro waters already. 

They’ve taken larger pieces of content – something that most people don’t have the time for – and created their own place around their specific forms of micro. 

Let’s dive into the examples so you can see how this can relate to something you’re interested in.

George Mack steals shamelessly

George Mack does one thing really well: he steals people’s ideas.

Okay, fine. 

He doesn’t actually steal them.

But what he does is pretty incredible: he synthesizes intelligent people’s ideas into tweets in order to help you gain more knowledge.

Charlie Munger, Eric Weinstein, Joe Rogan.

Many of his threads make me say, “Ohhh” or “I didn’t know that about that person” or “Wow, that really works that way?”

Here’s the best part:

George doesn’t need to find new information. He doesn’t need to come up with something entirely new. He only needs to find what already exists, and deliver it in a way that is interesting and valuable to people.

Some of his threads have thousands of likes. Hundreds of comments. He clearly provides incredible value.

And all he’s doing?

Synthesizing the information he comes across and understandable for the entire world.

For example, his thread features Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke’s six favorite mental models.

George has found a way to duplicate his synthesis. His two twitter bots @navalbot and @nntalebbot both have more than 20,000 followers. These accounts simply tweet insights directly from Naval Ravikant and Nassim-Nicholas Taleb.

Joe Rogan’s short-form sensation

Joe Rogan runs a YouTube account called JRE Clips.

His podcasts run anywhere from one hour (on the short side) to three hours (on the more normal occasion). 

A heavy investment in time in today’s digital age.

So Joe (or someone on his team) decided to micro his own content. It turned out to be a brilliant decision.

As of this writing, the JRE Clips account has over 2.7 billion views. (For reference, Joe’s main account, PowerfulJRE has less – “only” 2.2 billion views.)

The micro account helps people get a taste of Joe’s podcast. It serves as a way to help people consume Joe’s long-form without having to spend hours.

As a result, the account grew at a tremendous pace.

Omar Raja takes over the sports world

Omar Raja has been practicing the art of the micro since July 2014. 

The 20-year-old sophomore started posting sports clips on an Instagram account he originally called The Highlight Factory while a student at the University of Central Florida. A week later, he changed the name to House of Highlights. 

Since then, the account has garnered more than 17.5 million followers.

He started the account as a way to post his favorite highlights after LeBron James left his beloved Miami Heat. 

Within two years, LeBron himself was following Omar’s account.

It was a startling reality.

Omar understood the power of the micro. He was able to break down the best moments from every game. As a result, he gained a massive following, met his idols, and toured the globe.

Omar could have asked these players for interviews. He could have tried for two years to send these players messages. Instead, he acted as a synthesizer for sports information. As a result, the players started coming to him. (He regularly receives messages from players requesting for his account to post certain clips.)

Derek Sivers outlines his books

Derek Sivers posts book notes for all the books he reads. 

It inspired me to do the same (and many others). 

It serves two purposes: 

(1) It allows readers to find out what books they should read next.

(2) It allows new people to find his site.

He uses the micro by taking the best knowledge from all the books he reads and turns it into an ingestible, micro form people can enjoy.

Not Copy+Paste

Any fool can press the copy and paste button. And you can press the copy and paste button and still garner interest in your account.

But the best results come when you synthesize the material from your perspective.

Omar Raja adds captions. George Mack distills wisdom. Derek Sivers produces summaries.

These might appear as small differences. I mean, you might be thinking, “what difference does it make if Omar writes his caption with or without an emoji?” But the emojis are indications of Omar’s voice.

The small changes you make to the content when you splice your content makes a big difference.

Even behind a screen, you still have a voice. An authentic way people know your style. It could be the way you use certain emojis. Or maybe it’s the way you write sentences. Or it could literally be your own voice (if you’re producing videos). People then start associating that content with your voice. 

That’s the ultimate distinction. Adding your own specific spin on something and bringing it down a shorter form.

Where Do You Go From Here?

First, you find the longer form content you would have consumed anyway. The stuff that you enjoy for fun.

Then, you choose your platform (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) and put your own spin on the content. It doesn’t have to be so different but make it your own.

That’s it.

For example, I put all my notes out there for the world to see because I would have consumed this content anyway.

This is the stuff I enjoy reading, learning, listening to regardless if anyone is watching or not.

I assume Omar, George, and Derek didn’t say to themselves, “Hmm, I wonder how I can make a lot of money. I’m going to take longer form content and make it into shorter content.” (And I don’t even know if they make a lot of money from their work.)

They all do it for the love of their own specific content.

Without the Internet:

George Mack would have studied thinkers

Omar Raja would have watched sports.

Derek Sivers would have read books.

Now, we can all benefit from their interests. The world is waiting to benefit from your interests too.

The Surprising Lesson The Barber From Vietnam Taught Me

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I went to the barbershop today. But I ended up getting something far more valuable than a haircut. …I got a new perspective on life.

I asked my barber… “Have you ever seen anything like this?”

“Anything” …referring to COVID-19, of course.

He said, “No. But I’ve seen worse.”

My barber grew up in Vietnam in the 1980s, where one in four people were starving. EXTREME FAMINE.

When he was four or five years old, his mother began to beg for food. He starved. His brother starved. His mother starved.

If he was lucky that day, he would find a little bit of rice. This went on for six years (!!). When he was 11, his family fled Vietnam for the United States. In the United States, he learned how to cut hair. He worked and worked and worked some more.

Eventually, he opened up his own barbershop. By all indications, it’s a successful one. Here was a man who couldn’t read, who grew up in extreme poverty, who was begging for food when he was growing up …and he was able to build a successful business in the United States.

Now, his children are able to read. But most importantly – they have food. He has provided a better life for the next generation. The barber told me people ask him who he’s voting for. But he doesn’t care who’s president. He’s just grateful to be alive. To have food.

You don’t choose where you’re born. You don’t choose when you’re born. You don’t choose the hand life deals you. Sometimes we lose sight of this. We take it for granted. We argue about drama, sports, and politics.

Sometimes, we fail to appreciate just how good it really is. It’s not always perfect in the United States (or any free society, for that matter). But if we have food on the table, a roof over our heads, and WiFi in our pockets… we have a lot to be grateful for.

What Should I Do About “Non-Productive” Hobbies?

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It’s easy to get trapped on the self-improvement treadmill.

And once you’re on it, it can be hard to get off.

I mean, it makes sense. Naturally, we are a goal-driven species.

But recently a friend asked me… 

With so much emphasis on self-improvement, where do non-productive hobbies and entertainment fit into the picture? Should you quit them entirely? Should you give them up for a time?

In this post, I attempt to answer that very question.

Don’t Dismiss Your Non-Productive Hobbies

First, don’t dismiss your non-productive hobby and throw them away. 

Sometimes your “non-productive hobbies” are really where you should be focused on growing/improving. 

Take the college student who binges Netflix like it’s her job. Like most college students, she really doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. She starts reading this blog because the author is incredibly handsome and charming.

So, she’s decided to improve herself. She quits Netflix because she thinks to herself, “how could Netflix equal improvement?”

Woah, woah, woah. Let’s slow down there.

Netflix for many people is an unproductive activity. But for her, it could be something she is interested in. Her interest in Netflix may mean she has an underlying desire to (a) work in the entertainment industry in general or (b) around the specific contents of the show.

Maybe she watches murder mysteries. Could she be interested in working for the government as a Special Agent in some capacity? Or as a scary movie writer?

The places where you procrastinate can actually lead you to the places you should invest the most time in.

Maybe You Can’t Utilize Your Non-Productive Hobbies

But not everyone is the Netflix-loving college student. Other people enjoy their job but have non-productive hobbies.

Let’s say you’re studying to become a doctor. And you’re enjoying becoming a doctor too. However, you’ve found video games give you the greatest joy in the world.

You want to improve yourself, but you wonder… Do I have to stop playing video games entirely?

The answer is… no, not if you don’t want to.

If you want to quit, go ahead. Never play a video game again. But if this is really something you love, why not use it as a reward? 

Most people don’t have hobbies they really enjoy. So they tell people, “Don’t do that, it’s bad for you” or “Don’t do that, you won’t like it.”

If you have a hobby you really like, you have a built-in reward. You can then set a rule for yourself: “I will only play video games after I’ve meditated for 10 minutes” or “I will only play video games after I’ve completed my streaks.”

You can then start to link the video games with the completion of a task.

Push this reward (whatever your non-productive hobby is) as a way to push yourself over the edge to do the activities you maybe don’t want to do.

You Can Grow From “Non-Productive Hobbies”

Self-improvement is not a linear path.

Derek Sivers has said: “If knowledge is the answer, we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.”

We don’t always do what’s best for us. We all have non-productive hobbies.

What’s amazing is you can grow from activities that you might believe have nothing to do with improving yourself.

Here’s what I mean…

Let’s imagine you’re a smoker. Smoking is quite clearly a “non-productive hobby.”

But then one day, you quit. You never smoke again. Well, instead of beating yourself up (a truly non-productive activity), realize you have experiences from quitting that non-smokers have never had.

You know what it feels like to quit something difficult. You have a process in place. You can then use that same system to build yourself up.

Many addicts often channel their addiction for something negative and turn it into something positive.

When you are able to turn your negative habit into something positive, you grow as an individual.

Would I recommend anyone take that path in order to grow? Of course not.

But just because you did something non-productive doesn’t mean you can’t learn from it.

You grow from many things life throws at, even if you might consider it non-productive.

In Summary

  1. Figure out if your non-productive procrastinations are actually telling you what to pursue.
  2. Either quit your non-productive hobby or use it as a reward.
  3. Don’t beat yourself up about your non-productive hobbies. Use it to fuel the process of growth.

Accept Life’s Gifts

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My Grandma likes to tell the following story about me:

When I was younger, I liked to solve puzzles or play with toys. When my Grandma always inevitably attempted to help me with the problem of the day, I would tell her, “No, I want to do it on my own.”

It is a tale of my individualism. My pride in figuring out the world on my own.

But this is no way to live.

A grandmother’s assistance is one of life’s great gifts. Anyone’s assistance, really.

Let’s put this in practical terms.

Imagine you played Secret Santa. What if when you received your gift, you said…

“Nope, I don’t want this.”

People would look at you like you were crazy.

First, you were rude to the person who picked out your gifts. And second, you robbed yourself of the pleasure of the gift itself. Maybe you don’t think you want it now, but what if in six months, it turns out to be exactly what you need?

When you refuse a gift, you hurt two people: the giver and yourself.

What Are Life’s Gifts?

As it turns out, life is giving us gifts constantly. If you start looking for them, you’ll notice them everywhere.

Here are some examples of gifts you might have (this list is far from exhaustive):

  • A personality trait
  • A talent/skill
  • A specific interest 
  • A special circumstance that only you have access to
  • A friend
  • A relative
  • A work ethic

These are all gifts.

Maybe in some cases, you cultivated these gifts. But isn’t your desire to cultivate these a gift as well?

You Don’t Have To Use Your Gifts

Of course, you don’t have to take advantage of life’s gifts. 

The Internet is a gift. You don’t have to take advantage of the Internet. That’s the beauty of life (and living in a free society, at least). You get to choose. But it is a travesty to rob yourself of the potential joy of this activity.

We have the tendency of spitting in life’s face and ignoring its gifts. It’s quite rude, really.

Steven Pressfield ends The War of Art with the following idea:

Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention. It’s a gift to the world. Don’t cheat the world of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.

Pressfield wants us to accept life’s gifts to create the world we want to live in.

Sometimes we fear putting our gift on display. What will others think of us? Will they judge us? Will they think we’re narcissistic?

But the truth is, the world is starving for your contribution. Starving for your gift.

If LeBron James never played basketball, the world would not be the same.

If William Shakespeare never started writing, the world would not be the same.

If Frank Sinatra never sung a melody, the world would not be the same.

“Okay, but I’m not LeBron, Shakespeare, or Sinatra.” 

Maybe not yet. But all these individuals did is follow their gifts. You have gifts too. 

It’s not about capturing great wealth or fame. 

That’s not the point.

The point is that you may find tremendous joy from doing these activities, and you’ll never know, unless you accept life’s gifts.

If you choose to ignore life’s gifts, you will instead pursue imaginary ones.

Henry David Thoreau noticed as much when he commented: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

Why do they lead such a life?

They prioritized the external. They hear the sound of a million bucks and they jump right out of their chair. They hear the gift and say to themselves, “Maybe another day. Is this gift going to get me paid?”

But in doing so they miss the essence of life.

To accept one’s gifts.

How Do You Accept Life’s Gifts?

You accept life’s gifts by using them – via the principle of work.

If you’re reading this, you were given the gift to be able to read, write, and use the Internet. That puts you in a rare position. A position that the majority of the 100 billion humans that ever lived didn’t get the opportunity to experience.

If you were given the gift to be born into enormous wealth and fame, you are in a rare position to build the world you want to see.

Let’s look at Kylie Jenner. 

She was given incredible gifts. Fame. Fortune. The opportunity to do nothing for the rest of her life.

What did she do instead? She worked.

Think of the greats. 

Instead of ignoring their gifts, they honored their gifts with work. They appreciated their gifts. They were willing to fail with their gifts. Accepting the harshest of criticism in an attempt to capture the essence of their craft. And still, they kept coming back for more. Day after day.

There is no better way to say thank you to life than to work at improving your gifts.

Why is our first reaction so often to spit in the face of our gifts?

Ego. 

Our ego wants us to know we did it on our own. “On our own.” What that really means, I’ll never know.

But it can never really be true.

Because the work is not done by us but through us. Because even when life deals us a bad hand, we can still choose to take lessons with us that will help us for our next journey. Because when we achieve success of any kind, it’s often thanks to the gifts we received.

Think about many of the phrases that have become almost cliche at this point:

  • “Standing on the shoulders of giants.”
  • “Behind every great man is a great woman.”
  • “Glory to God.”

We are aware when we do our best work, there are often too many other people (and outside forces) we must thank before we really accept any of the credit ourselves.

These people and forces are gifts, too.

That’s not to say trying to achieve “on your own” is bad. 

But if you are offered a special opportunity, there’s nothing wrong with taking it. 

In fact, you should take it. 

If you don’t, Grandma will be awfully upset.

Thank you to Grandma, Eugene Yan, Rohan Williams, Stew Fortier, Jesse Evers, and Nick Drage for graciously looking over earlier drafts of this post.

Is Your “Hard Work” Fun?

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Here’s the big secret:

People who do “hard work” often don’t think of the work as hard. They are having fun doing it.

But when they tell you their experience, they tell you “it was hard work.” And then, you think to yourself…

“I probably shouldn’t do that.”

But the trick is to understand that in the moment, they might have been having fun doing the activity. When they are relaying the experience, they are making it seem more difficult.

Let’s have fun with our hard work.

The Optimum Mental Level

Lanny Bassham is an Olympic Gold medalist and a teacher of mental performance. Bassham knows “hard work” is necessary. But he also mentions a mental model for how to complete hard work:

“The optimum mental level and ‘let’s just have fun today’ are closely related.”

I mean how true is that?

When you’re having fun, you’re not thinking about the outcome. You’re thinking about enjoying the activity.

If you were to fix the broken sink with an attitude of having fun, the process would fly by – even if it was your first time.

You get lost in the process.

Here are a couple of examples from real life:

70 Books.

Could you imagine if one human produced 70 books?

That’s what Niklas Luhmann did.

Luhmann came up with a simple system that made his work incredibly easy. He realized each highlight was only relevant in the context, so he created a method to connect them.

When he spoke about his work, he said:

I only do what is easy. I only write when I immediately know how to do it. If I falter for a moment, I put the matter aside and do something else.

Here is a guy who wrote 70 books and produced more than 400 academic papers. And he said he only does work when it is “easy” for him?

Yep.

Pretty crazy.

This relates closely to Derek Sivers experience on his bike ride.

The Bike Ride

Derek Sivers loved to ride his bike in Santa Monica. Every time he completed his bike ride, he would time himself.

Sivers always gave his best effort. Really struggled through the process. Because that’s what you’re “supposed to do.”

It always turned out to be exactly 43 minutes.

Then one afternoon, he didn’t want to ride his bike.

It was “hard work,” after all.

So instead of doing the difficult work, he decided he would do the same bike route and take it easy. 

For the first time, he noticed the dolphins. He looked up and saw a pelican, which eventually pooped in his mouth. He couldn’t help but laugh. His experience was totally different. He was enjoying the process, after all.

In Sivers’ estimation, he expended 50% less effort on his bike ride.

But the bike ride took him 45 minutes. Instead of the usual 43.

Derek was shocked.

In his own words:

So apparently all of that exhausting, red-faced, full-on push-push-push I had been doing had given me only a 4 percent boost. I could just take it easy and get 96 percent of the results.

How can you apply this to your own life? Are you stressing yourself out about achieving a certain result in a certain time? Can you just do what you need to do, take it easy, and get almost the exact same result?

It’s a question worth asking.

What You Can Do Now

Is it possible we captured the same effort, the same energy, but instead of thinking about putting in “hard work,” we instead attempt to enjoy the process?

Can we have fun with our “hard work”?

Figure out where in your life you are doing the most “hard work.” Then ask yourself, can I make it easier to get the same result?

For years, hard work has represented the epitome of success.

What we’ve failed to realize is that those doing it were enjoying the process.