Hey there —

How much would you bet on a fortune teller’s predictions to come true? 🔮

If you’re like most people, you’d never go all-in on their predictions because nobody can predict the future with 100% accuracy (even Michael Scott would agree).

Yet when it comes to our goals, we unconsciously become our own soothsayers all the time. That’s because we tend to measure success by focusing on metrics that we can’t predict and are outside of our control.

Graham Weaver, founder of Alpine Investors, refers to these as lagging indicators — and claims that by focusing on leading indicators

instead, you can hit your goals more efficiently. So, what exactly is the difference between these two indicators? Lagging indicators are the outcomes of your goal. This could be pounds lost during a diet, YouTube subscribers gained after a year of posting, or money saved over a month of budgeting.

These indicators are informative, but they’re not exactly helpful, for two reasons:

1. ⌚️They’re Delayed. → Since lagging indicators gauge your progress *after* you’ve completed actions toward your goal, they might not appear right away (which is why you don’t have buns of steel after 10 minutes on the Stairmaster). This delay can be discouraging as it gives the impression our hard work isn’t going anywhere.

2. 🥱 They’re Unproductive. → Measuring lagging indicators won’t actually help you hit your goal. Compulsively weighing yourself or refreshing your bank account’s dashboard won’t get you closer to that magic number.

Instead, Weaver suggests focusing on leading indicators — the actions you can take to smash your goal. They’re in your control, measurable, and simple. 💪

Here’s how leading indicators would change our earlier examples. If you’re trying to…

🏋️‍♂️ Lose weight, you’d measure how many times per week you went to the gym.

🎬 Gain YouTube subscribers, you’d track the number of videos you posted a month.

💰 Save money, you’d note how often you didn’t splurge on Starbucks or Uber Eats.

As tennis player Arthur Ashe famously noted,

“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is more important than the outcome.”

The point of focusing on leading indicators is to enjoy the journey rather than fixate on the end result — which not only makes your goal more accessible, but makes getting there way more fun, too. 😉

What is a weird internet career?

by Gretchen McCulloch

There’s a solid chance that you (or someone you know) has a Weird Internet Career.

It’s a job that’s niche, remote, and borderline impossible to explain to your technologically challenged grandparents. 🧓

Gretchen McCulloch is someone with a Weird Internet Career: an “internet linguist.” And one of the most common things people say to her is, “I want to be you when I grow up.”

In response, McCulloch created a program on how you can ideate, build, and monetize your own Weird Internet Career. This article is the debut of the series and will get your brain whirring. 🧠

Read the article →

Pixar’s 22 rules of storytelling

by Emma Coats

It’s no secret that becoming a stellar storyteller is a difficult skill to master. But Pixar Animation Studios has it down to a science. 🧪

They’ve created some of the world’s most beloved storylines — such as Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and Up, to name a few. Emma Coats, a former Pixar Story Artist, has distilled their coveted storytelling strategies into a listicle.

These guidelines are gold in assisting the storytelling process. Our favorite is tip twelve:

“Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.”

Read the listicle →

one sec

by Frederik Riedel

Do you ever start scrolling through social media without even realizing it?

For lots of us, going online is a reflex to boredom or stress. But this impulse comes at a cost: the average person spends 17 hours a week on social media. 😨

one sec is an app designed to curb compulsive scrolling by encouraging you to breathe before opening social media. By adding this buffer, it gives you a moment to consider if you really want to scroll right now.

This app takes a few minutes to set up but using it can have enormous benefits.

Download the app →

“Do not let arrogance go to your head and despair to your heart; do not let compliments go to your head and criticisms to your heart; do not let success go to your head and failure to your heart.”
― Roy T. Bennett

Written by Alice Lemée

Edited by Matt D'Avella & Kerstin Sheppard