Since the beginning of time, there have been 3 key secrets to success. Richard Dawkins has uncovered these strategies, but do you have what it takes to execute them?

On the most basic levels, success isn’t about fame, money, or even being good at something. Success is the continued existence in the face of danger. In his book, The Selfish Gene, former Oxford professor Richard Dawkins describes three strategies that successful genes have “adopted” that allows them to continually exist.

If success is defined as continual existence in the face of danger (i.e. the ability to overcome struggle), the same strategies that contribute to the success of genes can allow us to overcome our own struggles and achieve success.

The three strategies are:

• Fecundity: The first strategy that contributes to a gene’s success

Delusions are dangerous because they distort reality. They may have you believe you have abilities or achievements that you haven’t earned. Although delusions produce fake rewards, they can help you stop worrying and allow you to focus.

Jonathan Mead noticed that we lie to ourselves when we say “not yet“. Those two words are dangerous because we are refusing to act now, but make a weak promise to act in the future. We believe we might actually do it someday, when we probably will never do it. In other words, we are delusional.

Before I started waking up before my alarm, I would wake up, reset my alarm, go back to sleep, and repeat. I would tell myself “I’m not going to wake up now, but I’ll get up in… Continue reading

Lately I’ve been feeling like I need a method for goal setting. Maybe I need a Big Hairy Audacious Goal or a SMART goal. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that a goal setting method was unnecessary right now.

Misconceptions about Goals

I felt compelled to add a goal setting method to my system and wanted to know what was causing these feelings. I realized that I’ve been conditioned by several misconceptions about goals. Here are a few that were revealed to me:

• You Need Big Goals to be “Ambitious”: It feels good to feel ambitious. You haven’t given up on your potential and are continually pursuing bigger and better things. Despite the good feelings, ambitions are really delusions if you are not acting upon them.

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Smart people often seek the “best solution” before pursuing any endeavor. While the efficient route may save effort after the decision is made, more time is spent before you even begin. If you find yourself struggling to start, seeking the “best solution” may actually be harming your productivity.

Restrict Options: A Tip from Marketing

People like choice because it gives them a sense of control over their lives. However, marketers found that as the number of options increased for any particular decision, consumers spent an increasing amount of time deciding. Sometimes the options became so overwhelming that consumers simply could not make a decision.

Fredkin’s paradox states that as two options become closer together, the decision between the two becomes increasingly more difficult, but the outcome matters less. When the difference between options… Continue reading

I moved my tickler file from a box into a 3-ring binder. Consolidating my productivity gear in a focused location helps put my mind at ease by knowing where I can turn to get an overview of my life.

Tickler File Refresh

The Tickler File is set of labeled folders with the intent on holding physical materials (usually papers) for a specific date. People usually have 43 folders, 31 for the maximum days in a month, and an additional 12 (31+12=43) for the 12 months in a year.

My main method to boost my productivity is a Hipster PDA with custom index cards that I change every day. The tickler file works well with this system because the tickler file… Continue reading