by Brice Hogan
July 22, 2022 | bricehogan.com
Hello Everyone,
Here is your weekly dose of improvement ideas. This is the stuff I have been thinking about and exploring this week. One of the biggest things on my mind this week was dealing with self-confidence or lack thereof.
We all deal with it and I am not immune it was something I really had to think about how best to deal with it to accomplish what I needed to last week. If you have struggled with a lack of self-confidence now or in the past, hopefully, my thoughts on it will help you out this week.
Hope you enjoy this week's issue!
Next week I am doing a BIG issue on Venture Capital, and entrepreneurship. So tune in. If you have friends our colleagues send them this link https://www.bricehogan.com/train-of-thought
As always if you have any feedback or suggestions about the newsletter reach out to me at bricejhogan@hotmail.com
Brice
What I Listened To
The Minimalists Checklist by The Minimalist Podcast
As you may know, I am a big fan of checklists. So when I saw that these guys were
talking about a minimalist checklist. I thought I would pop in for a listen and I was not disappointed.
Anything with a minimalist approach is about addition by subtraction for the most part. Wants over needs. Essential vs Non- Essential. Effective vs Non - Effective.
So take a dive into some of their thoughts on what makes a good minimalist checklist.
What I Watched
Make Your Bed By Admiral McRaven
The Make Your Bed Principle? Heard of it? There are a few things that stick out during this commencement speech Admiral McRaven made in 2014, but it was the making your bed part that resonated with me.
So, how does making your bed increase your chances of changing the world
By making your bed:
1. You complete the first task of the day
2. It gives you the momentum to complete many other tasks
3. Paying attention to the little things in life matters
4. If you have a bad day you have a comfortable bed to come home to
5. A made bed gives you the assurance that tomorrow will be better.
Doing the little things regularly will ensure success over time.
So have you made your bed today?
Something I Came Across
Vagabond, An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts
I'm always on the lookout for books that challenge me and come from a different perspective than I am normally used to. I will say I have not read this book yet. The reason its in the Train of Thought this week was because it was High recommended by Tim Ferriss who wrote the Four Hour Work Week and many other books about entrepreneurship and improvement.
Here is what he said about it. "This book helps you to better value time-wealth while recognizing the limitation of money as currency, in the end, which most people want to trade for an experience which gives them an emotion." He continues, "So it really helps to deconstruct your own thinking about materialism, success as quantified by money. and the trappings that we all fall into, the trappings that we all succumb to at various points."
Ok, this might be a great book about travel, and if you are a "Vagabond" wandering about on adventures this could be your read.
If you are looking to find a definition of success in the ever-changing world we are in today it sounds like it gives you a viewpoint that might challenge and change your idea of what success is.
I know this is on my list to read for sure.
Interesting Articles -
How Heat Waves are Messing up Your Sleep By Sabrina Weiss at Wired UK
This article caught my attention because of how important sleep is to our everyday functioning. I have read many articles and books about how important it is to get a regular night's sleep.
The most optimal time to sleep some doctors say is from 10 pm to around 6 am, approximately 8 hours but what is more important is to have a regular schedule. See Sleep Toolkit Huberman Labs
The reason for that schedule and time is that are a number of metabolic processes that occur while we sleep and if we cut our sleep short we inhibit and therefore cut short those processes which are helping our body regulate certain things like sugars, fats, and oxygen. We are gripping our system when we don't get enough sleep.
No wonder we have a lot of people in the world that can't function well. I recognize there are extenuating circumstances for some, but overall if we treated ourselves better we would get better sleep
Damn Heatwaves
So why are these damn heatwaves so disturbing? It's not only the environmental impacts that are heating the planet up but it's affecting our sleep.
Our bodies are designed to cool down when we sleep. Our body temperature at night drops by 1 degree to help our bodies cool down so we can get some rest.
But if it's hot, as it is here in Utah, and you are not able to sufficiently cool your home down it may be a good reason why you are not getting a good night's sleep.
But check out the Sleep Toolkit by Andrew Huberman and there are some great suggestions there to help optimize getting a better sleep
A question I am thinking about?
How can I be more confident?
This is a hard one to answer. It's something I have been thinking about because if we are being honest with ourselves we all struggle with confidence at some point in time.
This was true for me last week. It hit me a little bit out of the blue. I had been reaching out to some people through LinkedIn and I had that feeling that I'm not at their level or maybe I was feeling a little bit of imposter syndrome creeping in.
It was really affecting me a lot and some of you may relate to this too. This is why I am addressing it in the newsletter this week.
So here are a few things you can do that I did to help boost my confidence.
Keep in mind we are all learning
Write 5 things you have done recently where you have had success.
Believe in yourself and your strengths use those to help you get through a lack of self-confidence
Call up a friend and talk. Say you need to chat and let them know what is on your mind
Doing breeds confidence.
The fact that you are trying and the fact you are pressing forward tells me you have confidence. Sometimes it's about understanding what we can REALLY DO. Sometimes we need a friend to remind us of what we are capable of. But the bottom line is to believe in yourself and you will go far.
See my post on Thoughts on Overcoming Self-Doubt