Happy Saturday, friend!

We’re back again with another edition of Productivity + Habits + Fun

😃 Fun Fact of the Week

The Japanese have a special term for “unconscious eating” - kuchi zamishi.

It’s meant to describe the act of eating when you aren’t hungry because “your mouth feels lonely.”

If this is something you want to work on going into the New Year, click the photo to read an original article with action steps.

🐦 Tweet of the Week

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

One of the best skills we can develop in life is resourcefulness.

Resourcefulness: the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.

It's about problem-solving and getting things done in the face of obstacles and constraints.

What are some ways to develop this skill?

• Imagine alternatives to EVERYTHING - alternate paths, plans, outcomes, reactions, etc.

• Find historical examples as inspiration

• Overprepare (or consider how you could)

• Understand alternate perspectives and opinions

It’s a nebulous list, but if you can keep your mind open, positive, and outcome-focused, you will find your solutions.

💪 Featured Productivity Tool

SMART goals.

SMART stands for:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Relevant

• Time-bound

To produce a good goal that is likely to succeed, create it with these 5 criteria in mind.

For example, let’s say you want to lose weight.

Terrible example: “I want to lose weight.” (This is poorly defined, as we’re about to see.)

Better example: “I want to lose 10lbs.” (Specific and Measurable)

Great example: “I want to lose 10lbs by the end of April” (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Time-bound)

Best example: “I want to lose 10lbs by the end of April to be ready for swimsuit season.” (This covers all 5 SMART criteria by adding a Relevancy or WHY.)

Now that we have the goal, the next step is to plan and execute.

But you’ll have to wait until next week for that!

Reply to this email if you’d like some help crafting your own SMART goal.

📆 The Dangers Of New Year Resolutions

The new year is upon us.

According to U.S. News and World Report, an estimated 80% of New Year's resolutions fail:

• 23% of people quit by the end of the first week

• 43% of people quit by the end of January

• Only 8% stick to it the entire year

There are some downsides to New Year Resolutions too:

• stress

• disappointment

• anxiety

• failure

You can avoid these downsides by:

• choosing realistic goals

• planning in advance of how you will meet them

• make a plan for when you slip

• scheduling time in your day/ week to make this a habit

If you’d like some tailor-made help, reply to this email!

I’d love to chat with you.

⚡️ Top 10 Bitcoin Mining Countries & Their Renewable Electricity Mix

This infographic examines the energy being used by each county to “produce” Bitcoin vs how much of that electricity is renewable.

The top 10 countries produce:

• 93.8% of the total Bitcoin network (end of 2021)

• 54.6% of the renewable energy generated

🤔 Decision-making Idea

The Dunning-Kruger Effect: the less one knows about a given topic, the more confident one tends to be on that topic

Example: Teenagers. About anything.

In all seriousness, in operation of a given topic, our knowledge follows this trend:

• Unconscious Incompetence (Ignorance)

• Conscious Incompetence (Awareness)

• Conscious Competence (Learning)

• Unconscious Competence (Mastery)

The irony is that as we move along the path of mastery, we get a better understanding of the big picture.

And we gain an appreciation of how big that picture actually is.

We learn that very little is black and white.

There can be an infinite spectrum of gray.

Nuance matters, and you realize you can never have a total and complete understanding.

The lesson is to be aware that everything can be complicated.

If someone seems too confident, they probably have more to learn.

🧠 Quote of the Week

Happy New Year! 🥳 

It’s almost 2024, and I want to know if you have any resolutions.

If so, please go back and consider The Dangers Of New Year Resolutions above.

To bring Guy Finley’s quote into this, we should be careful not to tie so much to a specific date, like the beginning of the year.

It’s more valuable for us to think in terms of constant learning and improvement.

Part of the reason people fail their resolutions is because they have an all-or-nothing mentality.

They feel like it has to be perfect; a slip-up is the best excuse to quit.

Don’t fall for that trap.

2024 is going to be a great year for all of us.

If you’d like to work with me one-on-one, just reply to this email.

Special Message

It’s the end of the year!

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you so much for being with me.

Your participation and support mean the world to me.

I wish you all the best as we close up 2023 and prepare to welcome 2024. 🙂 See you in a week! Enjoy the holidays!

Feel free to let me know how you’re celebrating!

If enough people participate, I can do a special follow-up so we can celebrate together after the fact!

AND - as of today, I am providing you with a link to my LinkedIn.

My first post is scheduled for 01 January 2024.

I hope to see you over there!

Thank you so much for spending some of you precious time with me. 🙂

I’m always looking to improve, so hit “reply” and let me know what you think!

Have an awesome week.

Sincerely,

Steven Sanders

PS - I hope to see you on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn!