Most people are chasing complexity

Most people are chasing complexity. They learn the basics enough to be average, then look for the secret, shortcut, or hidden knowledge. Mastering the basics is the key to being ruthlessly effective.

— from Expanding Your Range (Growth/Change/Education/Learning/Habit) · Clear Thinking: The Art and Science of Making Better Decisions by Shane Parrish

In the book

Seize the clean slates, too — any new beginning, a new year, a new home, a new job, is a moment of special power for forming habits. Remember that what you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while, and that mastering the basics, ruthlessly, beats forever chasing some secret or shortcut. Where a habit merely automates, a ritual animates — the same action, done with meaning and attention, becomes a generator of feeling and not just efficiency, and like an athlete's pre-shot routine it pulls your focus onto the next play rather than the last one. […] Become the person you intend to be. Act like that person consistently until the act becomes the self; decide how you'll behave before the hard moment arrives; and use every clean slate — a new year, a new start — as a launch point for the habit you want. Trust the daily over the dramatic. What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while; automate the routine so your energy is free for what matters; and master the basics rather than chasing shortcuts. Stay a student of the world. Read widely to borrow other people's experience; learn by doing, not only by reading; ask those ahead of you what they wish they'd known; and question everything, passing each claim through a sieve before you keep it. — Expanding Your Range (Growth/Change/Education/Learning/Habit)

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