Probably the biggest impact for something less than $100.00 would be a mole skin diary. I’ve got them all lined up for every year. I’ve had them since 1986. So, in there, in a very tactile way, I have like lists in the back, movies, books. And then, I write in the back the name of the book and then who recommended the book.
What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months?
Question
Who do you turn to when you need advice?
Relationships
Question
What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore?
Time & hindsight
Question
What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?
Craft & work
This is going to sound a little strange, but my trainer started recommending that I add moringa leaf powder to my tea. That’s actually added a rich antioxidant, anti inflammatory and a little bit more substance such that drinking tea now feels a little bit like a snack and is super healthy.
Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 1 June 2018 source ↗
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Phil Keoghan
Television presenter; host of The Amazing Race
Debbie Millman
Designer; host of Design Matters; founder of the SVA branding programme
Well, the purchase that has influenced me over the last six months is the Apple pencil. I do so much of my artwork by hand and now there is a device that draws and feels like a real pencil that I can use electronically. It’s changed the way I work.
Chris Young
Cook and inventor; co-author of Modernist Cuisine, co-founder of ChefSteps
I’ll give two answers. I bought a new electric teakettle. I used to have all the stovetop kettles. Even though I knew it was vastly better, I underestimated how much better my life would be by having an electric tea kettle so I can have tea actually quickly and more or less on demand with very little fuss.
Kevin Rose
Founder of Digg; investor and podcaster
I hate to plug my other podcast, but on episode two I went out and interviewed this guy that is a master of pens. He knows more about pens than we do about anything else on earth. He recommended three pens that have the absolute best rollerball pen, the best fountain pen – and these are all $4.00 pens. ... I swapped out my entire stock of pens at my desk with these cheap little $3.00 to $4.00 pens and they’re amazing.
More from Reid Hoffman
View profile →Well, that all comes from your network. And so even today with, well over 300 million people on LinkedIn, most people have yet to learn how to use their network, in order to ally with their network, in order to find the right economic opportunities. And that’s one of the things that I’m still working on.
Recorded
Academy of Achievement, Academy of Achievement interview, Mountain View, California, 1 April 2012
source ↗
The challenge of a big, over-arching vision is that it's hard to know where to start. And your biggest opportunity will change from year to year. Technology changes. Competition changes. You change. My advice: Just start. Find a single unmet need that nudges the world closer to where you believe it's going. And if you hit a dead end, pivot.
Our culture lionizes entrepreneurs who navigate daring switchbacks in their career. Steve Jobs was admired not just for Apple, but also his detour to found Pixar. Elon Musk is revered for helming Tesla AND SpaceX. But don't be distracted by other people's winding paths. I believe you should celebrate your single-mindedness, and stick to your own overarching idea — for as long as it holds your own fascination. In my experience, that could last your entire career.
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David Heinemeier Hansson, Luis von Ahn, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Kevin Rose, Jason Nemer, Jerrod Carmichael
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