How to Always Make the Right Choices

I realized something recently. Every choice we make is like taking another step in life - it brings new experiences and lessons. In this sense, there are no “right” and “wrong” choices.

It is tempting to think we have the power to “see“ future results through logic, but in reality, we can predict nothing. We can only make highly inaccurate estimations of expected benefits.

Tim Harford’s Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure explores how the world evolved illogically: driven by unexpected forces and chance. The future is impossible to predict, on both a global and a personal scale.

I’m not saying to stop planning and start floating aimlessly. But don’t stress whether you made the “right” choice. Who you are now is a result of your past decisions, so all the choices you made before were the right ones! Even “bad” choices open new doors, present new ideas and make us resilient. So stop overanalyzing and start acting (just as Little Bets suggests)!

Shelf Shocks

1. Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure by Tim Harford

The world is mind-bogglingly complex - and so are the problems it faces. Tim Harford - an economist and columnist - attempts to find out why it is so difficult for us to find solutions to big problems like poverty and climate change.

Through engaging stories and parables, he outlines how success often comes through failure and that business and economic progress often resembles Darwinian evolution, swung by luck and opportunism, rather than logic.

What should we do? Learn to adapt!

2. Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries by Peter Sims 

Yes, some people can have big, million-dollar ideas, but Peter Sims argues it’s the other ideas - the small, strange ones - that have the potential to grow into something amazing. Just as Venture Capitalists invest in many promising startups, knowing that 90% of them will not pay back, Experimental innovators try many small ideas, hoping at least one of them will develop into a successful project.

Sims presents lots of research advocating for taking consistent, small actions, improving as you go along, instead of waiting for the perfect timing or a great plan. This approach can also help you get out of your head, beat procrastination, and finally start work on your dream project!

3. Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar

Finding a parking spot is difficult. In some cases, it can literally get us killed. Where we store vehicles has a shockingly large influence on how our cities and houses are constructed.

Mixing history, politics, and reportage, this book explores the extent to which people do insane things for a parking spot and how a seemingly innocent issue like parking can have a negative social effect. An unusual, but very fun read! For more on how cars are controlling us, see Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles.

Helpful Articles

1. 50 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know in 2022

Are you paying enough attention to the visual elements in your content? If not, this Hubspot blog for visual content marketing can give you some ideas.

2. A System for Capturing Your Ideas and Using Them To Create Content

Want to create great content consistently? Don’t worry about a lack of ideas — worry about a lack of reminders and action. This Buffer article shares how you can organize the ocean of information you consume and turn it into sharable content.

Fun Links

1. Google Fonts

Want to make your visual identity stand out through interesting fonts?

Google Fonts collects a seemingly endless stream of beautiful typography you can use for your projects. If you’d like to learn how to implement them in Word - see this tutorial.

You've reached the end of my newsletter. Hooray! If you have any comments or would like to share what you enjoyed the most, feel free to get in touch! See you in two weeks!