Dickie’s Digest - Decisions, Early Work, Greenlights, Reading, and Leverage
Greetings from the backseat of a rideshare in the great state of Texas. I’ve spent the last three days in Houston and Dallas, and now I’m headed to Austin. This is my first time in Texas and it has not disappointed. The people, the food, the energy - they’re doing things right.
There’s something too good to be true about the rideshare I’m in at the moment. Ubers between Houston and Austin were $190. But there’s an app called Hitch that has $59 private rides between the big Texas cities. Somewhere, some venture capital firm is highly subsidizing this ride. But with rates at zero for the foreseeable future, these types of pricing schemes to gain long-term market share are here to say. Win win for the consumers.
Alright - the Digest is absolutely packed this week. In this week’s edition:
Have an epic week!
Dickie
🎯How to Decide with Annie Duke
Annie Duke's new book How to Decide is a masterclass in decision-making. The former WSOP tournament star and author of "Thinking in Bets" created a one-stop-shop for becoming a better decision maker.
The book is nine chapters in length, each diving into a particular bias or framework we can use to up our decision-game.
The best part of the book is its practicality. Annie goes through real-life examples of using the frameworks, each chapter ending with a checklist on how to use it in your daily life.
My biggest takeaway: the trade off between speed and accuracy. With any decision, accuracy comes at the expense of speed. So when should we be deliberate and when should we be fast?
It depends on the cost of failure. When the cost of making the wrong decision is low, move fast. When the cost of making the wrong decision is high, be deliberate.
You can check out all of my takeaways in the thread below be sure to pick up a copy of How to Decide.
📝Early Work with Paul Graham
After a multi-month hiatus, Paul Graham is back to writing and he's still got it. This essay takes a deep dive into overcoming fear of embarrassment or failure when starting something new.
I like to think of this skill as 21st-century arbitrage. The ability to start new things quickly without fear of failure is one of the highest leverage skills you can have.
PG breaks down seven different ways to develop this skill:
1. Switch poles entirely
2. Be slightly overconfident
3. Find the right feedback group
4. Focus on the rate of change
5. Start smaller
6. See it as a learning opportunity
7. Recognize everyone else started in the same way
You can checkout my thread of takeaways below and read the entire essay: Early Work.
🚦Greenlights with Matthew McConaughey
This week, Matthew McConaughey was everywhere - and I mean everywhere - for the launch of his new book Greenlights. He was on Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, The Today Show, Pardon My Take - it was almost overwhelming.
But I was blown away at the depth of the conversations he had in each and every episode. So I dove head first into his new book and it is an absolute gem. It's a memoir of his lessons learned from the past 35 years. But each lesson is extracted from his journals, something he's been doing for 35 years. The book is raw, authentic, and inspirational.
You can check out my thread of takeaways from each episode I listened to below and be sure to pick up a copy of Greenlights.
🎧This Week in Podcasts
Besides the Tim Ferriss / Matthew McConaughey (linked above), there were a few other gems this week.
Q&A with Anthony Pompliano [HIGHLY RECOMMEND]
When someone as prolific a creator as Pomp does a Q&A on his production function, it gets my attention. Pomp dives into his thoughts on building wealth, investing, becoming a content machine, and the future of the creator economy. This one was a gem.
This twice-weekly podcast is my go-to for short commentary of the biggest stories in tech. Kara Swisher is cold and shrewd but very thoughtful. Scott Galloway is brash, hilarious, and equally thoughtful. This duo is entertaining and one I highly recommend subscribing to.
😎Cool Things Corner
If there's one Twitter account to follow to become a better reader, it's @AlexAndBooks_. His timeline is packed with information on fostering a strong reading habit. He also writes one my favorite weekly newsletters. It's filled with key lessons and actionable advice from brilliant books, insightful book quotes, and helpful reading tips. You can check it out here.
🧠 Idea Corner
This section explores one new idea I came across in the past week.
🥃 Sunday Chaser
Borat 2. Just hilarious.
Thanks for reading!
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Be sure to follow me on Twitter or respond directly to this email to get in touch. And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I love finding new things to read through members of this newsletter.
Hey Dickie,
Great newsletter as always, I'll be adding 'How to Decide' to the reading list! Have you got a link for the Pomp Q&A?