Dickie's Digest - KPIs, Roam Research, and The North Star
Hey there! Happy Sunday.
I’ve spent the better part of this rainy Sunday reflecting on the last sixty days. My biggest takeaway: they absolutely flew by, especially August.
I was in New York until the end of June, and have been back in Florida for the last 10 weeks. It was nice to sit back and reflect on the last 10 weeks while putting together some plans for the next 10, which will also be spent here in Florida.
Someone asked me if 2020 has felt like the fastest year ever or the slowest. I really can’t tell - I think it’s a bit of both. What do you think?
In this week’s Digest:
Have an epic week!
Dickie
🎯 My Key Performance Indicator Reflection for July and August (link)
I like to set goals in 60-day increments.
I've tried setting monthly goals and found them too short to make meaningful progress, while quarterly goals always seemed to drag by the end.
At the end of each 60-day period, I take a weekend afternoon to reflect on my key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure my progress toward those goals.
Expect to learn how I track my health, wealth, productivity, relationships, and personal growth. Check it out here! If you give it a read, let me know what you think!
🕸 Roam Research: A Tool for Networked Thought
I spent the weekend going down a rabbit hole learning about Roam Research, a hot new note-taking app that is unlike anything I’ve worked with before. It’s kind of hard to explain what Roam is until you start using it, but its a different way of thinking about collecting and connecting digital information.
Instead of grouping information hierarchically, Roam uses bi-directional linking, meaning every piece that references another piece creates a two-way connection. Your notes and thoughts live in a huge, interconnected network, similar to how our brains work.
I’ve been hesitant to start using it because there is a steep learning curve, but it has gone pretty well so far. If you want to follow along and see the resources I’m using to learn it, you can follow this tweet thread.
📊 Macro 5/5/5 - My weekly financial markets newsletter
Aside from Dickie’s Digest, I’ve been writing a weekly financial markets newsletter called Macro 5/5/5. Every Monday morning, I recap the five most important events in global macro markets, analyze five important and interesting charts, and link to five thoughtful research pieces, podcasts, or news pieces.
You can expect to learn why stonks go up, why the Federal Reserve is keeping rates at zero forever, and learn about the best investing books ever written. If you work in anything finance-related, respond directly to this email and I’ll get you signed up.
🎧 This Week in Podcasts
This week I listened to three really good podcasts, including potentially my favorite one of the year.
Balaji Srinivasan on the North Star Podcast (link) [HIGHLY RECOMMEND]
This was the most fascinating podcast I have listened to this year. Balaji Srinivasan is the former CTO of Coinbase and General Partner at a16z. His thoughts on the future of technology, inflation, writing, hiring, and decentralization had my mind spinning for hours. Highly recommend this one.
Apolo Ohno on the Knowledge Project (link)
I’d heard of Apolo Ohno only briefly but never heard him speak before. This conversation took a deep dive into his competitive drive, commitment to excellence, and the mental models he employed to become a gold-medalist. You can see my takeaways in the tweet thread below.
David Perell on The Forcing Function Lunch Hour (link)
This was a really insightful conversation between one of my favorite writers and one of my favorite productivity bloggers. Chris and David talk developing a personal compounding advantage, how to get feedback, the concept of a 10 Club, the value of conversation, and how to leverage the knowledge you already have. Another really good one.
🐦 Best of Twitter
I really liked the way this tweet made me think about stringing days together.
If I took the day I just lived and repeated it for the rest of the year, what would would by health, wealth, and social life look like?
If you haven’t heard of GPT-3, it’s basically a new form of AI that is coming for our jobs. It’s gunning at Silicon Valley VC’s with the startup ideas in this tweet thread, some of which are actually pretty good. Bookmark this one for when you need a laugh.
📚 Kindle Highlight of the Week
Therefore, understand that every action you take is a vote for the type of person you want to become. Cast your votes accordingly.
From Atomic Habits by James Clear, which I read on my Kindle Paperwhite. I can honestly say the $129 I spent on this Kindle is the best purchase I’ve made in years.
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.
