# Building a Second Brain ## Metadata - Author: [[Tiago Forte]] - Full Title: Building a Second Brain - Category: #source/books ## Highlights - We spend countless hours reading, listening to, and watching other people’s opinions about what we should do, how we should think, and how we should live, but make comparatively little effort applying that knowledge and making it our own. So much of the time we are “information hoarders,” stockpiling endless amounts of well-intentioned content that only ends up increasing our anxiety. ([Location 46](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=46)) - To be able to make use of information we value, we need a way to package it up and send it through time to our future self. ([Location 54](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=54)) - Note: Maybe he'll touch on this later, but I believe this to be a somewhat underdevloped beneficial facet as it stands alone. Ie, yes, having Information available to your future self is great, but the ability for that to assimilate and ferment amongst among other ideas is even more powerful. - Turn work “off” and relax, knowing you have a trusted system keeping track of all the details. ([Location 68](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=68)) - Note: This is likely an underdeloped area for me that I'd like to explore in this book - I use my second brain for personal knowledge, but not work. I really need to capture that. It could fuel the future for writing about the work reated things that I am passionate about, such as organizational culture, ethics, and morality. - When you transform your relationship to information, you will begin to see the technology in your life not just as a storage medium but as a tool for thinking. ([Location 70](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=70)) - Note: Does he honestly undersell this? Zettelkasten is about deepening your understanding through tangible externalized thinking... We have to focus on building understanding through thinking and learning. - seeking a more productive and empowered relationship with the information they consume. ([Location 81](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=81)) - Note: I like the way he said this; it has a psychological yearning to it. - Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. —David Allen, author of Getting Things Done ([Location 105](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=105)) - One day, sitting in yet another doctor’s office waiting for yet another visit, I had an epiphany. ([Location 119](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=119)) - Note: There is something interesting about the consistent human experience of the "headspace environment" - places that beckon you to ask and explore abstract questions. For Tiago, this was a doctor's office, but for others, this is the shower, the car alone without anyone else and no music on, etc There is something too consistent for us to discover everything when surrounded by nothing to be an accident. Related: Pedro pascal quote - we fear sitting in a room alongside our thoughts. - Every new productivity app promised a breakthrough, but usually ended up becoming yet another thing to manage. ([Location 187](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=187)) - Note: Absolute truth. Put this next to taxes and death 😂 - You may find this book in the “self-improvement” category, but in a deeper sense it is the opposite of self-improvement. It is about optimizing a system outside yourself, a system not subject to your limitations and constraints, leaving you happily unoptimized and free to roam, to wonder, to wander toward whatever makes you feel alive here and now in each moment. ([Location 211](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=211)) - Chapter 2 What Is a Second Brain? ([Location 219](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=219)) - Note: Summary: a second brain is an externalized source of information that we utilize to offload the ever-expanding information we ingest and generate day in and day out. Through this, we find clarity in priorities and reduce stress around all facets of our life as we reduce the cognitive burden that our brain otherwise solely bears. - Your professional success and quality of life depend directly on your ability to manage information effectively. ([Location 225](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=225)) - Instantaneous access to the world’s knowledge through the Internet was supposed to educate and inform us, but instead it has created a society-wide poverty of attention. ([Location 231](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=231)) - This digital commonplace book is what I call a Second Brain. Think of it as the combination of a study notebook, a personal journal, and a sketchbook for new ideas. ([Location 278](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=278)) - Note: Main point - It is a laboratory where you can develop and refine your thinking in solitude before sharing it with others. A studio where you can experiment with ideas until they are ready to be put to use in the outside world. A whiteboard where you can sketch out your ideas and collaborate on them with others. ([Location 282](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=282)) - Note: This lines up well with Sönke Ahrens perspective that we need to challenge and evolve our workflow of building understanding - paper or this digital format is not the final product, it is the incubation space where ideas are propegated and refined. - For many people, their understanding of notetaking was formed in school. You were probably first told to write something down because it would be on the test. This implied that the minute the test was over, you would never reference those notes again. Learning was treated as essentially disposable, with no intention of that knowledge being useful for the long term. ([Location 298](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=298)) - Note: The wost thing about this is that it robbed us from the discovery of passionate topic areas. This can be likely tied to some fom of perverse incentive. - You are on your smartphone just like everyone else, but you aren’t doing what they are doing. You are creating value instead of killing time. ([Location 366](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=366)) - Note: Alive time not dead time. Ref: Robert Greene - Your Second Brain becomes like a mirror, teaching you about yourself and reflecting back to you the ideas worth keeping and acting on. Your mind starts to become intertwined with this system, leaning on it to remember more than you ever could on your own. ([Location 378](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=378)) - Your brain is no longer the bottleneck on your potential, which means you have all the bandwidth you need to pursue any endeavor and make it successful. ([Location 387](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=387)) - Note: Heh, how I yearn for this! There is hope! - The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul. ([Location 423](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=423)) - Note: Book recommendation - There are four essential capabilities that we can rely on a Second Brain to perform for us: Making our ideas concrete. Revealing new associations between ideas. Incubating our ideas over time. Sharpening our unique perspectives. ([Location 440](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=440)) - Too often when we take on a task—planning an event, designing a product, or leading an initiative—we draw only on the ideas we have access to right in that moment. I call this approach a “heavy lift”—demanding instantaneous results from our brains without the benefit of a support system. ([Location 474](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=474)) - This tendency is known as recency bias.4 We tend to favor the ideas, solutions, and influences that occurred to us most recently, regardless of whether they are the best ones. ([Location 478](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=478)) - Note: I feel I'm generally plagued by this a lot! It is demoralizing... It feels like what's new is the only thing I can hold tight to. - imagine if you were able to unshackle yourself from the limits of the present moment, and draw on weeks, months, or even years of accumulated imagination. I call this approach the “slow burn”—allowing ([Location 480](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=480)) - The CODE Method: The Four Steps to Remembering What Matters To guide you in the process of creating your own Second Brain, I’ve developed a simple, intuitive four-part method called “CODE”—Capture; Organize; Distill; Express. ([Location 559](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=559)) - The solution is to keep only what resonates in a trusted place that you control, and to leave the rest aside. ([Location 583](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=583)) - The best way to organize your notes is to organize for action, according to the active projects you are working on right now. Consider new information in terms of its utility, asking, “How is this going to help me move forward one of my current projects?” ([Location 600](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=600)) - Organizing for action gives you a sense of tremendous clarity, because you know that everything you’re keeping actually has a purpose. You know that it aligns with your goals and priorities. Instead of organizing being an obstacle to your productivity, it becomes a contributor to it. ([Location 604](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=604)) - Every time you take a note, ask yourself, “How can I make this as useful as possible for my future self?” That question will lead you to annotate the words and phrases that explain why you saved a note, what you were thinking, and what exactly caught your attention. Your notes will be useless if you can’t decipher them in the future, or if they’re so long that you don’t even try. Think of yourself not just as a taker of notes, but as a giver of notes—you are giving your future self the gift of knowledge that is easy to find and understand. ([Location 621](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=621)) - It’s so easy to endlessly delay and postpone the experiences that would so enrich our lives. We think we’re not ready. We fear we’re not prepared. We cannot stand the thought that there is one little piece of information we’re missing that, if we had it, would make all the difference. I’m here to tell you that that is no way to live your life. Information becomes knowledge—personal, embodied, verified—only when we put it to use. You gain confidence in what you know only when you know that it works. Until you do, it’s just a theory. This is why I recommend you shift as much of your time and effort as possible from consuming to creating. ([Location 633](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=633)) - Note: I definitely fall into this trap. I find so much enjoyment in learning and amassing information and insight, but the earnst application of it is likely my least concern. Candidly, imposter syndrome plays a roll in this. After working with Obsidian and Zettelkasten for a bit, I can see Tiago'spoint here - the application is the motivating outcome and this is where sustainability becomes ease. - much thought into what you do with it afterward. Maybe you are already a diligent organizer, but you’ve fallen into a habit of “digital hoarding” that doesn’t end up enriching your life. ([Location 694](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=694)) - Note: Woah, woah, woah! Such a personal attack this early, Tiago? ;) - In an interview about how she wrote the smash hit “Blank Space,”3 Swift says, “I’ll be going about my daily life and I’ll think, ‘Wow, so we only have two real options in relationships—it’s going to be forever or it’s going to go down in flames,’ so I’ll jot that down in my notes… I’ll come up with a line that I think is clever like ‘Darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream’ and I just pick them and put them where they fit and construct the bridge out of more lines that come up within the last couple of years… ‘Blank Space’ was the culmination of all my best ones one after the other.” ([Location 707](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=707)) - even the world’s most successful and prolific creatives need support systems to pursue their craft. It’s not a matter of having enough raw talent. Talent needs to be channeled and developed in order to become something more than a momentary spark. ([Location 722](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=722)) - Note: Yup - this tiesback so well fo my previous note! - Innovation and impact don’t happen by accident or chance. Creativity depends on a creative process. ([Location 730](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=730)) - You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see whether it helps. Every once in a while there will be a hit, and people will say, “How did he do it? He must be a genius!” In other words, Feynman’s approach was to maintain a list of a dozen open questions. When a new scientific finding came out, he would test it against each of his questions to see if it shed any new light on the problem. This cross-disciplinary approach allowed him to make connections across seemingly unrelated subjects, while continuing to follow his sense of curiosity. ([Location 801](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=801)) - When a fellow physicist and mentor asked what the use of such an insight was, Feynman responded: “It doesn’t have any importance… I don’t care whether a thing has importance. Isn’t it fun?” ([Location 815](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=815)) - Note: I love this attitude. Somtimes we're unecessarily stiffled whn we don't need to be, especially by others. - Ask yourself, “What are the questions I’ve always been interested in?” This could include grand, sweeping questions like “How can we make society fairer and more equitable?” as well as practical ones like “How can I make it a habit to exercise every day?” It might include questions about relationships, such as “How can I have closer relationships with the people I love?” or productivity, like “How can I spend more of my time doing high-value work?” Here are more examples of favorite problems from my students: How do I live less in the past, and more in the present? How do I build an investment strategy that is aligned with my mid-term and long-term goals and commitments? What does it look like to move from mindless consumption to mindful creation? How can I go to bed early instead of watching shows after the kids go to bed? How can my industry become more ecologically sustainable while remaining profitable? How can I work through the fear I have of taking on more responsibility? How can my school provide more resources for students with special needs? How do I start reading all the books I already have instead of buying more? How can I speed up and relax at the same time? How can we make the healthcare system more responsive to people’s needs? What can I do to make eating healthy easier? How can I make decisions with more confidence? ([Location 820](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=820)) - The power of your favorite problems is that they tend to stay fairly consistent over time. The exact framing of each question may change, but even as we move between projects, jobs, relationships, and careers, our favorite problems tend to follow us across the years. I recommend asking your family or childhood friends what you were obsessed with as a kid. Those very same interests probably still fire your imagination as an adult. Which means any content you collect related to them will likely be relevant far into the future as well. As a kid, I had a passion for LEGOs, the modular toy blocks beloved by generations of children. My parents noticed that I didn’t play with LEGOs like other kids. Instead I spent my time organizing and reorganizing the pieces. I remember being completely captivated by the problem of how to create order out of the chaos of thousands of pieces of every shape and size. I would invent new organizational schemes—by color, by size, by theme—as I became obsessed with the idea that if I could just find the right system, I would finally be able to build my magnum opus—a LEGO spaceship like the ones I saw in the sci-fi movies I loved. That very same question—How can creativity emerge out of chaos?—still drives me to this day. Only now, it’s in the form of organizing digital information instead of LEGOs. ([Location 836](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=836)) - The best curators are picky about what they allow into their collections, and you should be too. ([Location 871](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=871)) - When something resonates with us, it is our emotion-based, intuitive mind telling us it is interesting before our logical mind can explain why. I often find that a piece of content resonates with me in ways I can’t fully explain in the moment, and its true potential only becomes clear later on. ([Location 928](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=928)) - Note: I needed to see this. I absolutely struggle with the "pressure" of finding meaning in what often feels only like a spark of intuition in my mind - "eh, (I feel) I don't agree with that... Why?" That "why" discovery is always the hardest part and has often made me feel like I wasn't smart or good enough - it has certainly played into my imposter syndrome. - There’s scientific evidence that our intuition knows what it’s doing. From the book Designing for Behavior Change:9 Participants in a famous study were given four biased decks of cards—some that would win them money, and some that would cause them to lose. When they started the game, they didn’t know that the decks were biased. As they played the game, though, people’s bodies started showing signs of physical “stress” when their conscious minds were about to use a money-losing deck. The stress was an automatic response that occurred because the intuitive mind realized something was wrong—long before the conscious mind realized anything was amiss. The authors’ conclusion: “Our intuitive mind learns, and responds, even without our conscious awareness.” ([Location 930](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=930)) - No matter how many different kinds of software you use, don’t leave all the knowledge they contain scattered across dozens of places you’ll never think to look. Make sure your best findings get routed back to your notes app where you can put them all together and act on them. ([Location 970](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=970)) - Thinking doesn’t just produce writing; writing also enriches thinking. ([Location 1002](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1002)) - Note: Strong overlap with Sönke Ahrens. - Perhaps the most immediate benefit of capturing content outside our heads is that we escape what I call the “reactivity loop”—the hamster wheel of urgency, outrage, and sensationalism that characterizes so much of the Internet. The moment you first encounter an idea is the worst time to decide what it means. You need to set it aside and gain some objectivity. ([Location 1010](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1010)) - Capture isn’t about doing more. It’s about taking notes on the experiences you’re already having. It’s about squeezing more juice out of the fruit of life, savoring every moment to the fullest by paying closer attention to the details. ([Location 1028](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1028)) - PARA can handle it all, regardless of your profession or field, for one reason: it organizes information based on how actionable it is, not what kind of information it is. ([Location 1145](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1145)) - We need to always be wary of accumulating so much information that we spend all our time managing it, instead of putting it to use in the outside world. ([Location 1168](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1168)) - Note: Highlighing this because I'll know I need to hear it at somepoint in the future; I have a tendancy to be perfection-oriented in my digital organization. - “idea graveyard.” ([Location 1177](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1177)) - Note: Damn! That's good! We want to ensure we measure of what we're collecting, not leave it to die. Keep a close barometer on this! - Projects: Short-term efforts in your work or life that you’re working on now. Areas: Long-term responsibilities you want to manage over time. Resources: Topics or interests that may be useful in the future. Archives: Inactive items from the other three categories. ([Location 1181](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1181)) - Knowledge is best applied through execution, which means whatever doesn’t help you make progress on your projects is probably detracting from them. ([Location 1315](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1315)) - We might imagine a movie as emerging straight out of the mind of a screenplay writer or director, when in fact it depends on collecting and refining source material. Coppola’s story demonstrates that we can systematically gather building blocks from our reading and research that ultimately make the final product richer, more interesting, and more impactful. ([Location 1473](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1473)) - Note: Again, confidently challenging this notion that the roadmap of creativity is from brain to final paper - it's not! - Progressive Summarization is the technique I teach to distill notes down to their most important points. It is a simple process of taking the raw notes you’ve captured and organized and distilling them into usable material that can directly inform a current project. ([Location 1529](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1529)) - Note: This is one ofthe characteristics that enables the dynamic lifecycle and nature of your second brain - constant refinement. - Progressive Summarization is not a method for remembering as much as possible—it is a method for forgetting as much as possible. ([Location 1687](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1687)) - Note: Love this! This ties into giving us the intentional purpose of forgetting. - A New Method of Making Common-Place-Books, John Locke ([Location 1769](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1769)) - Note: Related reading - Don’t make excuses about what you don’t have or what you would do if you did, use that energy to “find a way, make a way.” ([Location 1815](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=1815)) - I don’t recommend using tags as your primary organizational system. It takes far too much energy to apply tags to every single note compared to the ease of searching with keywords or browsing your folders. ([Location 2028](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2028)) - Note: Tiago has a full article on this topic that I already read - Giving credit where credit is due doesn’t lessen the value of your contribution—it increases it. ([Location 2129](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2129)) - Note: This is so true! Music is such an excellent example of this! I love watching Tim Henson from Polyphia literally walk you through the progression of turning other artis's songs that serve as the corner stone of his songs. It feels more genius. Maybe via its intentionality. - We can’t expect ourselves to instantly come up with brilliant ideas on demand. I learned that innovation and problem-solving depend on a routine that systematically brings interesting ideas to the surface of our awareness. ([Location 2202](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2202)) - If you look at the process of creating anything, it follows the same simple pattern, alternating back and forth between divergence and convergence. ([Location 2221](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2221)) - When you distinguish between the two modes of divergence and convergence, you can decide each time you begin to work which mode you want to be in, ([Location 2254](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2254)) - Instead of starting with scarcity, start with abundance—the abundance of interesting insights you’ve collected in your Second Brain. ([Location 2313](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2313)) - This is where the Project Kickoff Checklist comes in. Here’s my own checklist: Capture my current thinking on the project. Review folders (or tags) that might contain relevant notes. Search for related terms across all folders. Move (or tag) relevant notes to the project folder. Create an outline of collected notes and plan the project. ([Location 2534](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2534)) - Here are some questions I use to prompt this initial brainstorm: What do I already know about this project? What don’t I know that I need to find out? What is my goal or intention? Who can I talk to who might provide insights? What can I read or listen to for relevant ideas? ([Location 2542](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2542)) - The important thing isn’t where a note is located, but whether you can reference it quickly while staying focused on the project at hand. ([Location 2563](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2563)) - Note: This is important to remember. My mind has been going back and forth on how to do this and I definitely feel like linking is the better approach. - It doesn’t matter if the goal is big or small—keeping an inventory of your victories and successes is a wonderful use for your Second Brain. ([Location 2612](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2612)) - Note: I should do this. I often struggle with pulling these to the surface - my second brain should aid me here. - If project is becoming inactive: add a current status note to the project folder before archiving. ([Location 2625](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2625)) - Note: I think this is an important distinction. I think a genral status, maybe via tags, on the hub note and folder is a great idea. - I add a new note to the project folder titled “Current status,” and jot down a few comments so I can pick it back up in the future. For example, in a few bullet points I might describe the last actions I took, details on why it was postponed or canceled, who was working on it and what role they played, and any lessons or best practices learned. This Hemingway Bridge gives me the confidence to put the project on ice knowing I can bring it back to life anytime. ([Location 2628](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2628)) - Note: This is even better than my previous highlight, nice! How many times have we been like, "where did this leave off?" A note encapsulate that would bee excellent! - You’ll notice that this is the only step in my Weekly Review that is directly related to my digital notes. It is a simple and practical process of going through my notes inbox, giving each note an informative title, and moving them into the appropriate PARA folders. I don’t highlight or summarize them. I don’t try to understand or absorb their contents. I don’t worry about all the topics they could potentially relate to. I want to save all that thinking for the future—for a time and place when I know what I’m trying to accomplish and am seeking a knowledge building block to help me get there faster. ([Location 2682](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2682)) - Note: I needed to hear this. I have a bias for cultivating and perfecting, so the boundaries and reasons illustrated here are strong guidance. - It’s crucial to stay organized, but it needs to be done a little at a time in the flow of our normal lives. ([Location 2744](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2744)) - Note: The context is that organization shouldn't be a heavy lift. - When you make your digital notes a working environment, not just a storage environment, you end up spending a lot more time there. When you spend more time there, you’ll inevitably notice many more small opportunities for change than you expect. Over time, this will gradually produce an environment far more suited to your real needs than anything you could have planned up front. ([Location 2756](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2756)) - Note: So good! I've fallen victim to the bifurcation of concerns in my second brain; I haven't been using it for work management and I need to. - A Perfect System You Don’t Use Isn’t Perfect ([Location 2760](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2760)) - Note: Damn! - The truth is, any system that must be perfect to be reliable is deeply flawed. A perfect system you don’t use because it’s too complicated and error prone isn’t a perfect system—it’s a fragile system that will fall apart as soon as you turn your attention elsewhere. ([Location 2776](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2776)) - We are building a working system. Both in the sense that it must work, and in the sense that it is a regular part of our everyday lives. For that reason, you should prefer a system that is imperfect, but that continues to be useful in the real conditions of your life. ([Location 2779](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2779)) - We can’t always control what happens to us, but we can choose the lens we look through. ([Location 2845](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2845)) - Note: Stoic perception - Your Second Brain is always on, has perfect memory, and can scale to any size. The more you outsource and delegate the jobs of capturing, organizing, and distilling to technology, the more time and energy you’ll have available for the self-expression that only you can do. Once your biology is no longer the bottleneck on your potential, you’ll be free to expand the flow of information as much as you want without drowning in it. ([Location 2856](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2856)) - We’ve been taught that information must be jealously guarded, because someone could use it against us or steal our ideas. ([Location 2879](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2879)) - Note: Being in software, this thinking is anti-philosophical. With the rise and bias of open-source, more individuals have a predilection for sharing their knowledge, tools, and resources publicly and for free. In a market economy/capitalist society, it makes no sense. - Your Second Brain starts as a system to support you and your goals, but from there it can just as easily be used to support others and their dreams. You have everything you need to give back and be a force for good in the world. It all starts with knowledge, and you have at your disposal an embarrassment of riches. ([Location 2919](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2919)) - Note: Wow! It’s like he’s in my mind right now! As I’ve been working on 2023 goals, one that keeps coming to the surface is personal coaching and enablement. This would be primarily possible through my second brain. I think this ties directly back to what “action” looks like to me and my second brain - coaching and influencing others is one of them. - Michael Polanyi made an observation that has since become known as “Polanyi’s Paradox.” It can be summarized as “We know more than we can say.” ([Location 2927](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2927)) - Self-direction is impossible without self-knowledge. How can you know what you want if you don’t know who you are? ([Location 2942](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2942)) - You search outside yourself to search within yourself, knowing that everything you find has always been a part of you. ([Location 2946](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2946)) - The world is desperate to hear what you know. You can change lives by sharing yourself with others. ([Location 2971](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=2971)) - Note: Positivity on this topic - I need this. - Daniel Pink, To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others ([Location 3172](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09LVVN9L3&location=3172)) - Note: Book prospect