That’s Patrick Winston, he was the head of A.I. at MIT, and also gave an annual lecture on how to be a good speaker.
I had two grad student level classes with him my senior year, very small classes with 10-15 people. He told lots of cool stories about being in the Navy, about working with Carl Sagan, and Marvin Minsky, and other famous scientists. He was my favorite professor by far, and the one I knew the best, and who knew me the best.
Hm, what about the ability to EXECUTE and take action?
These are 3 things that could improve your success, but without action you're toast. I think people underestimate the value of executing consistently. Here's an excerpt from a newsletter I got several days ago that gets this point across:
The greatest threat to results are boredom and impatience.
The only way to become good at something is to practice the ordinary basics for an uncommon length of time. Most people get bored. They want excitement. They want something to talk about and no one talks about the boring basics. For example, we know that dollar-cost averaging into an index fund is likely to generate wealth, but cryptocurrency will give us a bigger thrill. Boredom encourages you to stop doing what you know works and do something that might work.
Another way to mess up a good thing is to try and accelerate the natural pace of things into an unnatural one. A good idea taken to the extreme is always a bad idea. Working out for 15 hours a day won't make you healthier, it will get you injured. Investing with a lot of leverage won't make you rich faster, it will wipe you out. A lack of patience changes the outcome.
It's hard to be above average if you can't find a way to do the same thing over and over again. As Bruce Lee observed, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
In a world of social media, we glorify the results and not the process. We see the kick that knocked someone out but not the years of effort that went into perfecting it. We see the results, not the hard work.
The difference between good and great results is often found in consistently doing the boring things you know you should do exactly when you feel like doing them the least.
That is Patrick Winston, he was the head of A.I. at MIT, and furthermore gave a yearly talk on the most proficient method to be a decent speaker.
My senior year, I had two graduate understudy-level classes with him, tiny classes with 10-15 individuals. He recounted being in the Navy, working with Carl Sagan, Marvin Minsky, and other renowned researchers. He was my number one teacher by a wide margin, and the one I knew the best, and who knew me the best.
Thanks for sharing. This is really useful and universal information. I think it's applicable for every different job, even for MonitUp: https://www.monitup.com. I had a sales meeting today, I will implement them :)
That's why people shouldn't underestimate the importance of good quality copy. Not just on their websites, but on anything they publish publically and send to potential users/investors - any stakeholder in the business. It's better to say less and say it well than to say more and fail to explain your concept correctly.
To an extent this is true - but I think it's incomplete. Arguably "your success in life will be determined largely by your ability to speak (in English), your ability to write (in English), and the quality of your ideas. Indie Hackers, entrepreneurs, freelancers - anyone building an online business targetting a global audience has to go the additional mile if they don't happen to be born in an English-speaking country. I think that's both an obstacle and in many cases an achievement that's often overlooked and deserves more credit.
I do agree with what he says, in general. That being said, I watched this commencement speech Elon Musk gave, and (despite the fact he's super-human at a ton of things) his "ability to speak" is definitely not his number one skill...
That’s Patrick Winston, he was the head of A.I. at MIT, and also gave an annual lecture on how to be a good speaker.
I had two grad student level classes with him my senior year, very small classes with 10-15 people. He told lots of cool stories about being in the Navy, about working with Carl Sagan, and Marvin Minsky, and other famous scientists. He was my favorite professor by far, and the one I knew the best, and who knew me the best.
He sadly died a few years ago.
RIP.
Hm, what about the ability to EXECUTE and take action?
These are 3 things that could improve your success, but without action you're toast. I think people underestimate the value of executing consistently. Here's an excerpt from a newsletter I got several days ago that gets this point across:
The greatest threat to results are boredom and impatience.
The only way to become good at something is to practice the ordinary basics for an uncommon length of time. Most people get bored. They want excitement. They want something to talk about and no one talks about the boring basics. For example, we know that dollar-cost averaging into an index fund is likely to generate wealth, but cryptocurrency will give us a bigger thrill. Boredom encourages you to stop doing what you know works and do something that might work.
Another way to mess up a good thing is to try and accelerate the natural pace of things into an unnatural one. A good idea taken to the extreme is always a bad idea. Working out for 15 hours a day won't make you healthier, it will get you injured. Investing with a lot of leverage won't make you rich faster, it will wipe you out. A lack of patience changes the outcome.
It's hard to be above average if you can't find a way to do the same thing over and over again. As Bruce Lee observed, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
In a world of social media, we glorify the results and not the process. We see the kick that knocked someone out but not the years of effort that went into perfecting it. We see the results, not the hard work.
The difference between good and great results is often found in consistently doing the boring things you know you should do exactly when you feel like doing them the least.
I would assume the "speak" and "write" is the actions. The "think" is the plan. Thoughtful action is the most effective and influencing so far for me.
This comment was deleted 2 years ago.
He has a beautiful lecture for free on YouTube called How to Speak. I highly recommend it.
cool
That is Patrick Winston, he was the head of A.I. at MIT, and furthermore gave a yearly talk on the most proficient method to be a decent speaker.
My senior year, I had two graduate understudy-level classes with him, tiny classes with 10-15 individuals. He recounted being in the Navy, working with Carl Sagan, Marvin Minsky, and other renowned researchers. He was my number one teacher by a wide margin, and the one I knew the best, and who knew me the best.
He tragically passed on a couple of years prior.
Thanks for sharing <3
Hey Lisa,
Thanks for sharing. This is really useful and universal information. I think it's applicable for every different job, even for MonitUp: https://www.monitup.com. I had a sales meeting today, I will implement them :)
That's why people shouldn't underestimate the importance of good quality copy. Not just on their websites, but on anything they publish publically and send to potential users/investors - any stakeholder in the business. It's better to say less and say it well than to say more and fail to explain your concept correctly.
To an extent this is true - but I think it's incomplete. Arguably "your success in life will be determined largely by your ability to speak (in English), your ability to write (in English), and the quality of your ideas. Indie Hackers, entrepreneurs, freelancers - anyone building an online business targetting a global audience has to go the additional mile if they don't happen to be born in an English-speaking country. I think that's both an obstacle and in many cases an achievement that's often overlooked and deserves more credit.
I do agree with what he says, in general. That being said, I watched this commencement speech Elon Musk gave, and (despite the fact he's super-human at a ton of things) his "ability to speak" is definitely not his number one skill...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxZpaJK74Y4&t=984s
This comment was deleted 2 years ago.