Welcome to the 22nd edition of North Star Blueprints! In this weekly newsletter, we embark on a journey of personal and professional growth, offering observations, strategies, and inspiration to help you navigate life’s challenges and reach new heights of success. This edition will provide a summary of the daily insights I posted throughout the week, packed with valuable tips, thought-provoking ideas, and actionable advice on how to get things done, make work more efficient, study faster, learning perseverance, and understanding the value of time, in the hopes of helping you to unleash your better self.
July 15: Templatize Everything You Can
“Don’t reinvent the wheel”, we all heard this saying many times in our lives. How often do we actually act on it?
Creating templates or accelerators for your work is a strategic approach to improving efficiency and productivity. Whether you are developing a deliverable for a client project, an internal firm initiative, writing code, or creating slides and Excel sheets, templatizing your work can save you hours in the future. By establishing repeatable processes, you reduce the time and effort needed to recreate similar work from scratch.
This not only streamlines your workflow but also ensures consistency and quality across your outputs. Templates act as a blueprint, providing a standardized format that can be easily adapted for different purposes, thus significantly cutting down preparation and execution time.
Efficiencies can be further enhanced by making these processes repeatable and automatic. For instance, in Excel, you can create templates with predefined formulas and formats for regular reports, while in PowerPoint, you can design slide masters that maintain consistent branding and layout. Additionally, writing reusable code modules or scripts can automate repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on more complex and creative aspects of your projects.
Providing clear instructions and training materials for these templates empowers others to self-serve, reducing the dependency on any single individual and ensuring continuity of work. By investing time upfront in creating robust templates, you set a foundation for sustained productivity, enabling you and your teams to handle higher volumes of work in shorter periods of time.
We progress the fastest and furthest when we build on top of existing ideas and work. There is a reason the greatest invention in human history is written language – new generations no longer had to start from square one, we could now build on top of previous knowledge and experiences.
July 16: Get Things Done
“Strive for Excellence, Not for Perfection” – Jackson Brown Jr.
Trying to deliver the highest quality and best results, it’s so easy to lose sight of what truly matters in project or product delivery: timeliness and practicality. I’ve observed instances where teams get bogged down striving for that last 10%, only to miss deadlines and exceed budgets. The truth is, a deliverable that’s 90% perfect and on time holds far more value than one that’s 100% perfect but arrives late or over budget.
Embracing the 80/20 principle can be incredibly powerful here. By focusing on delivering the essential 80% of your deliverable that meets core requirements, you can ensure timeliness without compromising quality. This approach not only satisfies immediate needs but also allows for iterative improvements based on real-world feedback and usage. I’ve seen just as many examples of amazing deliverables that were “perfect” only to be completely revised after the initial round of feedback. Also, your definition of “perfect” today, will change after the initial round of feedback anyway, so conserve some energy to make the additional refinements. I highly recommend the book “The 80/20 Principle” by Richard Koch if you want to explore this topic further.
The same applies to all your other pursuits. Whether it’s starting a new business, pursuing a new hobby, or coming up with the best workout plan. We sometimes get so tied up in the details, trying to wrap everything nicely, close all loops, and plan every step that we end up missing opportunities, or sometimes not executing on our ideas at all. Remember, it’s better to deliver a functional solution promptly and refine it over time than to delay perfection indefinitely.
July 17: Interact with Your Study Materials
“What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand” – Xunzi
A couple weeks ago we discussed the topic of Spaced Repetition (Insight 110), a technique to help you memorize things faster. Today I want to introduce you to another method – Active Recall. It focuses on actively retrieving information from memory rather than passively reviewing it, emphasizing that instead of relying solely on re-reading or highlighting, you aim to recall and articulate information without prompts. In other words, it requires you to interact with the material and truly understand it, as opposed to memorizing it for a short period of time:
Summarize in Your Own Words: Condense and explain the content you’ve just learned using your own language and understanding. It encourages deeper processing of information and reinforces key concepts through personal interpretation. Remembering your own words is always easier than someone else’s.
Get Creative: Create visual aids and mind maps to help organize and connect ideas. This approach not only enhances memory retention but also stimulates creative thinking and deeper understanding of complex concepts.
Draw It Out: Drawing diagrams, charts, or illustrations to represent information helps in visualizing relationships and concepts. This visual approach aids in memorization and provides a clearer grasp of abstract or intricate topics.
Ask Questions: Actively formulating questions about the material and attempting to answer them without referring to notes promotes active engagement with the content. This method stimulates critical thinking, reinforces memory retrieval, and identifies areas needing further clarification or review.
As you can see, active recall encourages dynamic and interactive learning experiences. Check out the video below by Ali Abdaal, he does a great job outlining the concepts above.
July 18: Never Stop, Never Give Up
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” – Thomas Edison
The fear of failure is one of the most central fears in our lives, whether we realize it or not. However, what truly propels progress is not the avoidance of failure, but rather the commitment to continuous effort and iteration. It’s about embracing the concept of repetitions—of trying, learning, and refining. Too often, we are so paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes or not getting it right the first time. Yet, the essence of growth lies in taking action, regardless of initial outcomes. Same as our workouts – you start weak, the weight is low and the reps are difficult. With time, you begin to grow, and one day what seemed impossible today becomes your warmup tomorrow.
The key lies in starting, in taking that first step forward. Action breeds momentum and provides opportunities for learning and adaptation. Even if it’s small or imperfect, one step sets the stage for improvement on the next and eventual success. Each repetition, each attempt, contributes to skill development and deeper understanding. It’s through these repetitions that solutions emerge, strategies refine, and confidence builds. Success isn’t predetermined; it’s a product of resilience and perseverance in the face of uncertainty. Therefore, instead of waiting for the perfect moment or the flawless plan, begin now. The sooner you start, the more opportunities you create to refine your approach and achieve your objectives.
If there’s anything you’ve been putting off because of uncertainty, fear of the unknown, or simply not believing you can do it, use this insight as a starting point. Starting and “failing” is better than never starting at all. Good luck!
July 19: Time Is an Expensive Resource, Use It Wisely
We all know this well but tend to easily forget because it feels infinite, but TIME is your most expensive resource. Unlike money in your bank account that collects interest if left untouched, time cannot be increased. Each day, you are given the same 24 hours, and whatever is left unused disappears forever. To avoid letting time slip away, prioritize tasks, and set clear goals for both your professional and personal life. The only way to take control of our time is by making it feel finite.
Professionally, set time blocks for specific activities to maintain focus and prevent distractions. Identify high-priority tasks that align with your goals and tackle them first. Use technology to manage your projects and track time effectively. With many of us returning to the office, it’s also crucial to plan your office hours purposefully – you should plan every hour and ensure that it benefits from you being there in person. Whether it’s meeting clients, running in-person workshops, or meeting with your teams, coming to the office with no plan will likely make it less productive and waste more commute time than just working from home. Human interaction is critical for our success and should be maximized, when possible, but it should also be planned carefully to keep everyone productive. Be purposeful with your time and attendance wherever you go.
Personally, setting clear goals and creating structured routines can lead to a more wholesome life. Allocate time for activities that matter, whether it’s improving your fitness, learning a new skill, or spending quality time with loved ones. For example, if your goal is to enhance your fitness, set aside time each day for exercise, like a morning run. Limit non-essential activities like excessive screen time by setting app usage limits. Make time for family and friends to build and maintain strong relationships, perhaps scheduling regular dinners or weekend outings. By being deliberate with your time, you can make each day more productive and fulfilling, both professionally and personally.
Thank you for joining me on this journey of growth and discovery. I hope these insights illuminate your path forward as you pursue your aspirations with purpose and determination. See you in next week’s edition!
