The James Altucher Show Ep. 161- Charles Duhigg: Be Smarter, Faster, Better… And Most of All Be Free
Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author known for 'The Power of Habit,' discusses the relationship between success, productivity, and societal pressures. He emphasizes the importance of experimentation in our daily routines to combat modern distractions. Duhigg shares strategies for effective networking and personal storytelling, revealing how they can enhance self-awareness and connection. He also explores the diversity of motivation and highlights the joy of reading as a tool for personal growth and inspiration.
01:02:24
Cycle Through Productivity Experiments
- Experiment with different productivity methods to find what works for you.
- Accept failures as valuable data to improve and refine your approach.
Flaws in Probabilistic Thinking
- People tend to focus on worst-case or best-case scenarios instead of probabilistic thinking.
- Lack of full data leads to overestimating success and fearing failure.
Use Mental Models for Focus
- Visualize your goals for each hour of the day before starting work.
- Check progress regularly and adjust based on whether you are closer or farther from your goals.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
Navigating Modern Communication and Productivity
02:15 • 14min
Experimentation for Productivity
16:36 • 7min
Mastering Networking: Overcoming Social Challenges
23:37 • 3min
Motivation and Productivity Unveiled
26:58 • 13min
The Power of Storytelling and Mental Models
40:03 • 16min
The Dynamics of Radicalization
56:31 • 4min
The Joy of Reading and Influential Authors
01:00:07 • 2min
The Money Culture
The Money Culture
Michael Lewis
Den of Thieves
James B. Stewart
This book tells the full story of the insider-trading scandal that nearly destroyed Wall Street.
It focuses on four of the biggest names of the 1980s—Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine—who created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history.
Based on secret grand jury transcripts, interviews, and actual trading records, the book weaves all the facts into an unforgettable narrative—a portrait of human nature, big business, and crime of unparalleled proportions.
The story highlights the chase by a team of detectives and the eventual justice brought to these powerful figures.
Mindset
The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. Dweck
In this book, Carol S. Dweck introduces the concept of two mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.
People with a fixed mindset believe their abilities are static, while those with a growth mindset believe their abilities can be developed through effort and learning.
Dweck shows how these mindsets influence success in school, work, sports, and personal relationships.
She also discusses how to adopt a deeper, truer growth mindset, and how this can transform individual and organizational cultures.
The book emphasizes the importance of perseverance, learning from failures, and embracing challenges as key components of the growth mindset.
Morningstar
Ondi Laure
In 'Morningstar-The Mystery Of The Secret Letters', Kirsti, the daughter of a Royal Lollard Knight, is raised by her father and Pagan grandmother.
The book explores themes of resilience and humanity's complex past.
It is part of a series that offers a spiritual narrative for women and girls.
Follow the Story
How to Write Successful Nonfiction
James B. Stewart
In 'Follow the Story', James B. Stewart provides techniques for writing engaging nonfiction, covering topics from conceiving ideas to structuring narratives.
He uses examples from his own work to illustrate effective storytelling methods.
The book is a valuable resource for writers seeking to improve their craft in nonfiction writing.
Ready Player One
Trivia-on-Books Staff
In 'Ready Player One', Ernest Cline introduces Wade Watts, an 18-year-old living in a dystopian future where people escape their harsh reality through the OASIS, a vast virtual reality world.
The story revolves around Wade's quest to find an Easter egg hidden by the OASIS's creator, James Halliday, which would grant the finder immense wealth and control over the OASIS.
Wade, known as Parzival in the OASIS, must compete against other 'gunters' and the corporate-sponsored Sixers to achieve this goal.
The novel is filled with 1980s pop culture references, adventure, and social commentary, making it a deeply engaging and nostalgic read.
Hiroshima
John Hersey
This book, written by John Hersey, tells the stories of six survivors of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
It is a pioneering work of New Journalism, focusing on the human suffering and survival in the aftermath of the bombing.
The book follows the survivors—a doctor, a surgeon, a Methodist pastor, a German Jesuit priest, a widowed seamstress, and a young female factory worker—through their experiences on the day of the bombing and in the subsequent months and years.
Hersey's account is known for its straightforward and emotive prose, highlighting the personal and long-term effects of the nuclear bombing on the survivors and the city of Hiroshima.
Smarter Faster Better
The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business
Charles Duhigg
In 'Smarter Faster Better', Charles Duhigg explores the science of productivity through eight key concepts, including motivation, goal setting, focus, and decision making.
The book uses real-world examples from various fields such as the Marine Corps, Google, and Disney to illustrate how productive individuals and organizations view the world and make choices differently.
Duhigg combines neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics to provide practical advice on how to become more effective and in control of one's life and work.
The Power of Habit
Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Charles Duhigg
In this book, Charles Duhigg explores the science of habit formation and change.
He explains the 'habit loop' consisting of a cue, a routine, and a reward, and how understanding this loop can help in changing bad habits or forming good ones.
The book includes numerous examples from various fields, such as how Procter & Gamble successfully marketed Febreze, how Alcoa transformed its business by focusing on safety, and how individuals like Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. benefited from specific habits.
Duhigg argues that by harnessing this science, individuals and organizations can transform their lives and businesses.
Before writing this, I closed my eyes. I allowed myself to rest. I went from, "think, think, think" to nothing.
And nothing felt good.
Nothing worked.
Nothing is my success. Today.
I used to have another kind of success.
I was a hedge fund manager, web developer, producer, investor, corporate employee, CEO, writer.
I still do some of these jobs.
But not because "they" tell me to.
I look back and see desperation. I was desperate to secure my future. My income. My relationships.
There was always a risk of getting fired.
I knew my then-wife could decide she didn't love me anymore. My kids could, too.
I was shrinking. Physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually shrinking.
I thought if I was miserable, "they" would help me.
They didn't.
I bled out on the floor. And then I chose myself.
Now I do the daily practice.
I experiment. I find what works for me. And I write about it. Because advice is autobiography.
But something is still stopping me.
And, if you've read to here, I bet there's something stopping you.
If you learn one thing today, I hope it's this: experiment everyday.
The steps are:
Experiment. Pay Attention. Experiment
And if it doesn't work out how you imagined, then you'll have a better story.
I got evicted last week.
The same day, I did this interview with Charles Duhigg. You'll hear it in the podcast.
Charles is a Pulitzer Prize winner and the author of two New York Times bestselling books, The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business.
Renting doesn't work for me. But I tried it. It was a successful experiment with a failed result.
I'm finding what works for me everyday. Charles says that's what the most productive people do. They cycle through systems.
Charles cycled. He wasn't always smarter, better, faster.
"I would come home every night and tell my wife, 'If this is what success feels like, sign me up for failure.' It was killing me," he says.
"It's very easy to lose sight of the 'why,'" he says. "[We] lose track of why we're doing something, how it links up to our deepest values or our biggest aspirations... what we actually want to do with our life."
This interview might teach you something about experimenting, or focussing, or motivation.
Or it might teach you nothing.
But, nothing is a lesson, too.
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