April 2025
Pursuits involving Iterations
“We want to have lots of iterations." Malcolm Gladwell talked about the 10,000 hrs we need to put in to become experts. This isn’t fully true; we need to engage in a ton of iterations to arrive at mastery. And it’s not really 10,000/ it’s some unknown number, but the number has to be high. "Iteration is not repetition; iteration is modifying from what you learned and then adjusting accordingly; error correction – if you do this enough times, you’ll become an expert at it,”– Naval Ravikant. This is not an exact quote but it captures the essence (link to the podcast episode at the bottom of this post).
I like this idea because it emphasizes the importance of flexibility – we need to have goals and aim to be proficient in certain aspects of the areas that comprise our life (emotional, mental, social, physical, financial, spiritual). This starts with identifying what’s most important to you, within these aspects; then, setting a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goal, diligently working towards achieving that goal, and making iterations, along the way, if necessary.
I’ll provide examples of each, from my own life –
1. Emotional ~
The external world presents us with more information than we sometimes know what to do with – an overwhelming aspect of living in today’s digital landscape. We are bombarded, constantly, with (primarily) negative stories that can leave us feeling hopeless and pessimistic about the future. However, what we have (and always will have) is the choice in how much attention we give to the things outside of our control.
2. Mental/Psychological ~
Each day, rehearsing several positive affirmations to myself while in a relaxed state. There’s a sample list of affirmations that you can pull from at the bottom of this blog.
3. Social ~
I am meeting up with friends at least once a week. However, certain weeks, either I or they cancel, thus forcing me to pivot towards meeting my “social goal” in some other fashion. Recently, when there was a cancellation, I went on a run, instead, while listening to a podcast, and then finished the run with a phone call to another friend that I hadn’t spoken to in awhile.
4. Physical ~
Last fall, I was training for another marathon, but started to develop some knee pain. I pushed the marathon off to a later date, and turned towards rehabilitation and cross training. I still stuck to a rigorous exercise and rehabilitation program, but the exercise/movement looked drastically different from what I had been undergoing initially.
5. Financial ~
I have started doing a diligent, monthly review of all income and expenses (line item by line item). This has tremendously helped me to develop a better understanding as to what I have left over to save/invest each month. It has also helped me to be more frugal in certain areas of spending that aren’t as important to me (i.e. clothes and shoes). For more assistance with basic financial literacy, I have attached a resource at the bottom of this blog.
6. Spiritual ~
To be more intentional with being in the here and now; each day, I “check” myself three times (morning, afternoon and evening) prompted by an alarm. These “checks” involve me asking myself where my mind is (what I’m thinking about) and what my body is doing/feeling. These help me to feel more in touch with reality and less preoccupied. Also, being more present has helped to hone my values, which I see as being correlated with spirituality. There is no one size fits all for spirituality (nor any of the other sub-categories that comprise someone’s life (see above)) and a big part of the spiritual process, for me, has been tapping into an open-minded attitude and embracing new ideas. For instance, I took a course on Transcendental Meditation years ago. I haven’t practiced it consistently since then, but there have been periods of my life where I practice it twice, daily, for 20min each session (the standard protocol) and that will be part of my spiritual practice. In the past, I have felt stagnant with the practice and have shifted towards other forms of meditation.
So, I encourage you all to take stock of your goals across the above domains, and try making a plan for the coming weeks and months. And remember to embrace iteration!