What got you here wont take you there. Sunday Surprise (4th June)
It's that time again for the weekly dose of random...
Howdy everyone!
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Sunday Surprise. I know, I know - I missed last week. It was either do the newsletter or edit some videos and I’ve been itching to catch up on that for a little while but more on that below…
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Thoughts from this week
What got you here wont take you there…
“What got you here won’t get you there” is a popular phrase that is used to describe the idea that the skills and habits that have helped you achieve success in the past may not be enough to take you to the next level. The best analogy I can think of is that of flying: you realise you can clear the ground by jumping, but no amount of jumping gets to flying like a bird.
The last few years have drilled into me that as I age, my ability to sustain work at a sufficient intensity is declining. Even if that wasn’t the case, I’m sure spending more time or pushing through would only have limited benefits. After all, there was simply no more time or energy to allocate to new goals!
While it’s easy to hang on to the habits that brought success, once you realise that you’re past the point of diminishing returns, it’s time to seek new grounds. In today’s rapidly changing world, new technologies and ways of doing things are emerging at an unprecedented pace and exploring those may yield an easier way of doing the tasks that you need.
What does that look like in action, you ask?
For me, it’s embracing 3 new things that I find personally challenging, but necessary over the long term.
Prioritising exercise over all else - This may seem totally irrelevant but I do feel lethargic a lot of the time. Looking at my activity data, even though I still walk more than 10000 steps a day, over all, that’s MUCH lower than what I used to do in a day. I’m hoping this focus will allow an increase in the “energy” department
Embracing anti-perfectionism - I really want to go through my backlog of videos to edit. There’s literally footage there from years ago that if nothing else, I’d like to stitch into something I’d want to see. Because I’m new to the field, making something I’m happy with takes DAYS so I’ve decided to focus on the core: have a followable story and that’s all. Everything else can improve over time
Find new technologies - There’s countless new tools and part of the experimentation has been in trying those out. Some parts of what you’re reading was AI generated. As compared to my usual rambly style, the AI version helped make the article much more succinct.
Have you found that you have a need to find new ways of doing things? If so, what are you trying? Hit reply and let me know!
Weekly update
It was a bit of a whirlwind trip but a visit to Vivid Live was completed this weekend. Vivid is in it’s 12th year and it has grown BIG! Back in the day, it was mainly 3d mapped projections on the Sydney Opera House, Bridge and some of the city buildings. Something that you could…
Gadget/tech
Shenzhi Wireless Mic*
I use the Rode Wireless Go II* for most of the audio in the podcast and the videos but I wanted to see if there were any alternative ones that were affordable and came with a charging case.
Enter the Shenzhi Wireless Mic. For $45 AUD, it’s a great portable solution for all things voice audio related. Is the mic as good as the Rode? Nope! But it’s also 5x cheaper! The range is more limited and audio quality is less clear but it’s a huge improvement over built in phone mics and for the price and the convenience, definitely worth a look.
Creative update
Ulanzi J12 vs Rode Wireless Go II
The Ulanzi J12* is the other mic I tried out. The audio quality is about the same as the Shenzhi with a slightly better build quality but also higher price. In the end, I ended up keeping the Shenzhi as my quick travel option.
randInt S03E06 - What do orcas eat for brunch?
This is the first episode of the podcast that’s bounced around in space! That’s right, the first proper episode from Chandra’s boat, coming over Starlink. A little delayed as we work through the kinks of running a podcast with a huge time difference and internet connectivity via satellite, but we got there in the end! Have a listen.
Read
How eggplants got their name
Well, have a quick read but the image gives it away! I had no idea that the original variety of egg plant was white!
The things you learn…
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Weekly Quote
“PEOPLE ARE NOT LAZY. THEY SIMPLY HAVE IMPOTENT GOALS—THAT IS, GOALS THAT DO NOT INSPIRE THEM.”
- Tony Robbins
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