Day 20 | Daily Dose of learning
This project is inspired by the ‘100-day project’, a challenge consisting of committing to doing an activity everyday for 100 days.
I have decided to write about one thing I learn everyday for the next 30 days. This can be a skill, a deep concept to elaborate on, or a mere life lesson that made me become aware of something I consider relevant.
The decision is based on the belief that “we are what we repeatedly do”, as Valentin Perez put it.
The Failed Simulation effect
In this article, Cal Newport introduces the idea of the failed simulation effect, what he presents as the psychological reason for which we are impressed by what some people are able to achieve in their lives. The failed simulation effect is what makes us think ‘how did he/she do that?’.
According to Newport, impressive achievements do not necessarily come from an innate intelligence or work-ethic of the person. In fact, they stem from doing the right things at the right time in a smart manner.
The key to creating that ‘wow’ effect, the author argues, is hidden behind the fact that people cannot figure out the path that led to the achievement. He makes the example of a student who ran a web design company while in high school, managing a dozen of clients. As this is very unusual, people cannot picture in their heads the path that made the student run a company while being a high school student. This intrigues the mind, hence eliciting the ‘wow’ reaction.
Actually, however, the time it took that student to run a business while studying was not that much compared to a student being the president of a student club.
Finally, Newport identifies 3 key steps that lead to impressive achievements:
Enter a Closed World and Exceed Expectations
Package Insider Connections
Escalate