Rethinking cause and effect

The “cause vs. correlation” problem can be summarized like this: Just because A and B are related doesn’t mean that A caused B. We are often quick to assign meaning to any two pieces of data that seem to be connected.

A book called Spurious Correlations points out dozens of things that are correlated, but for which only a lunatic would believe there was a causal relationship. Among my favorites: It turns out that between 2000 and 2009 the divorce rate in Maine is perfectly correlated with the per capita consumption of margarine.

Before concluding that consuming margarine causes divorces in Maine, perhaps we can think to ourselves: Did A really cause B? Is there even a connection here?

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Timeless principles

To paraphrase Jeff Bezos: I can’t predict what people will want in the future, but I can predict that no one will say “I want to pay more money for things and wait longer to receive them.”One of the reasons that some companies lead trends is that they accept that they can’t predict everything, but that certain principles are timeless and predictable.

We don’t know what will be considered commonplace in the future, in terms of education, jobs, or relationships. But we can bet that people will still want and need to acquire skills, trade those skills for money, maintain healthy adult relationships.

Just thinking this way opens a virtual buffet of portable, valuable problem-solving skills you can acquire regardless of what new tech, tools, platforms, or trends emerge.

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Difficult decision-making made easy

One of the most dangerous tricks our brain plays on us – from a time-spent perspective – is convincing us that everything on our to-do list is equally urgent and important. For a rational and simple way of organizing the multitude of tasks we all have in a given day/week/month/year, search the “Eisenhower Matrix.” This matrix helps us organize chaos. Here it is in one sentence: If a task is truly important, either do it now (if urgent) or schedule it, and if a task is less (or un-) important, delegate it or eliminate the task altogether.

#health #efficiency #success #efficient #positivity #optimism #inspirational #beyourbest #lifelessons #motivational #effectiveness #effective #Productivity #productive #motivation #successful #lifegoals #fitness #yourbestself #life #Psychology #emotionalintelligence #inspiration #learning #leadership #goals