inspiration

This Word Processor From The 90s Is Helping Me Write More

/ Stuart Danker / 73 Comments

Woman standing in front of projector with lines of code on her face

I wrote everything in plain text this month. That’s .txt instead of .docx, or using a basic text editor instead of writing on WordPress.

Don’t ask me why. It’s just another experiment I had to do, because you know I’m always trying to find new ways to write.

This is why I found myself using Vim, a 1991 predecessor to Vi, which was released in 1976. Yeah, Vim definitely gives George RR Martin and his preference for WordStar a run for his money.

Using a programme this old meant that I could focus on what really mattered: the words. Or did it?

Read on to find out.

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How To Look At Your Problems In A Better Way

/ Stuart Danker / 77 Comments

reframing-picture-frame-pine-watt

“And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.”

That was what the tennis player said after breaking his 16-time losing streak.

Sometimes, it almost seems like the best way to get through life is to lie to ourselves. But then again, it’s not lying if it’s true, right? We’re just choosing to reframe what’s good and bad. Seeing the silver lining, if you will.

So join me as we take a look at how we can better lie to ourselves, and turn our negatives into positives.

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Why You Shouldn’t Look Up To Successful People All The Time

/ Stuart Danker / 140 Comments

survivorship-bias-desert-joshua-sukoff

I remember reading my first self-help book and feeling like I had unlocked the cheat code to living. I also remember realising how little these books helped me in the grand scale of things.

Still, the desire to find the secret sauce never waned. Cut to the era of YouTube, and now, instead of books, I can access videos and podcasts on all things productivity.

The danger of that is it locks me into the same pattern of trying to find the silver bullet from these ‘authorities’.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about taking advice from successful people, it’s that survivorship bias exists.

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What Video Games Can Teach You About Life

/ Stuart Danker / 86 Comments

gaming-consoles-lorenzo-herrera

Well hello, you. Would you stay a while and listen?

Because as someone who’d grown up with video games, I feel that I have an interesting article for you today.

I used to think that mindlessly hacking away at fake monsters was a waste of time. But now I see the purpose of all those hours sunk into the old DOS games like Flashback or Heroes Of Might And Magic.

It’s so that I can now write you a listicle. Let’s start with the first item on the list.

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What I’ve Learned From NOT Reaching My Goals

/ Stuart Danker / 209 Comments

Man flying face down on pavement with shoes off

I used to have lofty goals. For one, I thought I’d be a millionaire by the age of 30. And I wanted to buy a pub for my parents who used to love drinking with their friends.

But my mum has since passed on and my dad’s stopped drinking, so that’s one goal out the window. And I’m nearing 40, so the before-30 goal’s out of the question too.

That’s how we arrive at my first lesson: goals never stay the same, because life never stays the same. So you best err on the side of action before your opportunities pass you by.

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