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Commitment devices increase the odds that you’ll do the right thing in the future by making bad habits difficult in the present.

The downside of automation is that we can find ourselves jumping from easy task to easy task without making time for more difficult, but ultimately more rewarding, work.

Immediate reinforcement helps maintain motivation in the short term while you’re waiting for the long-term rewards to arrive.

…we optimize for what we measure. When we choose the wrong measurement, we get the wrong behavior.

Measurement is only useful when it guides you and adds context to a larger picture, not when it consumes you.

…just because you can’t measure something doesn’t mean it’s not important at all.

If you’re going to rely on punishment to change behavior, then the strength of the punishment must match the relative strength of the behavior it is trying to correct.

Behavior only shifts if the punishment is painful enough and reliably enforced.

…genes do not determine your destiny… The key is to direct your effort toward areas that both excite you and match your natural skills, to align your ambition with your ability.

…it’s more productive to focus on whether you are fulfilling your own potential than comparing yourself to someone else.