Sublime

When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of behavior to your advantage. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top.

"The secret of creative work is to make a lot and publish a little.

Don't underestimate the power of giving yourself permission to create junk. Most of what you create will be mediocre or bad.

But that's okay. You only have to show people the good stuff. Make 100 things, discard 90, and share the 10 best. Create, create, create. Edit, edit, edit."

In reflecting on your next 10x jump, one helpful concept is called fitness function—which asks the question: What are you optimizing for? Fitness function clarifies the qualities you want to develop and the standards by which you measure progress and success. Whatever you focus on you become.

Keep what resonates (Capture) Save for actionability (Organize) Find the essence (Distill) Show your work (Express)

This process of deliberate reflection resulted in the creation of his 3-2-1 newsletter—three ideas from James, two quotes from others, and one question for the reader to ponder—a much shorter format that has now amassed millions of readers.