What I Learned Today
Part 1
These are my daily “What I learned today” notes, originally shared on X.
They’re published here exactly as written at the time. No edits, no rewrites, no hindsight clean-ups.
I’m sharing them in batches, so they’re easy to read and easy to return to. Some are short, some are obvious in hindsight, and some only made sense to me on the day. Together, they form a running log of thinking, patterns, and lessons picked up along the way.
Thought 1 — 7 September 2023
What I learned today, part 3
Our truth is not what we see, our truth is the story we believe
Thought 2 — 8 September 2023
What I learned today, part 4
1% improvement can make a huge difference
Thought 3 — 10 September 2023
What I learned today, part 6
After a certain point the difference is the work you are willing to put in
Thought 4 — 11 September 2023
What I learned today part 6
Work on perception, as people can be surprised without actually changing anything
Thought 5 — 12 September 2023
What I learned today part 7
Taking no risk is your biggest risk
Thought 6 — 13 September 2023
What I learned today part 8
How you ask the question effects the answer you will get
Thought 7 — 14 September 2023
What I learned today part 9
The price of success is always paid upfront
Thought 8 — 15 September 2023
What I learned today part 10
If you do not build your own dream you will be hired to build someone else’s
Thought 9 — 16 September 2023
What I learned today part 11
We overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in a year
Thought 10 — 17 September 2023
What I learned today part 12
To get better answers, ask better questions
Thought 11 — 18 September 2023
What I learned today, part 13
You become what you repeatedly do
Thought 12 — 19 September 2023
What I learned today part 14
If you can’t explain it simply you don’t understand it well enough
Thought 13 — 20 September 2023
What I learned today part 15
What gets measured gets improved
Thought 14 — 21 September 2023
What I learned today part 16
Confidence comes from keeping promises to yourself
Thought 15 — 22 September 2023
What I learned today part 17
The only way out is through
Thought 16 — 23 September 2023
What I learned today part 18
You don’t rise to the level of your goals you fall to the level of your systems
Thought 17 — 24 September 2023
What I learned today part 19
Discipline is freedom
Thought 18 — 25 September 2023
What I learned today part 20
If it’s not a hell yes it’s a no
Thought 19 — 26 September 2023
What I learned today part 21
Consistency beats intensity
Thought 20 — 27 September 2023
What I learned today part 22
Start before you are ready
Thought 21 — 28 September 2023
What I learned today part 23
The days are long but the years are short
Thought 22 — 29 September 2023
What I learned today part 24
Direction is more important than speed
Thought 23 — 30 September 2023
What I learned today part 25
The standard you walk past is the standard you accept
Thought 24 — 1 October 2023
What I learned today part 26
If you want a different life you need different habits
Thought 25 — 2 October 2023
What I learned today part 27
You don’t get what you want you get what you work for
Thought 25 — 4 October 2023
What I learned today part 27
Be useful
Thought 26 — 5 October 2023
What I learned today part 28
You must take strategic risk in order to grow
Thought 27 — 6 October 2023
What I learned today part 29
To invent you have to experiment and if you know it will work beforehand it is not an experiment
Thought 28 — 7 October 2023
What I learned today part 30
Test – build – scale
Thought 29 — 9 October 2023
What I learned today part 32
Pain is a good signal that you are pushing
Thought 30 — 10 October 2023
What I learned today part 33
Reps, reps, reps
You got to do the reps
Thought 31 — 11 October 2023
What I learned today part 34
Speed creates clarity
Thought 32 — 12 October 2023
What I learned today part 35
If it’s easy everyone would do it
Thought 33 — 13 October 2023
What I learned today part 36
Energy is contagious
Thought 34 — 14 October 2023
What I learned today part 37
Your calendar shows your priorities
Thought 35 — 16 October 2023
What I learned today part 38
Build once, distribute forever
Thought 36 — 17 October 2023
What I learned today part 39
Momentum is a powerful thing
Thought 37 — 18 October 2023
What I learned today part 40
What you don’t say is just as important as what you do say
Thought 38 — 19 October 2023
What I learned today part 41
Clarity removes friction
Thought 39 — 20 October 2023
What I learned today part 42
Most things are simpler than we make them
Thought 40 — 21 October 2023
What I learned today part 43
Focus on the inputs not the outputs
Thought 41 — 23 October 2023
What I learned today part 44
Long-term thinking wins
Thought 42 — 24 October 2023
What I learned today part 45
If you don’t design your life someone else will
Thought 43 — 25 October 2023
What I learned today part 46
The best ideas are often obvious in hindsight
Thought 44 — 26 October 2023
What I learned today part 47
Constraints drive creativity
Thought 45 — 27 October 2023
What I learned today part 49
Always test BUT change only one thing at a time
Thought 46 — 30 October 2023
What I learned today part 50
Complacency is the enemy of creativity
Thought 47 — 31 October 2023
What I learned today last 51
Forward thinking, backwards planning
Thought 48 — 1 November 2023
What I learned today part 52
You can get by with a little help from your friends
Thought 49 — 2 November 2023
What I learned today part 53
You must have a diverse team that can bring their outside experiences into your business
Thought 50 — 4 November 2023
What I learned today part 55
Get face-to-face with your customers
Thought 51 — 5 November 2023
What I learned today part 56
Quality over quantity always wins in the long run
Thought 52 — 6 November 2023
What I learned today part 57
You can’t outwork bad positioning
Thought 53 — 7 November 2023
What I learned today part 58
Most leverage comes from saying no
Thought 54 — 8 November 2023
What I learned today part 59
Reputation compounds faster than money
Thought 55 — 9 November 2023
What I learned today part 60
If you don’t ship it doesn’t exist
Thought 56 — 10 November 2023
What I learned today part 61
The best marketing often feels like common sense in hindsight
Thought 57 — 11 November 2023
What I learned today part 62
Small improvements done daily beat big changes done rarely
Thought 58 — 12 November 2023
What I learned today part 63
You learn more from finishing than from planning
Thought 59 — 13 November 2023
What I learned today part 64
Attention is the real currency
Thought 60 — 14 November 2023
What I learned today part 65
Most problems are clarity problems
Thought 61 — 15 November 2023
What I learned today part 66
The audience decides what matters
Thought 62 — 16 November 2023
What I learned today part 67
Distribution matters as much as creation
Thought 63 — 17 November 2023
What I learned today part 68
You don’t need permission to start
Thought 64 — 18 November 2023
What I learned today part 69
The first draft is supposed to be bad
Thought 65 — 19 November 2023
What I learned today part 70
Direction beats motivation
Thought 66 — 20 November 2023
What I learned today part 71
Consistency builds trust
Thought 67 — 21 November 2023
What I learned today part 72
If you want to, leverage build assets
Thought 68 — 22 November 2023
What I learned today part 73
Simple scales better than complex
Thought 69 — 23 November 2023
What I learned today part 74
Urgency is usually artificial
Thought 70 — 24 November 2023
What I learned today part 75
You can’t optimise what you don’t understand
Thought 71 — 25 November 2023
What I learned today part 76
Progress creates motivation not the other way around
Thought 72 — 26 November 2023
What I learned today part 77
Good systems remove the need for willpower
Thought 73 — 27 November 2023
What I learned today part 78
The market rewards clarity
Thought 74 — 28 November 2023
What I learned today part 79
Most wins come from boring consistency
Thought 75 — 29 November 2023
What I learned today part 80
If you want freedom reduce complexity
Thought 76 — 30 November 2023
What I learned today part 81
Execution is a form of respect
Thought 77 — 1 December 2023
What I learned today part 82
Momentum hides mistakes
Thought 78 — 2 December 2023
What I learned today part 83
People remember how you made them feel
Thought 79 — 3 December 2023
What I learned today part 84
The fastest way to learn is to teach
Thought 80 — 4 December 2023
What I learned today part 85
You don’t need more ideas you need better filters
Thought 81 — 5 December 2023
What I learned today part 86
Constraints force creativity
Thought 82 — 6 December 2023
What I learned today part 87
What you repeat becomes your identity
Thought 83 — 7 December 2023
What I learned today part 88
Short term pain often leads to long term gain
Thought 84 — 8 December 2023
What I learned today part 89
Focus is saying no to good ideas
Thought 85 — 9 December 2023
What I learned today part 90
The best feedback comes from the market
Thought 86 — 10 December 2023
What I learned today part 91
Clarity speeds everything up
Thought 87 — 11 December 2023
What I learned today part 92
Consistency creates confidence
Thought 88 — 12 December 2023
What I learned today part 93
If you don’t write it down it doesn’t exist
Thought 89 — 13 December 2023
What I learned today part 94
The goal is progress not perfection
Thought 90 — 14 December 2023
What I learned today part 95
You get better by doing not by waiting
Thought 91 — 15 December 2023
What I learned today part 96
Most breakthroughs look small at first
Thought 92 — 16 December 2023
What I learned today part 97
Your environment shapes your behaviour
Thought 93 — 17 December 2023
What I learned today part 98
The work compounds when you show up daily
Thought 94 — 18 December 2023
What I learned today part 99
Good taste is built through exposure
Thought 95 — 19 December 2023
What I learned today part 100
The best ideas are usually simple
Thought 96 — 20 December 2023
What I learned today part 101
You don’t need more time you need better priorities
Thought 97 — 21 December 2023
What I learned today part 102
Most leverage comes from focus
Thought 98 — 22 December 2023
What I learned today part 103
The audience will tell you what works
Thought 99 — 23 December 2023
What I learned today part 104
Momentum is built not found
Thought 100 — 24 December 2023
What I learned today part 105
Finish what you start