Author: Ian Zhao
-
Life Archive Framework
🧭 The Four Freedoms as a Life Archive Framework When you treat your life as an “archive” — a collection of meaningful growth and impact — these four freedoms become your categories of progress: Freedom of Time Control over when and how you spend time. Freedom of Money How you earn and use money. Freedom…
-
Simple, but not easy.
A lot of success in life is just putting yourself in a position for good things to happen to you. + Be reliable + Avoid drama + Help other people win + Take care of your body + Take care of your mind + Live below your means + Treat your job as if it…
-
Summary of “The Laws of Human Nature”
1 The Law of Irrationality People are emotional, not rational. Don’t debate emotions with logic — first acknowledge how others feel, then lead them toward reason. 2 The Law of Narcissism Everyone craves validation and recognition. Notice people’s effort; make them feel seen. Praise in public, coach in private. 3 The Law of Role-Playing People…
-
Complexity
Complexity increases because adding is easy and removing is dangerous. Whenever there’s a problem, we add: a new person, requirement, or process. We never subtract.Why?Because everything that already exists has a champion. That clause in the tax code, that step in the process, that feature in the product … someone fought for it, and they’ll…
-
Self though
If you come across any special trait of meanness or stupidity . . . you must be careful not to let it annoy or distress you, but to look upon it merely as an addition to your knowledge—a new fact to be considered in studying the character of humanity. Your attitude towards it will be…
-
How Big Things Get Done
📘 Summary of How Big Things Get DoneThe book explores why so many big projects—bridges, skyscrapers, power plants, IT systems, even personal projects like home renovations—fail in cost, time, and scope. Drawing on decades of research, Flyvbjerg (a global expert on megaprojects) and Gardner identify the patterns behind failures and offer practical strategies for success.…
-
What is Work smart?
Telling someone to “work smarter” is useless because it assumes they already know what smarter looks like. If they did, they’d be doing it.“Work smarter, not harder” is often framed as the opposite of hard work, but working smart is itself a derivative of hard work. You have to work hard just to figure out…
-
The SUPERB storytelling model
The SUPERB storytelling model is a six-step framework for crafting compelling stories, especially useful in leadership, coaching, or persuasive communication. Here’s a detailed breakdown of each step: 🔶 1. Shared Experiences Goal: Build immediate rapport and trust by showing common ground with your audience. How: Start with a relatable situation, feeling, or challenge. Example: “Like…
-
Good decision-making
People think good decision-making is about being right all the time. It’s not. It’s about lowering the cost of being wrong and changing your mind.When the cost of mistakes is high, we’re paralyzed with fear. When the cost of mistakes is low, we can move fast and adapt.Make mistakes cheap, not rare.
-
Book Summary – Storyworthy
Summary of Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks, focusing on its main concepts and takeaways 1. Core Idea Everyone has great stories to tell—ordinary moments often make the best ones. By noticing, collecting, and shaping these moments, you can tell stories that connect emotionally, inspire, and stick in people’s minds. 2. Key Concepts & Methods A. Homework…