In this episode I talk to my long-time friend David Kadavy. He’s the love child of Malcolm Gladwell and a designer. A deep-thinking gentlemen with unique perspectives on life.
This was a surprising episode. I wasn’t planning on putting it out publicly. It made me uncomfortable, and I didn’t think it was good enough. But the concepts we discussed changed my life and I keep referring back to them so I’m excited to share with you!
This is how many edits it took from our awesome audio editor Jason DeFillippo for this episode. No you can’t hire him 🙂
We discuss repetition and mastery. How to be a professional. Why being a weirdo is okay, and tons of other insights.
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Lessons learned in this episode:
- Why I listen to my own podcast again and again to attain mastery.
- How repetition can help us gain an edge.
- The difference between being a hobbyist and professional.
- Why you need to take ACTION — and stop reading more books, watching more TED talks, and taking in more information.
- How David embraces his inner weirdo.
- The importance of being selective with where you get praise.
- Stories and the Hero’s Journey.
- Why “settling” is a B.S. term if you get what you want.
- The line between contentment and fulfillment.
The Challenge: For the next 7 days be content with what you have. Leave a comment with 1 thing you are grateful for.
Links discussed in this episode:
12 responses to “Repetition and Mastery with David Kadavy”
I love the format, “keepin it real.” At times it seems like your main interest is learning as much as you can from the interviews. Which, means we learn too. Sometime we can almost hear you thinking how can that work for me? That kind of continuous learning and enthusiasm is inspiring.
Thanks.
Great stuff Noah- thanks
Noah – great chat. You guys hit on something that made the world stand still for a split second… the ideas of a calling where something finds you, compulsion where you find something through nervousness/tension and then Steven Pressfield’s Resistance where we can sabotage either with completely different thoughts… There’s something definitely in those ideas that needs digging into way deeper! Feels like the idea isn’t resolved, I don’t know why but you certainly hit on a nerve.
Thanks for reminding me to read, Nobody Wants to Read Your S*&t by Stephen Pressfield. I’m writing a daily reader book and I need to omit needles words.
Zuppa Toscana
It’s so funny that you’re bringing the subject of repetition again. Since your Arnold’s book review, that idea of “reps” stucked with me and I decided to put in practice. I always wanted to play more complex music on the guitar, like old school Samba, but the chords are too hard, different from the basic stuff that I was used to. I took part of a song, a progression of three chords that I just couldn’t do before, and decided to repeat the progression 100 times. Around 90 I wasn’t so bad, but from 90 to 100 I was just doing it. I noticed that applying repetition will 1. take way less time than I expected and 2. be extremely effective. I learned to play 5 songs I judged impossible since then. This also reminds me about the book Grit, did you read it already?
It is strange to realize a couple times in this podcast that you two are on a video chat. You “show” him the book you are reading which is not able to be seen but only heard. So no context.
I believe this is one of the better, if not best, podcast you have done as he interviewed you as much or more than you him. While it was conversational it was him asking back to you and your (Noah) reflection on why you woud even ask such a question. And I like homemade chicken noodle…
I love that feeling when you get energized from talking to somebody. It’s pretty close to magic.
Yes so much to repetition! I think I’ve written the same things over and over again (for my personal projects) – and I notice that it does get better with each repetition.
Btw book recommendation: One of my favorite things to go to re: “hobbyist to professional” is The War Of Art, by Stephen Pressfield. He really describes what it means to “go Pro” and to let go of all the bullshit baggage that amateurs get bogged down by.
I love seeing your name in the comments! Thanks for the suggestion.
Thankful that my gym is 1 minute away from my apartment!
Hmm great Podcast Noah taking interviews of giants to share great stuff, Please conduct podcast interview with your friend Neville Medhora about email marketing and copywriting , I and your podcast listeners love to listen his tactics and tools he uses.
I am grateful for the slick Logitech K380 I’m currently typing on 🙂