January 11, 2026
1 books · 20 highlights · 7 notes
Tiny Experiments
Anne-Laure Le Cunff
“This public oath was a pact: a pledge to engage in a particular activity for a predetermined period of time.”
1:52 AM
“How can you, just like Kallaway, transform your life into a giant laboratory—a playground where doubt is a source of inspiration and experimentation?”
1:54 AM
“I will [action] for [duration].”
1:56 AM
“What makes a pact so effective is that it focuses on your outputs (e.g., “publish 25 newsletters over the next 25 weeks”) rather than your outcomes (e.g., “get 5,000 newsletter subscribers in 25 weeks”).”
1:56 AM
“Any uncertainty or curiosity can be turned into a pact, from exploring a new hobby to learning a new skill, gauging a potential career path, or trying out a new routine.”
2:28 AM
“pact”
2:28 AM
pact (noun): a self-agreed commitment or informal agreement to try or do something for a set time 🤝🗓️
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“We have very little control over how we feel, which is why it’s hard to force ourselves to feel motivated.”
2:29 AM
“*doing* over *planning*. As psychologist and philosopher William James explained: “Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.””
2:30 AM
“Confidence isn’t a quality we are born with or something that magically happens; it’s built through action. To”
2:52 AM
“This tendency for later responses to a creative problem to be better than earlier ones is called the serial-order effect, which is considered “one of the oldest and most robust findings in modern creativity work.” Put simply, it pays off to iterate.”
2:55 AM
When people try to solve a creative problem, the ideas they come up with later are often better than the first ideas. This pattern is called the serial-order effect, and researchers have found it to be true many times. In plain terms: trying again and refining your ideas usually leads to better results.
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“Shorter time frames are often more effective. For something completely new that you have never tried before, a ten-day pact is a good starting point. This provides enough time to start noticing patterns while not being overly intimidating. If it is something you have experimented with previously, then a one-month pact allows you to build on that familiarity.”
2:58 AM
“survey of over 31 million activities by the team at Strava found that most New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by January 12, which they called Quitter’s Day.”
3:40 AM
“We are drawn to the idea of it, yet we would rather not have to put in actual effort. This phenomenon is known as the effort paradox.”
3:41 AM
“Instead of the outcome, a pact focuses on the output. Success is showing up, regardless of the end result. As”
3:42 AM
“try my very best not to think about the numbers. Any time I do think about the numbers, I become burnt out. I feel like this is not fun anymore. But whenever I reaffirm that my only job is to show up, then that’s what keeps me going.””
3:43 AM
“aficionados”
3:49 AM
Aficionados: Enthusiastic fans or devotees of a particular subject, activity, or art form, often possessing deep knowledge, refined taste, and a high level of engagement. The term, borrowed from Spanish (afición, “fondness”), is commonly used for people who actively follow or collect in areas such as art, music, sports, cuisine, or hobbies.
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“limbo”
3:53 AM
limbo (noun): an uncertain or intermediate state of neglect or suspension — here implying aimless waiting or stasis ⚖️🌫️
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“Amelia Earhart, who suc”
3:54 AM
Amelia Earhart: Pioneering American aviator (1897–1937) known for numerous aviation firsts and for promoting women's participation in aviation. In 1928 she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as a passenger; in 1932 she made the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight by a woman. Earhart set multiple speed and distance records and authored books about flying. She disappeared in 1937 during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe, and her fate remains one of the 20th century’s great unsolved mysteries.
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“Torschlusspanik”
3:15 PM
Torschlusspanik (noun): a sudden anxiety that opportunities or time are running out, prompting hurried choices or frantic activity ⏳😰
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““recovering productivity junkies” would be”
3:16 PM
people who are trying to stop being obsessed with always being busy and getting more done
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