psql:

ART, © PASQUALE D’SILVA 2012

I want this app. 

I’m currently very interested in a couple specific threads within the larger behavior change / habit space. I got here by going through the ringer of Habit Labs, Health Month, Budge, etc… so it’s very specific to my own passions and preferences… I wouldn’t say that these are necessarily the things that anyone else should prioritize or focus on.

1) Identity and beliefs, and their role in behavior change. See this long branch for more info on specifics: http://branch.com/b/if-behavior-change-is-belief-change

2) Using self-tracking to find true correlations between objective data about our lives and our subjective happiness/fulfillment. I am still early in my thinking around this but recently did a Quantified Self talk on some of the ideas: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HFrwqaLciFUzEHXqjEftHKjWtsuTPG9-a3fUCjXgLKc/edit

As far as building products go, a couple thoughts:

Opening an app is still too much work for most behavior change. It’s too difficult to create a habit of paying attention to the tools that are supposed to help you change. IE. There’s no general solution/problem fit yet. http://wayoftheduck.com/ab-fit

If I were to build a new tool today, I would focus on trying to disrupt the flexibility, speed, and simplicity of spreadsheets. Is it possible to make something that easy to use, while also lowering the bar on the more expert uses (formulas, pivots, etc). Grid looks promising (but still far from perfect): http://grid.binarythumb.com/

In essence, If I were to start afresh, I would continue doing the same thing that I’ve been doing: banging my head against the wall until progress is made. Good luck.

“What you want is to be (1) right more often than wrong; (2) willing to recognize when you are wrong; and (3) able and willing to correct whatever is wrong. If you expect perfection, to be right all the time, you’re going to fail on all three of those — you will be wrong sometimes, that’s just human nature; you’ll be less willing or unwilling to recognize when you’re wrong because you’ve talked yourself into expecting perfection; and you won’t fix what’s wrong because you’ll have convinced yourself you weren’t wrong in the first place. The only way to come close to being right all the time is to be willing to change your mind and recognize mistakes — it’s never going to happen that you’re right all the time in the first place.”

-

John Gruber

#AMEN

(via msg)

nevver:

Gaping void

Octophant. Or meerkat.

Two charts related to my sleep patterns and the quality of my day. More notes on my self-tracking routine on Medium (which I’m liking more and more).

1993 InfoWorld article about my father’s work on object-oriented databases that were “three to four development years ahead of the competition”

ilovecharts:

jessthevagabond:movingthestill:

Title: Space travel
Artist: Jolene Wong (sofilledwithfeeling)

I’m awesome!

Race you.

fncyhorsekind:

spookyzomo:

canoftoast:

Oh god, that Sexy Old Man and the Sea costume, I must have her!!!

Still the best.

sexy inexplicable melancholy

We were trying to come up with what Sexy Schadenfreude would be last night at Kellianne’s birthday party dinner.

dpstyles:

Love love love @bittman’s piece in the Sunday NYT on reinventing nutrition labels (Taken with Instagram)

An app waiting to happen.

- Way of the Duck via Findings.

“Every good story writes its own rules and solves problems of its own devising.”

- From the introduction to Object Lessons: The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story, a fine addition to our running archive of insight on writing.

Replace story with universe.

laughingsquid:

Medals of Dishonor