stop being 💯 start doing 💯

g’day good friends,

i love reflection & goal setting as evidenced by my last 2 newsletter & the fact that all my professional roles included these responsibilities.

but the truth is planning can get in the way of progress.

since starting this newsletter & my own company, i’m pushing myself to focus more on doing the work than planning the work.

one of the best tools i’ved used to do this is known as the law of 100.

where you do something 100 times. this not only increases your odds for success, but also leads to loads of self-discovery.

so let’s do it x 100.

the study story

the law of 100 is based on a study from the university of florida.

a study with noteworthy mentions in art & fear by david dayles & ted orland, in atomic habits by james clear, and in million dollar weekend by noah kagan & tahl raz

in the study, a photography professor splits has class into 2 groups:

1. quantity: graded on the amount of pictures taken so A = 100 photos

2. quality: graded on the excellence of 1 picture so A = 1 perfect photo

at the end of the term, the quantity group way outperformed in terms of quality.

the quantity group experimented their way to success, learned from their mistakes, & improved through practice. whereas, the quality group got caught up in the stress of planning for perfection.

proving the theory: reps > results.

perfection pressure cooker

we put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect. from a young age, we are trained to aim to be 100% at as many things possible.

but this pressure for often sets us up for failure.

we go so obsessed with the results we over-plan & under-do.

when i reflected on 2023, i realized how guilty i am of this. i struggled the most when i focused solely on the results. the perfect post. the perfect card. the perfect picture. the perfect subject line.

i succeeded the most (& felt the best) when i focused on the reps.

proven by the fact that the only things that went semi-viral were never planned.

why we fail to do

we fail to get the results because we don’t do the reps.

and we don’t do the reps because they’re hard & often boring.

as sahil bloom so eloquently put this, “everything you want in life is on the other side of something that sucks.”

but it only sucks some of the time.

seth godin coined a term for this sucky part — “the dip” (he wrote a book on it too.) the dip is the point in time where you’ve lost your kickoff momentum & your beginner’s luck, but you’ve yet to gain real accomplishment of mastery.

this is where many quit.

i blame this collective quitting at the worst point on how we as a society love to get drunk off of overnight night success stories.

that’s so rarely the truth & more often just a cocktail of cognitive biases:

- confirmation bias: we look for stories to confirm this belief
- survivorship bias: we focus on successes & forget failures
- hindsight bias: we overlook the hard work & setbacks

thankfully the law of 100 keeps us sober from this myth.

tips to practice

all you have to do to practice the law of 100 is DO.

sounds so simple, but isn’t.

so let me give you a few pointers from the pro’s to set you up for success.

first, james clear recommends ignoring your goals & focusing on the reps (read more in his blog & in chapter 11 of atomic habits).

second, noah kagan gives 9 tips for practicing the law of 100 in a twitter thread. these are my 3 favorite:

• reduce friction

• reward yourself

• get an accountability buddy

finally, i recommend physically crossing off your progress on a printed tracker that you keep on your desk. you get reminded every time you see it & you get the joy of seeing your streaks.

so i decided to make you one!

i went for a combo of habit tracker & coloring book.

you print out the page then color in 1 puzzle piece each time you do your thing. my intention is that this brings color & consistency into your life in the most satisfying way.

download your tracker here & happy coloring!

things to do

the professional applications for the law of 100 are pretty straightforward, but here’s a few personal applications to challenge yourself with too:

• try 100 recipes

• make 100 crafts

• write 100 letters

• meet 100 people

• record 100 podcasts (btw if you like history, check out my brother’s latest podcast series on the native texans, the lipan apaches)

• meditate for 100 minutes

• send 100 just because texts

• go to bed earlier for 100 days

• speak your loved one’s love language in 100 ways

no matter what your endeavor, remember this:

no one’s judging drake or beyonce for their flops.

so stop trying to be 100.

instead do 100.

plz make me merry

if you enjoyed today’s newsletter, i’d so appreciate you showing your support by subscribing (for free!) to the 5-bullet friday from tim ferriss.

every week you’ll get a round up of the five coolest things discovered by tim ferriss. the nytimes described tim ferriss as a “cross between jack welch & a buddhist monk.”

tim is a fellow austinite & author of several best sellers including the cult classic, “4-hour workweek.”

so start your weeks with me & end with him.

do your thing x 100!

p.s. do you have 2 minutes to share more about your experience with me & merry makery? if so, i’d so appreciate you writing a short testimonial. your words mean the world to me! i’ll mail you a handwritten thank you note too :)