The chain

Yesterday morning, I continued my habit of reading a chapter from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. The chapter described the importance of showing up and doing something consistently every day. It is about developing the practice by executing every day, even when you don’t feel like it or when you think the product will be bad. The book referenced Jerry Seinfeld’s methods for writing jokes which is something I had learned about in another context. When he writes a joke, he puts an “X” on his calendar. A string of “X”s resembles a chain and he aims to never break the chain. As much as possible, I will aim to do the same. Writing this paragraph is one example of this, but I will do the same with other skills and knowledge bases I am to develop: statistics, machine learning, NLP, technology-driven tools, and social risks in the healthcare setting. This means not being able to do a deep dive all the time, but focusing on each for perhaps 1 hour a day. It will feel slow, but it will enable each subject to not get too far behind. I’m also seeing cross-fertilization of ideas when I do this. My philosophy will be atomic progress that is iterative and, most importantly, consistent. I aim to extend the chain.