William Liao @williamliao

Taiwanese American, daily blogger of ideas about impactful work in service of others, photographer (ephemera.photography)

William Liao last shared their writing spotting weeds
To be “lost in the weeds” is to be so caught up in minor detail as to completely miss the point.
Imagine two people getting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum.
One person spends this opportunity scanning the painting while admiring da Vinci’s creation;...
William's Pantry
🍺 40 Beers
🥟 46 Dumplings
🧇 29 Waffles
🍪 29 Cookies
🍵 49 Teas
🍣 38 Sushis
☕️ 38 Coffees
🍫 41 Chocolate Bars
🍍 36 Pineapples
🥓 36 Bacons
🥚 36 Eggs
🥩 26 Steaks
🍊 45 Tangerines
🍓 25 Strawberries
🥃 28 Whiskeys
Collections

be not coy, but use your time

One of my favorite poems is To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick, which is essentially an ode to the importance of making the most of your time: 

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will...
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2022-03-27 00:48:41

self-contracting

Self-contracts are a sacred agreement that you agree to be bound to once you make them with yourself. 

Unlike aspirations, the terms are firm and non-negotiable once the contract is set.  Accountability & self-contracting are mutually reinforcing. 

By keeping an honest count of when you succeed and fail...
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2022-03-25 03:16:44

recognizing failure

On a scale of 1 to 7, 1 meaning extremely poor performance and seven meaning extremely good performance, I averaged a two this week on an area of my life that is important to me. 

This isn’t the best news in the world, but it’s also not the worst. ...
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2022-03-23 20:36:32

dancing queen

While on a walk the other day, I was listening to ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba.

About 10 seconds into the song, I was reminded of one of the last memories of my dad where he was, well, dancing to ‘Dancing Queen’ as it was blasting from my phone’s speaker. 

...
2022-03-23 03:47:22

progress is in the details

One of the things that I admire about many of the Formula 1 team driver’s reactions to this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix is how specific their comments were with respect to what they needed to work on to perform better. 

Lewis Hamilton identified rear downforce and straight-line speed as...
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2022-03-22 04:00:43

productivity per unit of time

David Ulevitch, a general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, uses a measure called Productivity Per Unit of Time to evaluate the chances of founders building an iconic company.

Productivity Per Unit of Time represents a combination of a few critical factors including, in the words of Ulevitch,...
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2022-03-21 04:28:48

setting intent

Most of the time, my schedule is dictated by a list of activities that I think will have the most impact on my priorities. 

Something that I recently added to the list is a note on what my intent will be for each activity. 

For example, one of...
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2022-03-19 19:27:57

a few thoughts on weakness

‘Weakness’ does not have to be bad or shameful. 

‘Weakness’ can also mean ‘opportunity for improvement.’

Acknowledging and embracing weaknesses allows you to openly & efficiently work on improving, which helps build credibility & trust with the people around you. 

Masking and rejecting weaknesses have the exact opposite...
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2022-03-18 22:16:09

Accountability ≠ beating yourself up

Let’s say you fell short of your goal today — maybe you were aiming to finish a project, but because of distractions and unexpected challenges, you only got 50% of it done. 

There are a couple of ways that you could respond:

You could berate yourself, saying something like,...
2022-03-17 23:00:05

Progressive overload & growth

Progressive overload is a term used in athletic training that refers to gradually increasing the amount of intensity in your strength routine to grow stronger. The key to progressive overload is not to increase the intensity by too little or too much as both cases result in your body failing...
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2022-03-17 04:28:20