🥊 Punch Through The Target
Sunday Scoop #30 - In this considerably lengthy issue, we talk about how I came to realize one of hills I would've died on requires a bit of a redesign. Enjoy!
Hey friends,
Last Friday, I received my Semester 3 Academic Transcript.
And my grades have been eating at me for the better part of the weekend.
In all fairness, they were quite decent overall and I only missed out on an A due to the standardization of test scores. Despite all these similar justifications that I’ve been trying to come up with in one way or another, I just couldn’t help but wonder if I could’ve done more.
Maybe if I skipped out on a few hours of Instagram scrolling. Maybe if I stood back from a couple of extra-curricular activities. Maybe if I prepped a little better, pushed a little harder.
Just maybe, I could’ve secured that A.
This led to think about 2 things I constantly practice and preach about: Parkinson’s Law and The Law of Diminishing Returns.
⚖ Parkinson’s Law and The Law of Diminishing Returns
I’ve already did a few write-ups about Parkinson’s Law. If you haven’t yet read them and would like to do so, you can read the article here.
Now, on The Law of Diminishing Returns.
In essence, the Law of Diminishing Returns states that marginal output continues to increase till an optimal point, beyond which it falls.
For years now, I found that this economic concept applies to our studies as well.
I always aimed to achieve the first 2 sections of the graph, i.e. where investing more time and effort equals to productive returns. It pays to spend more time studying in these phases because it’ll help get you from 50% to 90% in your tests.
However, beyond the 90%, to strive for every additional mark requires a disproportionate amount of effort. In fact, it might very well be easier to get from, say, 70% to 90% than to get from 93% to 98%. This is where negative returns occur. This is where I generally avoid.
This concept, coupled with Parkinson’s Law, are reasons why I’m extremely bullish on students making the most of their schooling years to widen their horizon and explore different avenues through experience. In my case, participating in volunteering initiatives, learning coding/web design, personal website, this newsletter etc has added way more value and fulfilment to my life than an additional 2 marks on a test would have-supposing I already managed to secure an A.
Occasionally, I’ve even gotten slightly frustrated when I hear my close friends who I care for and am hence trying to convince to join at least one club/society say things like:
I don’t have time to join any activities in college because I need to be studying.
However, my recent Academic Transcript has led me to rethink my perspective on this and consider whether my friends were right all along. Maybe it was I who have been disillusioned.
🥊 Punch through the Target
Then, as I went through my Content Manager on Notion to figure out what to write for this week’s newsletter, I saw this.
This quote, that I must’ve saw in one blog post or another, sparked a moment of realization within me (and hence this week’s newsletter).
It resonates with one of the core principles in martial arts - an attacker should picture his fist going through the target instead of just punching at the target.
For instance, if an attacker is aiming to hit the opponent in the sternum, his/her goal should not be to hit the sternum. The sternum is just the target. The attacker should aim to hit him in the back by going through the sternum. That would deal way more damage than a surface-aimed punch.
As I gave this a bit of thought over dinner, I realized that I could still keep up my mental model (Parkinson’s Law and The Law of Diminishing Returns). However, it needs a bit of a tweak.
Instead of aiming to hit the optimal point of output on the Graph of Diminishing Returns, I should aim to put in just a bit more.
If I thought that getting an average of 90% in 8 of my Practice Papers was decent enough, maybe I should try getting an average of 92% in 12 of them. This way, on the actual test day, I can hopefully safely secure a 90% instead of risk missing it like I did in Semester 3.
Quite a classic “Aim for the moon and if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” scenario, really. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but I hope this alternate twist from the overly-used quote adds some value to your life.
Have a great week ahead and see you in the next issue of Sunday Scoop!
Jia Shing.
Links
🥘 Meal Prep Menu - Considering that I’m eating home-cooked meals daily nowadays due to lockdown, I realized that this presents a rare opportunity for me to pick up a clean, healthy diet without ever-ready distractions (a quick stop-by for Starbucks/Oreo McFlurry). Here is one that I’m trying out.
⚡ Creatine - Picked up a pack of Creatine to give my Home Workouts an extra boost. Arrived yesterday and worked wonders for today’s shoulder workout. Currently using MyProtein’s Creatine Monohydrate Powder.
📽 Video - A straight-up bashing of my excuses whenever I ‘don’t have time to read’. Definitely worth a listen.
Challenge
Take the week off :)
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