# 🌒 Houston, We Got a Problem

> 🌒 Houston, We Got a Problem

- Canonical: https://neurohackingly.com/houston-we-got-a-problem/
- Published: 2022-10-24
- Updated: 2023-01-17
- Author: Lukas Zangerl
- Tags: newsletter

👋 Hello friend,

## 💯 It will be an even better week now

🛫 Human error is to responsible for more than 75% of plane crashes. Therefore, in around **25% of cases** (including a very small number of other causes), the **system is to blame.**

I don't have statistics on the number of newsletters that never reach their intended destination, but yesterday it was definitely (!!!) a technical issue. 😉 If I know something, it is how to push buttons.

In order to give you a nice start into the week, it was intended to arrive (as always) to your evening program. So, **I apologize if your Monday started off a little rocky.** The week officially begins in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 🚀

## 🌊 The hardest part is to even reach the flow

After a long time, I had the honor of **getting to coach again.** I thought to myself, it's like riding a bike - been there, done that. 🚴‍♂️

Yeah, well, wrong. 👎

It reminded me a bit of this graph.

![Graph showing difficulty curve before reaching flow state](../../assets/content-images/houston-we-got-a-problem/image-3.png)

I have to endure an uncomfortable ride up the mountain in the beginning. **After the struggle - release will come.** But when? ⏲

I just knew that I will not quit. Otherwise the **whole damn mountain will await me again.**

![Mountain graph showing progress resets when quitting](../../assets/content-images/houston-we-got-a-problem/image-4.png)

## 🙇‍♀️ There are two ways: Divergent and convergent thinking

We have **different modes of thinking.**

**📊** Convergent = analytical working towards a solution  
🎨 Divergent = creative idea development

I believe to have heard that one should **switch as little as possible between these two modes.** And it makes total sense.

### Lets take for example, writing.

🎨 First you **collect ideas and inputs and write all of them down** using the divergent thinking mode.

📊❗ However, once you start **correcting typos** in between (thus switching to the convergent mode) you quickly get out of flow.

I think I have experienced the same with coaching this weekend. I was switching modes back and forth searching for something ---

> There’s nothing wrong with continuously working to improve yourself and your life as long as you’re not so fixated on the outcome.

[Flow](https://amzn.to/3TyBENw) by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Have a great rest of the week. 💌

xx Lukas

# 💎 My favourite Things - so many cool things this week

**💻 Website** If you want to read helpful short articles [Medium](https://medium.com/) is the right website. You can also [follow me.](https://medium.com/@neurohackingly) 🏃‍♂️

**🌐 Browser Extension** [Momentum](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/momentum/laookkfknpbbblfpciffpaejjkokdgca/related) is designed to **focus on the essential** (I have it for Chrome). Opening a new tab you can see a beautiful picture, the time and one thing you want to accomplish today.

**🌐 Browser Extension** If you are tired of pressing "accept cookies" on every  web page, download [I don't care about cookies](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/i-dont-care-about-cookies/fihnjjcciajhdojfnbdddfaoknhalnja). It **automatically accepts cookies** for you.

📱 **App [Snipt](https://www.snipd.com/)** I was totally searching for this podcast app. You can create **your own snippets** from a you like podcast + the **best short snippets** of the podcast have been picked out for you.

[Obsidian:](https://obsidian.md/) Just trying out this new note-taking app. You can **link your different notes, visualize and structure them.** Great to get an overview what you are working on and where to see similarities between topics.

![Obsidian graph view showing connected notes as nodes](../../assets/content-images/houston-we-got-a-problem/image-5.png)

* * *

# 🎁 My New Content

Read a total of 7 [blog posts](/blog) this week, with a **word count of 250 or less**, each.

### 🧠 Posts on [Mindset](/mindset/):

🧾 **Blog post** [How I Got Interested In Discovering My Peak State](/discovering-my-peak-state/)

🧾 **Blog post** [4 Reasons Why I Do A 10-minute, 4-step Process Tony Robbins Does Every Morning - To Live A Successful And Fulfilling Day](/4-step-process-tony-robbins-does-every-morning/)

### 📚 Posts on [Studying](/studying/):

🧾 **Blog post** [This Is The Best Book I’ve Ever Read On Understanding And Mastering New Information](/best-book-on-understanding-and-mastering-new-information/)

🧾 **Blog post** [📓 Setup Notion For Spaced Repetition](/spaced-repetition/)

🧾 **Blog post** [How To Study Effectively For Exams: 4 Advanced Methods You (Probably) Haven't Heard Of (Part 2)](/how-to-study-effectively-for-exams-part-2/)

🎧 **Neurohackingly Podcast: listen on** [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/0EGwGELhsk4TQnZcjWAhhx?si=TTHqgSnJQz655GVeWcm4Ug&utm_source=copy-link), [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/neurohackingly/id1639768300), [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWRpYS5yc3MuY29tL2xlcm5lbmxlcm5lbi9mZWVkLnhtbA), **or** [RSS](https://dashboard.rss.com/podcasts/lernenlernen/)

* * *

# ✍🏻 Quote of the week:

> The quality of our thinking is proportional to the models in our head and their usefulness in the situation at hand.

From [Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions (~100 Models Explained)](https://fs.blog/mental-models/)