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Resources For Modern Workers

New content weekly to help you build your personal digital systems for productivity, self-improvement, knowledge, creativity & team work.

Browse By The Personal Systems You Want To Build...

The Bottom’s Up Approach To Writing That 99% Guarantees A Successful Article

This time last year I thought I would start a blog. Except I wrote 3 blog posts that I think just my dad read. Starting a blog is hard, you end up putting so much effort into content that no one is reading (especially in those early days).
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4 Ways New Creators Can Get Started Publishing On Twitter

Just over a year ago I got started writing on Twitter. I always viewed Twitter as a distribution platform. A place where you came to tell the world things you created. But these days Twitter has become my main publishing platform where I test ideas and get (mostly) instant feedback on them.
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How I'm Using Readwise To Speed Up My Note-Making Process

If you've been following me for a while you'll know I've had a few things to say about Readwise. Not always good. But last month I signed up and I'm ready to say I might be wrong. I'll always be outspoken on the subject of highlighting without taking notes.But if you are taking notes then Readwise can be a helpful conduit to get those notes into your PKM.
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4 Simple Tricks I Use To Beat Procrastination At It's Game

I am the worst for putting things off. Even easy things that I know won't take long and that I've probably done a thousand times before. Like last week when I was trying to write some landing page copy. I wasn't even writing from scratch, we had done this event multiple times before.
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5 Tools Creators Can Use To Show Up Even On The Hard Days

Creators who master showing up daily are winning against 95% of everyone else. Except showing up daily is hard. There are a million other things that want our attention. And when we’re starting out it’s hard to see where all this ‘creating’ is going. Plenty of people in my real life asked me that question.
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Stop Waiting For Inspiration: 4 Ways To Generate Content Ideas On Tap

As a creator you can't afford to wait for inspiration, you have to manufacture it. Daniel Vassallo calls this 'bumping into inspiration.' It's not random, it's highly intentional places or inspiration generators that guarantee to serve you up ideas on a daily basis.
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The Simple Method That Makes Creating Content Look & Feel Ridiculously Easy

Being a creator and having a day job is tough. Your process will never look the same as a full-time creator. Deep work? Forget it. Cabin in the woods? Nope. Instead, you have to deal with limited time, kids, jobs, partners, and you know… a life.
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Reading Has Never Been Easier Since I Started Doing This

I have more Kindle books in my library than I care to admit to you. It's not that I don't read. It's that there is more to read than I can keep up with. If I could spend my days curled up on my favourite chair reading and taking notes, I would. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time and I doubt you do either.
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How Creators Can Make Their Notes 10x More Useful (& Create 10x More Content)

Writing notes is cool. But building those notes into a library of useful content is even cooler. I see a lot of creators (& I used to do this as well) throw notes into some kind of database give it a category like 'mindfulness' and then move on. Or use bi-directional linking to just link a bunch of words and hope they'll find them again later.
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These 4 Daily Practices Will Turn You Into An Effortless (& Prolific) Creator

I've never run out of ideas in the year I've been writing online. My ideas list is always overflowing with new things to write about & I often get asked where I get so many writing ideas from. The truth is much simpler than you might think. Every one of my ideas comes out of my daily note-taking practices.
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This Is The One Thing 99% of Creators Are Missing When Taking Notes

Do you constantly feel like your note-taking is lacking? You take notes & you highlight. You have databases filled with quotes. But your notes are a chaotic mess and rather than being helpful to your creator life they are a constant cause of stress and anxiety. The more you consume, the more chaotic it gets.
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Why Most Creators Don't Need To Build Complex Zettelkastens

I'm giving up on the Zettelkasten Note-Taking method. Two years ago I read the book How To Take Smart Notes. It changed how I think about notes forever. I diligently started taking fleeting notes & literature notes & permanent notes. I spent hours figuring out how to implement it, watching youtube videos on how other people did it and creating products to help others understand it.
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The 'First Moves' Framework That Will Kill Your Procrastination Forever

3 min 11 seconds
The science-backed method that helps solopreneurs start (and finish) their hardest tasks
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The Simple Task Method I Used To Eliminate Procrastination For Good.

They say it takes about 20 minutes to refocus every time you switch tasks.I don’t know about you, but I don’t have 20 minutes to waste every time I switch between the tasks on my list. My time is limited. So I created a way to skip that 20 minute hazy moment where you’re faffing around…
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How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Team’s Progress

The life-changing method I created to manage work that was waiting on me, get back to people faster, and create more space to do my best work.
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Master Your Schedule with My 10-Minute Weekly Planning Process (using Tana)

My foolproof weekly planning routine that takes me about 10 minutes every week and keeps me organised across my work, my creator business & my whole life.
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How To Make Steady Progress On Your Big Creative Projects

Lately I’ve been struggling with my process for getting big creative projects done. They feel like they are taking forever to finish. Each step feels big so I put it off thinking I need a bigger chunk of time to deal with it.
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An Essay About Boring SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)

2 min read
I am a master procrastinator. Not because I don't know what I should do or because I'm not motivated - but because most of the time I just don't have the headspace to get stuff done.
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What Goal Setting Looks Like For Infinite Game Players

2 min read
I was listening to an Instagram reel the other day from Sahil Bloom talking about finite v infinite games. If you're not familiar with the concept...
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Three Questions About Rest The Internet Couldn't Answer

2 min read
Yesterday I searched Google for the phrase 'How To Stop'I couldn't exactly articulate what I was trying to find, but basically, I wanted some advice on what it looks like to slow down, stop, & rest. I assumed I'd find some advice on this exact thing. Except I didn't.
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Five Weird Things I Do To Prepare For A New Year

2 min read
I love this time between Christmas and New Year. It's always so full of hope. It's quiet and gives me time to think, plan & dream for the new year. And like everyone I'm thinking about goals I want to accomplish, creating concrete plans of reaching those goals.
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How To Level Up 🆙 Your Life One Day At A Time

1 min read
Daily planners are not a new thing. It's literally the simplest & most powerful way to plan the day. Take a sheet of paper (or screen), put the date at the top & start organising your day. I remember getting my first Filofax and then going on to design my first paper (then digital) planner pages.
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A Simple Yearly Planning Ritual That Takes Less Than An Hour

2 min read
Despite what it looks like, I'm not one for complicated systems.And while I admire all the people who can put their head down for days and go through long yearly reviews & planning rituals, that is not for me.
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All The Things I’m Putting Of Till Tomorrow

2 min read
Unpopular Opinion: Procrastination has nothing to do with your motivation (or discipline) levels. I constantly defer tasks on my list to tomorrow. So much so that I created a list in my daily planner called 'All The Thing I'm Putting Off Till Tomorrow.' At first, it was a joke, but it's become a key way of noticing patterns in my behaviour.
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The High School Highlighting Habit That Is Holding You Back and How to Fix It

Most of us learned how to study books & highlight in high school. And we're still doing it the same way.
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How to Generate Better Ideas by Trying Less

The fastest way to solve an idea is to leave it unfinished.
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Ditch Brainstorming: Here’s How to Build an Endless Idea Ecosystem Instead

Why You'll Never Run Out of Ideas Again Once You Set Up This System
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Why Your Notes Aren’t Working for You (And the One Shift You Need to Make)

Traditional note-taking methods mostly feel like information storage. You spend so much time organising, categorising, and filing rather than the real work of exploring & working with ideas.
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4 Simple Strategies to Finally Review Your Notes Consistently

How to Turn Reviewing Your Notes into a Habit You Actually Enjoy
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How to Find and Share Ideas No One Else Is Talking About

Three beliefs held me back from getting started sharing my ideas online. (And the simple shift I made to overcome them) ↓
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Talk It Out: 3 Effective Ways to Capture Ideas with Your Voice

Capturing ideas might be one of the most important practices we can develop as humans. But is writing or typing the only way to capture those ideas? Think again...
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The Unexpected Way to Gain Deep Insights from Social Media

Social media gets a bad wrap these days. And for some good reasons. It's easy to get caught up with the doomscrolling, letting it distract us, getting into arguments we shouldn't, helping us procrastinate, not doing good things for our mental health. And yet. It's still my biggest category of saved items in my knowledge library & serves me up a wealth of new ideas every single day.
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3 Weird Things I Do to Stay Inspired Every Day

One weird habit has kept me consistently writing for the past four years.Before I was known as Ev Chapman, Prolific Creator. I was Ev Chapman, Wannabe creator.
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4 Simple Steps to Make Your Notes More Useful In Real Life Projects

What if you didn't have to start each project with a blank page?
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Your Ultimate Guide to Time Blocking in Tana | Step By Step Tutorial

3 easy timeblocking approaches to fit any work style using Tana.
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Supercharge Your Tana Day Page with Related Content - 10 Must-Have Sections

I've always loved how Tana keeps everything at my fingertips. But with the new Related Content feature, it's like having a supercharged dashboard right on my day page!
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Create Your Ultimate Digital Bullet Journal with Tana: Step-by-Step Guide

I have always loved the Bullet Journal system. It's simple & yet a profound way to get things out of your head and stay focused throughout the day.
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Unlock the Power of Tana's New AI Chat: A Step-by-Step Guide

Can AI really make your note-taking more powerful?
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Simplifying My Day Page With Tana's New Core Features: Full Walkthrough

How I'm using my Daily Page now with the release of Tana's Core features like Related Content & Google Calendar integration.
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Unlock the Power of Hybrid Note-Taking: Integrating GoodNotes with Tana

I very rarely miss my paper notebooks now that I use Tana. But every now and then when my brain needs to arrange my thoughts visually & find myself longing for a simple workflow where I can go from notes → drawing → back to my notes.
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My Set & Forget Tana Weekly Review System

Confession: I've never been very good at a consistent weekly review habit.
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My Tana 5 Minute Daily Planning Routine (Inspired by Sunsama)

I am notorious for creating day plans that are unrealistic and have WAY too much packed into them. Which is why when I saw Sunsama's daily planning routine it really got my attention
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I Replaced A Full Time Admin Assistant With AI

How I Use Tana To Get Admin Jobs Done Faster & More Efficiently Than A Human Asisstant
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How To Use Tana's Random Node Feature: 5 Ways

In this video I show you 5 ways you can use Tana's Random Node Field to review past notes, mix up your journalling practice, and have a little fun.
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Easy Mode Unlocked: The Ultimate Tana Starter Guide

Tana is one of the most powerful knowledge management tools I have used. But sometimes all those powerful features can overshadow just how simple it can be to get started. And I guarantee that most people are overthinking it from the very start.
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Create A Custom Affirmations App In Tana: Step By Step Tutorial

Throw away your Affirmations apps & subscriptions and build your very own custom one in Tana
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How to Use AI to Kickstart Your Writing—Without Getting Generic Content

4 min 32
How to Turn a Messy Brain Dump Into an Outline Using AI in 10 Minutes (and while chilling on the couch)
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How To Create New Ideas From Old Content With A Simple GPT Prompt called 'Pretend Podcast'

4 mins 8
Breath fresh life into old content with a simple chatGPT prompt that will get you thinking in ways you never thought of before
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How to Turn Your 1:1 Calls into a Goldmine of Content: Step By Step Guide

2 min 37
What if every time you jumped on a call with a client you could generate a bunch of content ideas at the same time?
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Turn Your Morning into a Creative Powerhouse with This Simple 3 Step Writing Routine

3 min 39
How I Went from Sporadic Blogging to Consistent Content Creation with One Simple Routine
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The Quirky Method I Use to Mine My Newsletter for Social Media Content

2 min 39
Ever feel like content creation is consuming your life? This method will save you.
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3 Cheat Codes For Non Experts To Start Sharing Your Ideas Online

We live in a world where it has never been easier to share your ideas & build an audience (& a business) around your ideas.Think about how hard that would have been 100 years ago or even 50 years ago?So why then do we struggle so much to get started?
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Less Creation, More Communication: Why Your Best Ideas Deserve a Replay

When I post about sharing ideas in multiple ways the most commented thing ends up being:'Only a portion of your audience sees every post, so sharing it multiple times means everyone sees it.'But that comment misses the whole point of WHY we should share our ideas repeatedly.
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How To Build A Creative Practice Like The Great Artists

I struggled for a decade to be a creator without a creative practice Instead of practising daily, the only time I switched on my creativity was when I needed to produce something. No wonder I struggled for so long!
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How To Build Atomic Ideas (That You Can Turn Into Endless Content)

Three years ago I was desperate to build a consistent writing practice.
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How I Structure My Daily Writing Sessions To Unlock My Ideas

One daily habit pulled me out of years of inconsistency as a creator... Establishing a Daily Spark Writing Practice.
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8 Of My Go-To Frameworks For Turning Ideas Into Content

Content is simply the communication of ideas.Lots of people have ideas, but if you can't communicate them well all those amazing ideas are going to get lost in translation.So communication is the real game of content creation.
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How To Break Down Content Creation Into Easy To Manage Phases

If weekly content planning always feels like a big lift to you, try breaking down your planning into phases instead.
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Exactly How I Grew My Twitter Audience From 500-1600 in 100 Days

I grew my Twitter following from 500 to 1600 in 100 days 🤯. No hacks, no tricks. Just genuine human connection. This is how I manage it all while working a full-time job, creating daily content on the internet & trying to have a life 🤪
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Four Mindful Habits That Will Transform Your Twitter Experience

I've been glued to my phone for weeks. Sometimes I even trick myself into thinking I'm not addicted. I turned off my Twitter notifications from showing up on my screen a long time ago. But sneakily, left them on in the notification center, just so I could swipe down anytime in case something 'important' was happening.
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Why Over-sharers Are Building A Bigger Audience Than You

I'm naturally a sharer. I love to share what I'm doing and what I'm learning. I'll easily take a screenshot, record a quick loom video or write out a process if I think it is interesting. I love taking a peek 'behind the scenes' of others processes too.
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How I Use Notion + Tweetdeck to Grow My Twitter Audience Without Going Crazy!

Everyone wants to grow on Twitter right? But what no one tells you is that as you grow it becomes pretty hard to keep up with everyone.
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So, you feel like an imposter do you?

45 days ago most of my tweets went unnoticed. It's amazing how quickly showing up daily compounds. Now the engagement on Twitter is literally crazy some days! And I'm running to keep up. I can't remember the last time a tweet had 0 engagement. But something else has happened beyond just likes and comments.
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3 Ways To Use Twitter Without Losing Your Mind 🤯

I joined Twitter in July 2008. It's been a love/hate ever since. I came back in December last year after about a year off and have been having the best time. But Twitter can itself be a HUGE rabbit hole and consume a lot of time.
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3 Reasons I Gave Up Youtube For Writing

I've been creating online since I was 18. A few years ago I started a Youtube channel. Everyone was vlogging at the time and it was THE platform to be on. Over a year I filmed and published over 60 vlogs, including a 30 day period of vlogging every day.
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How To Sell Digital Products On Auto-Pilot (Without Relying On Constant Launches)

You don't need a million-dollar launch to have a successful digital product.
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I'm Back From Creative Sabbatical & I Have Thoughts 😁

I've been on a creative sabbatical for the last 4 weeks and it's been the best thing I've ever done as a creator.
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How To Launch Your First Digital Product (& Survive 🫣)

So many creators I speak to are scared to launch their first product.I suspect there are a lot of reasons but the main one I hear is "Don't I have to have a big audience or following to launch a product?"I launched my first product with 500 followers, no email list & I made $3k in 4 weeks.
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When To Say Yes (& No) To New Opportunities As A Creator

Over the last couple of years, I've said yes to a million things as a creator. New projects, platforms, launches, content, newsletters, communities and more.
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My 2022 Creator Revenue Story: How I Almost Didn’t 2x My Revenue This Year

I almost wasn’t able to write such a glowing review of 2022. It was October and I was nowhere near reaching the (very reasonable) goals I had set for myself.
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I Cracked The Creator Content Funnel To Sell My Products On Auto-Pilot

I spent a ridiculous amount of time last year launching products. I think all up it was about 11 products from templates to courses to workshops to guides. I tried it all. And I made a fair amount of money doing it as a second income. Launches are fun (when they work) and they provide a nice windfall of cash for that month that you are launching. But they are also exhausting work and when you are not launching… no one is buying.
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The Evergreen Creator Funnel That Makes $2k Every Month

I spent a ridiculous amount of time last year launching products. I think there were 11 in total. Launches are fun (when they work). And they provide a nice windfall of cash. But when I wasn't launching... no one was buying.
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The Burnout Free Guide To Being A Creator In The Year 2022

Here's what no one is telling you about being a creator... it's relentless. Being a creator seems fun at first as you proudly hit publish on your first blog post, or write a Twitter thread that gets more than a few likes and suddenly you start to build a bit of an audience.
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Why You Should Always Launch Your Free Notion Template On Gumroad

I love it when I see people launching their first Notion template. After all, it's where I got started. I launched my first free Notion template in December 2020 and countless more after that. And by far the best advice I ever received from seasoned template creators was to put it on Gumroad.
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The New Way To Pre-Launch A Product On Gumroad

Don't despair over Gumroad removing the pre-launch feature. Recently Gumroad removed their pre-launch feature. If you've been using it to pre-launch your products you might be wondering how the heck to do you do a pre-launch now?
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Why You Shouldn’t Quit Your Day Job To Become A Full-Time Creator

Here’s an Unpopular Opinion For You: Having a day job and being a creator are not mutually exclusive.You can do both well & enjoy them. I do. Most people assume I’m a full-time creator. But nothing could be further from the truth.
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How To Break Bad Habits When You Don't Have Willpower

I don't break bad habits. I focus on building good habits. If you do a search on Quora for habits, you'll come across many questions about how to break bad habits. It seems that we're more obsessed with breaking bad habits than we are about building good ones.
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