I’ve been wanting to try Grok Bot for a few weeks. Grok Bot is xAI’s version of a persistent AI agent. You give it a task and it goes off and executes it for you. Grok Bot works autonomously on a cloud computer, so you’re not required to have your computer open.

The subjects of some of the biographies I read are alive and well. When that’s the case, I like to find them online (X, their personal blog, etc.). My goal is to read their latest thinking, since books are a snapshot in time and people’s views evolve with their experiences. I learn a lot from their recent thinking, but it’s hard to keep up. It’s even harder when I learn about someone and then try to go back and read all their old posts.

This weekend I’m going to see if Grok Bot can help with this. I want to give it a list of people and have it look for their most recent thinking, summarize it, and point me to the sources. So it will know where to focus, I’ll give it instructions on what kind of information I’m interested in for each person. Hopefully it will be able to give me a daily report or something similar that I can easily consume.

A new habit of mine this year is being intentional about rereading books. I try to reread at least one book a month, so my objective is three new books a month and one reread. That’s working pretty well, and I’m happy with it.

What I’m not happy with is my inconsistency around synthesizing books (see this example). I’ve tried a few times to get consistent, but I haven’t cracked it yet. My big takeaway is that synthesizing every book I read won’t work. I don’t have enough time and bandwidth, and also I’ve realized that not all books are worth synthesizing. Some books are good, and some are great. I want to synthesize only the great ones. Partly this is a way of making sure important concepts stick, and partly it’s a way to make it possible to read through the most important concepts in a fraction of the time.

Thinking about the book I’m rereading this week, I decided it’s a great one and I’d like to use this week to not only reread it but also synthesize it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that might be the missing habit that will make me synthesize the best books I read more consistently.

So, this week I’m experimenting with this. Hopefully it works out and I can kill two birds with one stone by rereading and synthesizing the same book this week.

Over the last few months, the price of oil (and energy generally) has made headlines. I don’t know much about oil, its history, or how it has historically impacted politics. Lately, though, founders and everyday people have been telling me how fuel prices are impacting them. Just this week, one founder shared how the margins of his business are down because diesel prices are so high.

I want to understand the current oil situation better, so this week I started reading a biography of an entrepreneur who supposedly built a massive company that created the current oil trading markets.

I’m curious about this topic, and I hope this entrepreneur’s story helps me understand it. I’m looking forward to finishing the book and adding it to this site’s library this weekend.

I’ve used the basic features of a piece of software for several years. Beyond the basics, it’s very powerful and has sophisticated features and functionality that you can implement by writing custom scripts in a coding language native to the platform. I’m not a developer, so I never bothered.

This weekend I watched someone use the software in a way I didn’t know was possible. Wanting to add this functionality, I began digging around. I found a Reddit post where people were discussing scripts to create this functionality. They posted examples of their scripts, and others provided feedback on what they did and didn’t do correctly.

I wasn’t about to decipher all those scripts, so I fired up Claude. I told it what functionality I wanted. I pointed it to the Reddit post and asked it to write the script for me. After a little back and forth, Claude gave me a script that I was able to add to the software. The feature I want is now live, and it works great.

I’m now thinking about all the sophisticated features I want to add to this platform so I can make the most of it. I’m actually excited about being able to unlock tremendous value in this platform that I couldn’t access because I wasn’t interested in learning to write scripts.

Today I talked with some Georgia Tech students about how they keep up with the ever-changing AI landscape. As I said in my post yesterday, I’ve found X to be a useful research aid, so I was surprised when they told me they don’t use the platform. They asked me questions about X, how I use it, and how it’s been helpful.

I went on to tell them about a few AI developments I’ve learned of recently that they weren’t aware of and how I found them on X.

This conversation was surprising because I assumed a platform like X would appeal to younger, tech-focused users. Today’s conversation showed me that that may not be true, at least not broadly, but it also reinforced my view that X is a great platform for research and keeping up with changes in fast-moving technologies like AI.

Over the last few years, I’ve leaned heavily on self-education. I’m intentional about learning about things that interest me or that are important to understand. But it isn’t always easy. When I begin learning something new, I often struggle with where to start.

Books are great, but sometimes I need something else first; a compass to point me in the right direction or to the right books.

For the last two years, I’ve found X (formerly Twitter) to be an invaluable research tool. When I’m trying to understand something, I can find conversations on the topic between smart people and tons of links to credible resources like books and podcasts. And when I’ve gotten stuck on something, I’ve DM’d a notable person with a question and often gotten a response quickly.

I’m not a fan of social media, but for self-education, X has been a great resource.

A friend sent me a quote that had reminded them of me and my reading habit:

If you do something like read a lot of books and talk to a lot of people, you can learn almost anything.

~ Elon Musk

I totally agree. Many people think that structured learning (i.e., school) is the only way to learn. The reality is that nothing stops people from learning (almost) anything they want to learn. They just need to grab some books and talk to knowledgeable, credible people. And then put in a lot of effort.

I’m a big fan of continual learning. It’s mentally stimulating and fun. Reading is my favorite method, but I also listen to lots of podcasts on YouTube while I’m doing other things. Over the last year, I’ve become more intentional about what I listen to. Here are a few rules I try to stick to:

• Experience sharing – I aim to listen to interviews with people who’ve done the thing I’m interested in learning. I want to hear about what they did, why they did it, what the outcome was, and what they learned.
• Frameworks – If I’m trying to learn something and there’s a method or approach that’s led to outsize success, I’ll listen to people discuss that framework.
• History  – I enjoy hearing recounts of what happened in the past, but I don’t want opinions. I want the facts and the timeline.
• How to think – I don’t enjoy podcasts where people are trying to convince listeners that the way they see things is the right way. I want to hear only the facts. I can then decide how to think about them (rightly or wrongly).
• Talking heads – I tend to avoid people who want the limelight or want to be famous. They talk even when they’re not saying anything substantive.
• Niches – I tend to enjoy podcasts that go deep into niches I’m interested in. Broad or generic podcasts don’t appeal to me. I’d rather listen to people who know a lot about a little than people who know a little about a lot.
• Predictions – Predicting the future is impossible, although many people try. I avoid listening to podcasts where people make predictions.
• Giving back – I really enjoy podcasts where people who’ve had outsize success share their story and what they’ve learned simply because they want to pay it forward.
• Authors – If I’m interested in a book, I’ll try to find interviews with the author. If I like the interviews and the author is a clear thinker, I’m more inclined to purchase the book.

This list isn’t static. It will change as my listening habits evolve. But with so much content out there, I’ve found it helpful to apply criteria to ensure that the things I’m listening to align with my goal of continual learning and I don’t consume mindless content.

A year or so ago, I learned about someone who ran a single-person business focused on farmers. I read up on the entrepreneur and listened to a few podcast interviews he gave. He was interesting to me because his business was massive, ~$20 million, from ~30,000 paid newsletter subscribers, and he’s a one-man band. I was impressed but figured I’d never be able to make use of what I’d just learned because I don’t know anyone in farming or agriculture.

This week I had a conversation with a team building an accounting platform for farmers. As we talked about marketing, I mentioned the newsletter entrepreneur. They weren’t familiar with him, so I gave them background info and my thoughts about how he could be an asset to their business and how attending any event he attended could pay dividends for them because his subscribers are exactly who their company is trying to reach. That information was helpful to the team and sparked new marketing ideas.

My takeaway is that I never know when something I’ve consumed will be of value to me or someone else down the road, so I should continue to follow my interests and consume content and read books about topics I’m interested in regardless of whether the value is clear at the time.

This week I had a great conversation with someone who came across my blog and reached out. An avid reader and entrepreneur, he asked for feedback, which I gladly gave. I also shared my experience building a product similar to his and some other things I’ve learned. The conversation went longer than we’d planned. He offered to make introductions to other entrepreneurs who are avid readers, which I appreciate.

My takeaway is that sharing what I’ve learned, online for free, encourages serendipity. I have no idea how many people out there are interested in the same things I am. Some of them may come across what I’ve shared, and it may be helpful. And a smaller subset of those who get value from what I share may reach out to discuss ideas.

I enjoy my habits of daily blogging and reading; I’ve grown a ton because of them. And recently I’ve realized that they’re leading to my connecting with like-minded people, which I didn’t expect but do enjoy.  

My takeaway is that sharing what I’ve learned online has little downside and, over the years, a growing upside.