Hello! We're back with the "Best-of" series where I make some recommendations of content to consume. The best use of social media is to curate our feeds in such a way that we see what we want to see, from like-minded people. I have curated my Youtube and Instagram in that way. When it comes to Twitter, I'm very picky and I follow around 20 people in total. So let's take a look at the elites who make my time worthwhile on Twitter.
Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy)
Tim Urban is one of the best writers on the internet. He runs a blog waitbutwhy.com where he talks about almost everything under the sun and beyond it. His twitter account is a bite-sized version of his blog and his tweets are interesting, informative, and loads of fun. Here's a taste of his tweets.
Gravity makes the coolest art https://t.co/yY4E8HMUpH
— Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) May 30, 2022
21 thoughts from 2021 I'd like to take into 2022: pic.twitter.com/hdHCgGiYVj
— Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) December 31, 2021
Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, and Arabic are way harder for English speakers to learn because they're not Indo-European languages. All the other languages here are cousins that evolved from a single common ancestor language that was spoken 4,500-6,500 years ago. pic.twitter.com/DE0Mp9sqke
— Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) November 27, 2022
Important life skill: recognizing the difference between criticism from people who don’t care about you and don’t root for you, and criticism from those who do. The first is best ignored. The second warrants attention and reflection.
— Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) November 8, 2022
If you had a giant scale and you put three Empire State Buildings on one side and a cubic millimeter of neutron star on the other, the neutron star side would go down and the buildings would be thrust up.
— Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) May 31, 2022
A cubic mm of neutron star—the size of a grain of sand—is over 1M tonnes.
Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom)
Sahil Bloom is an entrepreneur and writer on Twitter. Sahil is the best example of consistency and he write a tweet thread every single day. I've been following him for almost a year now and I don't think I have seen him miss a day. He's a big inspiration for consistency. Sahil writes about habits, personal development, psychology, statistics, food and nutrition, workouts, business, and much more. His tweets are backed by science and research, and his ideas about life are wise and grounded. If you're looking to curate your Twitter feed, you can't miss this guy. Here's a taste of his tweets.
A paradox is a seemingly self-contradictory statement that proves true.
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) August 14, 2022
The most powerful paradoxes I’ve found:
To make continuous improvements, here's a concept you must understand:
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) September 16, 2022
Another lie:
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) June 19, 2022
The map of the world. The standard Mercator projection map is conformal—it inflates the size of objects away from the equator.
This contributed to an inflated view of the relative importance of North America & Europe vs. equatorial regions. pic.twitter.com/oP5bUhWHUl
I recently came across data on who we spend our time with over the course of our lives.
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) November 12, 2022
The insights are simultaneously inspiring and depressing.
Here are 6 graphs everyone needs to see:
Morgan Housel (@morganhousel)
Morgan Housel is the author of the book "Psychology of Money", which is one of the best personal finance books I've read. His financial insights are profound and always make me think. Follow him if you would like some timeless insights and tips on investing and personal finance. He also writes in his blog.
I think "know your audience" can be dangerous advice for writers.
— Morgan Housel (@morganhousel) October 10, 2022
Write stuff you yourself find interesting and entertaining.
Writing for yourself is fun, and it shows. Writing for others is work, and it shows.
"A great way to understand yourself is to seriously reflect on everything you find irritating in others." @kevin2kelly
— Morgan Housel (@morganhousel) October 10, 2022
Elmore Leonard has the best writing advice: “Leave out the parts readers tend to skip."
— Morgan Housel (@morganhousel) September 19, 2022
Spending money to show people how much money you have is the fastest way to have less money.
— Morgan Housel (@morganhousel) July 4, 2022
Alex and Books (@AlexAndBooks_)
I have included Alex in my Best of Instagram post too, but I found him on Twitter first. Alex is my primary source of non-fiction book recommendation, and his account has thousands of recommendations organized into categories. Alex also has loads of tips about reading including cultivating a reading habit, the best non-fiction books for beginners to read, how to retain what we learnt from a book, etc. Follow him for a treasure trove of book recommendations. Here's a taste of his tweets.
Looking for an amazing book about:
— Alex & Books 📚 (@AlexAndBooks_) June 1, 2022
🥦 Health
💰 Money
📜 History
📈 Investing
🗣 Biography
🤑 Marketing
📊 Economics
💭 Philosophy
🧠 Psychology
💪 Self-improvement
If so, here are 20 of each:
20 Must-read books that will change your life:
— Alex & Books 📚 (@AlexAndBooks_) July 11, 2022
1. Atomic Habits pic.twitter.com/Lyt0V1j2KL
23 of the smartest quotes I've ever heard:
— Alex & Books 📚 (@AlexAndBooks_) June 4, 2022
20 Amazing books in 20 different genres:
— Alex & Books 📚 (@AlexAndBooks_) May 13, 2022
Brian Greene (@bgreene)
Brian Greene is an astrophysicist, an author and a professor at Columbia University. He tweets about all things related to astrophysics and astronomy. Here are some tweets that fascinated me.
Visualizations of Einstein's general relativity often show space warping only "underneath" an object--this visual is better: pic.twitter.com/LyFX7B2CWj
— Brian Greene (@bgreene) November 30, 2022
A cosmic perspective does not lessen tragedy but it does offer solace through the wonder of existence.
— Brian Greene (@bgreene) September 12, 2022
We spend our lives floating on a sea of repelling electrons. We never actually touch anything. Just saying.
— Brian Greene (@bgreene) September 8, 2022
Werner Heisenberg, whose uncertainty principle established a central role for chance in the quantum laws of physics, born this week 1901. And that's certain. pic.twitter.com/EZN8JZfeBr
— Brian Greene (@bgreene) December 8, 2022
Friendly reminder:
— Steve Kamb (@SteveKamb) November 23, 2022
What you eat between Thanksgiving and New Years (6 weeks)...
Matters WAY less than what you eat between New Years and Thanksgiving (46 weeks).
A few more thoughts on this time of year:
Steve Kamb (@SteveKamb)
Steve Kamb is an author and a fitness expert, who also tweets on personal development, nutrition and much more. His Twitter bio reads "Helping nerds get strong without losing who they are or what they are". Honestly, I can't summarize this account better than this. Here are some of my favorite tweets.
How to live a pretty darn good life:
— Steve Kamb (@SteveKamb) May 7, 2021
-Move more than you sit.
-Give more than you take.
-Earn more than you spend.
-Listen more than you speak.
-Create more than you consume.
“And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.”-John Steinbeck
— Steve Kamb (@SteveKamb) November 3, 2022
Pretty good, most of the time > perfect, temporarily
Play the long game.
Friendly reminder:
— Steve Kamb (@SteveKamb) November 23, 2022
What you eat between Thanksgiving and New Years (6 weeks)...
Matters WAY less than what you eat between New Years and Thanksgiving (46 weeks).
A few more thoughts on this time of year:
You don't NEED to strength train. You're an adult and you can make your own decisions.
— Steve Kamb (@SteveKamb) October 20, 2022
You also don't NEED to floss, shower daily, or wear pants in public.
BUT, for so many reasons, you probably SHOULD do all these things.
Especially the pants.
James Clear (@JamesClear)
This isn't the first time I'm talking about James Clear on my blog. I consume his content in every which way possible. His book Atomic Habits changed my life, and I've been a big fan of his work since then. I read his newsletter regularly and his tweets are no exceptions. James Clear has the best advice about habits one could ever have, and his insights keeps get better and better over time. If you want to be better with your habits and get your life together, consume his content. Here are some of his twitter gems.
A surefire way to make a bad situation worse is to continue replaying it in your mind.
— James Clear (@JamesClear) October 12, 2022
The damage is done. The only thing that matters now is making the best choice given your current position.
Next play mentality.
As far as life philosophies go, “The right time is right now” isn't a bad one. Most of us would benefit from a greater bias toward action.
— James Clear (@JamesClear) November 30, 2022
If you move fast, you can try more things. And if you try more things, you're likely to find something that works for you.
In the long-run, prioritization beats efficiency.
— James Clear (@JamesClear) November 23, 2022
When researching strategies, emphasize patterns over stories. One person succeeding means nothing. 100 people succeeding is a signal.
— James Clear (@JamesClear) November 22, 2022
When explaining strategies, emphasize stories over patterns. People forget numbers and charts. Everyone remembers a great story.
Mastery requires both impatience and patience.
— James Clear (@JamesClear) June 9, 2018
The impatience to have a bias toward action, to not waste time, and to work with a sense of urgency each day.
The patience to delay gratification, to wait for your actions to accumulate, and to trust the process.
When determining the size or complexity of a new habit ask yourself, "What can I stick to—even on my worst day?"
— James Clear (@JamesClear) November 16, 2022
Start there. Master the art of showing up. Then advance.
An idea from today's 3-2-1 newsletter:
— James Clear (@JamesClear) November 3, 2022
“The ultimate form of preparation is not planning for a specific scenario, but a mindset that can handle uncertainty.”
See more of today's newsletter (and sign up to get it in your inbox): https://t.co/lTqhlGhTfs
Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson)
What can I say about Mark? Hmm. It's hard to describe Mark Manson in a passage. He is the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. My personal favorite is one of his earlier books called Models, which hits me with truths and facts everyday. He's witty, funny, straight to your face, and brutal in dissecting the truths of life. Whenever the universe slaps on my face with some truth or a reality check, Mark Manson is the hitman for the job. Everybody needs a Mark Manson in their lives, who will tell you things straight to your face. I've had the most number of Aha! moments when I've read Mark Manson's content. I cannot count the number of retweets and bookmarks I've done on Mark's tweets. Here are some of his gems.
1/ 5 Things to Remind Yourself of Regularly:
— Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson) December 5, 2022
1. The opposite of misery isn't happiness, it's gratitude.
2. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, including yourself.
3. Your successes won't feel as good as you hope. Your failures won't feel as bad as you fear.
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." - Friedrich Nietzsche
— Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson) November 16, 2022
Reality will always hit. It's just a question of when, and how painful it will be.
— Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson) October 11, 2022
How To Start a Reading Habit:
— Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson) September 25, 2022
1. Pick up a book you think you will like (no judgment, get your Harry Potter on)
2. Read the first chapter
3. If you like it, keep going
4. If you don’t, find a new book
5. Repeat until you die
4 Harsh Truths About Life:
— Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson) September 18, 2022
1. The less you force relationships, the stronger they are.
2. You’re not supposed to accomplish all your goals.
3. No one actually knows what the hell they’re doing.
4. The world doesn’t give a shit about you unless you give it a reason to.
Dr. Emily Anhalt (@dremilyanhalt)
Dr. Emily Anhalt is a psychologist. She tweets about therapy, tools for managing our mind, self-management, and so many other insights on mental health. I would rather show than tell. Here are some of her tweets I liked.
Don’t tell people what they should or shouldn’t feel. About anything.
— Dr. Emily Anhalt (@dremilyanhalt) November 7, 2022
Feelings are subjective and at the discretion of the feeler.
Feel-good brain juice & how to squeeze it:
— Dr. Emily Anhalt (@dremilyanhalt) September 21, 2022
🤗 Serotonin (mood regulator): get into nature, meditate, exercise
💕 Oxytocin (love & bonding): 7-second hug, give a compliment, have an orgasm
🏆 Dopamine (reward & satisfaction): celebrate a win, good food, sunlight
When you’ve been told your entire life to get over things, it can be hard to remember that the only effective option is to get through them.
— Dr. Emily Anhalt (@dremilyanhalt) August 26, 2022
Naval Ravikant (@naval)
Saving the best for the last, here is Naval. I don't think I have to introduce him in this blog once again. He's the person I have quoted the most and I have consumed his contents on all platforms possible. Yet, Naval himself has said that Twitter is like his journal and that he thinks out loud on Twitter. So Twitter is a special place to consume Naval's wisdom, from his mind to ours. Honestly, sometimes it takes a while for me to understand his tweets, but there is so much wisdom packed in his Twitter page. Going into a Naval rabbithole is time well spent for me. After so many quotes of his tweets on my blog, once again, here are some of my favorites.
How to Get Rich (without getting lucky):
— Naval (@naval) May 31, 2018
A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things outside of their control.
— Naval (@naval) October 14, 2017
Ten simple truths:
— Naval (@naval) March 16, 2019
When we see the truth in a person, we call it authenticity.
— Naval (@naval) October 8, 2022
I have learned a lot from the people above and I look forward to learn more. Despite all the drama that's going on in Twitter lately, I'm thankful for all the people who created and worked on this platform that provides value to millions of people like me. What are some Twitter accounts that I should consider following? Let me know. Thanks for reading!