🎆 The Not-To-Do List for 2024

Everybody talks about things they want to do this year. Instead, let's talk about what not to do in 2024.

Welcome to the Not-To-Do List for 2024. 

Quick refresher: instead of setting resolutions for the new year (this year I’m gonna do X), I prefer to set anti-resolutions. We all do enough things already anyway; instead of adding, subtract. 

Addition by subtraction.

This week, I conducted a Past-Year Review. There, I went through my calendar and listed the things that gave energy and drained energy. The latter column then informed this Not-To-Do List.

Let’s dive in.

[1] Exclusively read new books

“It’s better to read a fantastic book 5 times than to read 5 mediocre books.” - Alex Hormozi

Last year, I read ~25 books. That’s a lot of material. 

I also re-read 0 books. That’s not a lot. 

I retain approximately 5-10% of each book that I read (slightly more when I write index cards). 

When you re-read a book, you apply spaced repetition, allowing you to retain more of the information featured in that book. 

There are a few timeless classics that I recommend to a lot of people. But in reality, I only barely recall what they feature. So in 2024, I want to make the time to re-read the best books I’ve read in the last ten years. 

A few on the list are: 

• Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss 

• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

• $100M Offers & $100M Leads by Alex Hormozi (seriously, they’re fantastic business books)

• The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida 

• The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

• So Good That They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport 

Sometimes, a book will find you when you’re ready. I’d encourage you to go through your bookshelf and see whether there’s anything that jumps out to you.

You may not have been ready when you first bought it. Now you might be.

[2] Eat expired food 

Food waste is bad.

So in the past years, I’ve been eating a lot of food that was over its suggested expiration date. Which worked well most of the time.

This year, I had food poisoning. Twice. From eating stuff in the back of my fridge that “definitely was still good”.

It’s just not worth it. Throw away food you’re not 100% secure about; don’t be like 2023 Dominik and spend days lying in bed, writhing in pain. 

[3] Constantly be busy 

There’s some magic in unstructured time.

(Says the person that teaches you to manage your calendar in 15-minute increments.)

When you’re constantly busy, your mind cannot get any rest. This is where the best ideas happen.

So paradoxically, giving yourself unstructured time is productive. 

As athlete, I understand the importance of rest. Giving the body time to recover, mend the minor injuries, and build muscle.

Your mind needs the same.

Therefore, I want to spend more time in an unstructured manner. (Maybe need to schedule it?)

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If you’re enjoying this post, you might also like my last post:

🎄IG#26: 2023 in review - Stats, Figures, & Outlook for 2024

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[4] Show the same compassion to myself that I show to others 

Most high performers know this feeling: you have high standards of yourself that you’d never deviate from.

But if somebody else deviates from them, you’re compassionate with them. They had a rough day. They are going through a difficult phase.

I hate to break it to you: that’s a double standard. You have rough days too. And maybe even difficult phases.

So next year, try to be a bit more compassionate with yourself.

You don’t always have to deliver and be 100% on point. There are good and bad days. Accept that. 

(hat tip to my brother Lorenz for pointing this out)

[5] Access the Internet before 11am 

In 2023, I started charging my phone outside the bedroom.

The first 60 minutes of my day were filled with calm. Beautiful silence. Lots of room to think, to write, to meditate.

Once I got online (on my phone or laptop), the chaos came back. Messages. Reminders. Requests.

Distractions everywhere. You can feel your mind’s RAM being overloaded instantly.

So instead: why not spend the first 3-4 hours of your day undistracted? 

Why not start working on the most important things first? 

You can still deal with the rest after 11am. 

This is also possible if you work in full-time employment. Educate your colleagues that you cannot take meetings or communicate before 11am. If you work in an ambitious company, they’ll respect that this is the time when you generate your best output.

There’s really nothing that warrants derailing your day right after waking up. 

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That’s it for 2024.

However, the Not-To-Do Lists from previous years don’t disappear - they still apply.

You can find them here: 

• 2020

• 2021

• 2023 

And check out this article for detailed instructions on how to do the same exercise.

IG#25: 2 Tools to Prepare You For 2024

This is the last post for 2023. Thank you for joining me on the ride. 

To a wonderful year 2024. 

And now, I’d be curious to hear: what will you put on your Not-To-Do List? 

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So if you feel anything like Lea, please tell a friend about this newsletter, and maybe even forward them this email. It’s the best thing you can do to help this newsletter grow. 

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That’s it for this edition of International Generalist. Thanks for tuning in and reading!

Who’s behind International Generalist? 

I’m Dominik, and every day, I try to figure out how to become a tiny bit more effective. Then, I share some of the lessons learned here. 

When I’m not writing, I build the international business for Sdui - the Leading European SchoolOS -, play Lacrosse, lift weights and enjoy draft beers.

Here’s how else I can help you: 

• Read the newsletter archive for more actionable nuggets 

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