THE DAILY 1%: make more friends, is watching TV romantic?, how to persuade...and more!

[The February 4 installment.

I go through about 100+ articles to find ten that I think can help people improve 1% per day.

I'm a firm believer that most people stay flat in their lives. They give up on improvement. But 1% a day, compounded, equals 3780% a year. Trust me: this is a fun way to live.

1% a day == superhero in a year.

If you want me to continue sharing these, let me know in the comments, or tag a friend you think might benefit. I hope to hear from you and to hear your own tips in the comments.]

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HOW DO I GET MORE FRIENDS?

I feel like I don't have enough friends. Should I have five good friends? Or two? Or ten? 

And what is a good friend? Someone I can call randomly in the middle of the day and say, "Hey how's its going?" 

I don't know. 

But research shows that 70% of happiness as an adult comes from your reltaationships. So here's 5 ways to make more friends as an adult: 

Specifically: "The primary components are number of friends, closeness of friends, closeness of family, and relationships with co-workers and neighbors. "

So how do we make friends?

https://www.bakadesuyo.com/2017/02/how-to-make-friends-as-an-adult/

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E + A + B! BEST SCENE EVER

I love anything that breaks down complex topics: relationships, stories, music, business, to it's basic skeletal components. 

You don't have to know what's going on in this show. But Vinyl, produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger (but still cancelled in one season!, showing that nothing is a guarantee) has the best scene ever on television. 

"Lester" shows that every song, even every building, EVERYTHING, has the same skeleton in this beautiful, beautiful scene: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAzey1a0qmg

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IS TV GOOD FOR YOU?

Speaking of TV, I really hate TV snobs who say, "We never watch TV!". I recently watched two good shows: "Love" (produced by Judd Apatow) and "Russian doll" (produced by Amy Poehler). 

And I feel justified now: 

My friend, Gretchen Rubin, author of books on happiness, shows that watching TV with your significant other can increase your happiness: 

https://www.positivelypositive.com/2019/02/02/watching-tv-with-your-sweetheart-may-boost-your-happiness/

(one of my favorite recent shows, produced by one of my favorite producers)

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PERSUADE!

Free will is mostly a myth. That's why we are bombarded with 40,000 ad messages a day. Because ad agencies know they can manipulate us. 

That's why the person most fluent in hypnotism can get elected. 

Successful persuaders can win arguments, negotiations, do sales, etc. 

380 power words for persuasion. 

https://www.thepersuasionrevolution.com/380-high-emotion-persuasive-words/

(Every day I will have new posts about persuasion. I am obsessed with this). 

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WHAT CAN YOU MAKE?

I don't know how to cook. I don't even like to shop in a store because I'm afraid I'll have no willpower and just buy all snacks. 

But when you have kids you inevitably keep the fridge loaded. 

This site is like the Shazam of recipes. 

Type in all the food in your refrigerator and it will tell you the recipes of everything you can make: 

https://myfridgefood.com

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DON'T DO THIS IF YOU WANT TO BUY A HOME

I'm always against home ownership in the US for reasons I describe in many places. 

But I understand it's not just a financial choice, it's a personal choice and many people feel the need or "roots". 

IF you are going to buy a home, make sure you do it in a way that won't prevent you from having other opportunities to make more money in the future. 

Don't do this, for instance: 

https://www.thisisinsider.com/everyday-millionaires-pay-off-mortgage-strategy-build-wealth-2019-2?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=referral

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THE BEST COMEDY TIPS

For the past four years I've been obsessively working on my standup comedy. Often performing 4-5x a week or more. 

I've been a fan since the 1990s and often practiced comedy (even standup) in my public talks and writing. But now I've been going full force, as evidenced by many of the comedians on my podcast (from Paul Reiser and Gllbert Gottfriend, to Tiffany Haddish, Jim Norton, Sebastian Maniscalco, and more). 

One of my favorites, Gary Gulman, has been on my podcast three times. One time we spent 90 minutes going over word by word on the best jokes ever: his "abbreviated states" joke (youtube it). 

Lately, he's been giving a #GulmanTip a day for comedy but I find these tips have improved all of my writing. 

Here they are: https://twitter.com/hashtag/GulManTip?src=hash

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FOLD A T-SHIRT IN FIVE SECONDS

Huh? 

And yet...it works. 

How to fold a t-shirt in five seconds. I never knew how to do it before: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAxhr0j0thY&feature=youtu.be

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MATH FORMULA FOR SUCCESS (e.g. h = r / e)

My seven mathematical formulas for success. 

I live by these formulas: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtWeHOhByU8/

[if you like, please follow me on Instagram for more]. 

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THE YES-LADDER. DO YOU USE IT?

Ok, I can't help it. Another powerful persuasion technique. 

Do you use the 'yes ladder'? 

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-amazing-psychology-and-mind-tricks

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SOLVE THESE SIMPLE PUZZLES THAT I COULDN'T

Will Shortz, editor of the NY Times Crossword Puzzle for 26 years, author of 500+ books on puzzles, gives me some quick puzzles to solve. 

I can't do most of them. Can you? 

I do believe solving puzzles every day keeps the brain sharp. 

Scroll to the bottom to get straight to Will's puzzles for me: 

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{If you want me to continue sharing these, let me know in the comments, or tag a friend you think might benefit. I hope to hear from you and to hear your own tips in the comments.]}