Controlling Inputs

Kumara Raghavendra
A Good Life
Published in
Mar 12, 2022

Inputs are the things that we control — how we approach a situation, the due diligence that we do, the preparation and the effort we put in, the thoroughness we bring.

Outputs are a function of the inputs and some extrinsic variables that we do not control — luck, environmental factors.

Outputs are what really matter to us. It is the consequences of the actions we take and the end result of the paths we choose.

However, even a chimpanzee hits the bulls-eye once in a while while a professional dart-thrower misses by a mile once in a while.

Our focus should be on optimising and standardising our inputs to maximise the probability of achieving desirable outputs.

The outputs themselves are a consequence.

We shouldn’t beat ourselves up over them.

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Kumara Raghavendra
A Good Life

Writer. Comedian. Product + Data Science @ Booking.com. Discovering the world, one idea at a time.