The Why

I’ll borrow anything from anybody. I don’t care who or what the source is. Adopting a better idea than your own is nothing to be self-conscious about.

— Pat Summitt, Reach for the Summit

Don’t beat yourself up over past mistakes – learn at least a little from them and move on. It is never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and copy them.

— Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway

Nine years ago, I started collecting insights, concepts and stories that helped explain the world to me. This collection comes from books, podcasts, X and corners of the internet. Eventually I organized it in a Dropbox document and now it has become IdeaKache. As I write this, the collection is 2,410 individual entries.

I can’t remember why I started collecting these ideas. My best guess is that I’ve always liked learning things and a great way to learn is from other people who have done things. I’m sure I also hoped it would help me when making decisions at work.

That it would help me make decisions definitely turned out to be true, as IdeaKache continues to teach me. For example, Naval Ravikant’s “Learn to sell. Learn to build.” was a major reason I started GemKa: I wanted to learn how to build things. James Dyson’s “You’ve just got to keep trying” has been my soundtrack for the last six months.

It’s this first-hand experience that means I know many people will get something out of IdeaKache. Whether you’re looking for guidance on a major decision or a pithy quote to put in a presentation for work or school, there’s a wealth of knowledge in this collection for you.

One of the downsides of the internet is that when you see a quote from someone well-known, it can be hard to know if they actually said or wrote that. I’ve sourced everything in IdeaKache and have the links on each entry to prove it. In fact, I’ve made multiple visits to the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building to make sure I got entries from old and rare books correct.

I’m putting my name against the accuracy of what’s in IdeaKache and so any errors remain mine alone.

Visiting this page shows that you’re a curious and smart person. IdeaKache will make you even smarter.

Jeremy

P.S. I’ve got two other products that you might like. If you want to own where your time goes, visit gemtimer.com, and if you want to get more things done, try gemtodo.com.

P.P.S. For more thoughts from me, visit jeremycowcher.com.