The Digest - June 25

• What highly successful entrepreneurs wish they had done differently. Learn from them.
• This little known but extremely valuable tool in Gmail my just save your relationship!
• Green tea can make you gain weight!?
• How comfortable are you with consuming genetically modified foods?
• An INSEAD & Harvard professor develops a tool to help you chose the right career path.
• Be careful with doing pushups on your knees: you may be risking injury.

• Yes you can learn from your own mistakes as an entrepreneur, but why repeat the mistakes of others? I use my personal experience as an entrepreneur and the knowledge I’ve accumulated from reading about and interacting with other entrepreneurs to develop a database of “must do” and “mustn’t do” for success in the world of entrepreneurship. I came across this article yesterday, in which successful entrepreneurs talk about the what they wish they “had done differently”. What I found most interesting is that most of these “mistakes” are not unique to them: I see them on a regular basis with entrepreneurs I work with. Some of the most notable ones include: building a product/service people didn’t really want; not purposefully developing a “culture”; not having an experienced mentor; not soliciting feedback; chasing every “great” idea and not seeking any single one through / lacking focus; picking the wrong co-founder / partner, etc.

• Did you ever hit “send” on an email only to realize a few seconds later that you either sent it to the wrong person, sent it before completing it, or forgot to attach a document? I know I have, and I still do. For Gmail users, there is a way to recover from that pre-coffee blunder: Gmail has a little known feature which allows you to “undo” the act of sending an email (within 30 seconds of hitting “send”). I’ve found this tool to be extremely useful. Find out more here.

• Too much of a good thing is bad right? It turns out that this even applies to green tea! Most of us are aware of the value of green tea to health in general and weight loss in particular, and it’s probably the biggest selling “tea” today for that same reason. However, recent evidence is revealing that “too much” green tea can actually reduce your thyroid function, potentially resulting in lower metabolic rate and other adverse health factors. So what is “too much”? There is no clear answer, but the indications are that anything in excess of 1L per day is considered excessive. Assuming a large cup of tea is around 350ml, you should be fine with 2 cups a day.

• Do you eat genetically modified (GMO) foods? Unless you’re consciously avoiding them and buying only organic food, then I guarantee you that you are consuming lots and lots of genetically modified foods. In today’s world, you can’t get away from them. Virtually ALL wheat, corn, and soybean crops are genetically modified, and since at least one of the 3 is present in almost every form of food we eat (especially processed foods), then exposure to GMO foods is ubiquitous. Are GMO foods healthy? Do they present any health risks? No one really knows, and that’s why they’re dangerous (in my opinion). We just don’t know either way. What we do know however is that the main driver behind creating GMO foods is for producers to be able to use MORE pesticides and herbicides without killing the crops. This means that even if GMO foods were “safe”, the fact that they’re immune to pesticides and herbicides means they’re extensively sprayed with both, and you’re consuming them, chemicals and all. Interested enough to know more? This is a simple to understand overview of GMO foods, their risks, and what you should know.

• Do you ever wonder if you’re in the right job? Or even the right career? Renowned Leadership and Organizational Behavior professor at INSEAD Herminia Ibarra developed an interactive questionnaire / tool to help you ascertain whether you’re in the right career path or not. You can find this tool here in the Harvard Business Review.

• I stand to be corrected! I’ve often recommended Knee Push-ups to people who haven’t yet developed the upper body strength to do proper push-ups. In fact, knee push-ups are almost always recommended to women as a replacement for the traditional pushup. Personal trainers, exercise physiologists, and myself have thought of the knee push-up as just an “easier” version of the push-up. This article does provide a different (and completely logical) perspective: the torque angles between the 2 movements are completely different and the level of glutes and core engagement is far inferior in the knee push-up vs. traditional push-up. Furthermore, the author rightly argues that given the “fixed anchor” provided by the knees on the ground, the knee push-up significantly increases the pressure on the elbows, wrists, and shoulders, exposing them to injuries.