One thing has never sat right with me when it comes to Warren Buffet's 2 List approach. After making two lists, Mike says he will prioritize the top 5 list, but that he will also of course spend some time on the second list, because those are important, too. Warren says that he has it all wrong, and that the second list should be his Avoid-At-All-Cost list.

It's an interesting way to think about priorities, but I think the missing step is to then go and make the lists again. My first cut of the lists included lots of individual skills that I wanted to build, and ignoring some felt wrong. I realized that I actually do have a high priority goal of building a broad set of skills, and that I care more about that then mastering any one of my top 5.

A lot of the advice in the article is aimed at folks trying to focus on one skill or habit. You can identify as the kind of person who masters chess, for example, practicing every day. It's equally valid to identify as somebody who has a passing interest in many games and prioritize accordingly.

Building the lists didn't make me focus on the top 5 items, but it did help me better express what I care about.