There was writing and there was money. Two of the most imaginative inventions of technology. The 20th Century brought yet another invention that is arguably more powerful than either. What was it?

The Breaking Smart series of essays by Venkatesh Rao is based off of Marc Andreessen’s observation that “software is eating the world.” I read the first five essay’s in the series today, and what an incredible body of work Rao has so far. Three of the quotes alone from it have given me enough information to think for a week. It would be a shame to keep them from the world.

“Software is perhaps the most imagination-expanding technology humans have invented since writing and money, and possibly more powerful than either.” ~ Venkatesh Rao

An interesting idea. What has changed the world like software has? The future and possibilities of software are so broad, who can know what they are? People have constantly underestimated software, and now software is infiltrating even the most remote places of the earth. Places where even money and writing haven’t gotten to, software is there. What a powerful invention.

Inventing the future is easier than predicting it. ~ Alan Kay

This seems to embody the ideas of Praxis. Don’t look at what could be, go out and make what could be a reality. By inventing the future for yourself, you take away the laziness of what could happen and you replace it with the guarantees of what will happen.

I say this as a Bible-believing Christian. I’m not saying “everything is in your control and you are your own God.” I’m simply saying that when you have the opportunities available to you, go after them. Don’t look at them with a blank stare of bewilderment over the future of what could happen.

What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years. ~ Chris Dixon

I absolutely love this one. Instead of going into the weekends with relaxation on your mind, go into them with long-term gain on your mind.

Here’s a weird visualization for you. Picture your value creation each week as a life bar on a video game.

At the beginning of the week, you are full up to 100%. Begrudgingly, you are ready to go.

Friday night comes around, and you are spent. You feel so badly like you need a break. You deserve a break after all the hard work you put in, right? The weekend has finally come and you collapse into its arms.

You at least feel like you are recuperating. Like this will help you recover and be ready for the next week. Whether this actually does or not is a different debate for a different time. But let’s just say for now that it does help. This is what your weekend looks like. You’re getting ready to have that full Monday again. Now you’re in this cycle. This never-ending cycle of empty, fill, empty, fill, empty, fill, and so on. You never feel like you can do anything else because you’re focused so much on filling up every weekend.

But what if instead, you focused less on your “health bar,” and more on your “health potential.”

By keeping going on the weekends, not settling for where you’re at but building on what you have, you not only gain inspiration to keep going, you actually increase your total ability to create value. Your overall potential becomes greater.

I whole-heartedly agree that you need to have one rest day a week. God made the Sabbath for a reason. He made it for us because we are weak humans. However, I believe that even your “rest” can be educational. Instead of watching 8 hours of Netflix, what if you read a book on a topic that will help you in your career?

And remember, the weekend is two days. One of those days you should be working just as hard as the rest of the week. It’s your time to really grow yourself. Your peak potential should be reached every weekend, not two months ago.

Rest isn’t synonymous with “wasting time.”

One you can do to increase your potential, the other you can do only to destroy it.