Juan David Campolargo is already speaking at TED Talks at the age of 17, only a few years after immigrating to the United States from his home country of Venezuela. His personal mission is to spread optimism among his fellow youth and to share ways to remain optimistic despite the challenges they face. Juan David will highlight in this episode that thinking for yourself is not selfish. Rather it’s an easy and simple way to filter the things that you allow to come into your life.    Listen to Juan David and learn how to think for yourself and create your own future!   Disclaimer: This podcast contains affiliate links! That means if you purchase from the companies we promote using the links we provide, we receive a small commission. Thank you for your support! You can see our full affiliate disclosure here. [00:01 - 02:39] Doing Important Work Let’s get to know Juan David Campolargo TED Speaker as a 17-year-old Author [02:40 - 11:24] Doing Important Work Introduction and what drives Juan David forward: optimism, ambition, and curiosity Why write a newsletter A Richard Hamming essay Juan David reads every week Prepare to do important work Learn to explain yourself clearly "Important problems" are anything you can have control over Richard Feynman and having 12 favorite problems that you are constantly working on [11:25 - 15:54] Controlling Your Online Life Who we give our attention to matters Having a supercomputer in our pocket Making your phone work for you Checking email only two times per day Try not to be on top of everything [15:55 - 24:46] Networking Reserve your network for people you actually like to be with The book Give and Take by Adam Grant Making real friends without an agenda How to tune your phone so it does not suck your time and attention The trade-off you get when you leave social media The difference between a job and a business [24:47 - 36:35] Doing Things That Have Greater Output Than Input Internships and incubators Options for summer during the pandemic Choosing what gets your time during the pandemic Linear work versus work that has an exponential curve Risk versus reward ratio Why parents and friends might influence you away from taking risk Using the pandemic to follow your passions The positive aspect of rabbit holes Knowing what you really want, identifying your values Your "future self" and Steve Jobs story [36:36 - 42:20] Curiosity and Objective Truth The problem with incentives Finding to get knowledge without agenda Real engineering YouTube channel Wendover productions YouTube channel Agenda Tuning up your algorithms [42:21- 49:24] Thinking For Yourself Filters Three important questions: What do I want? What am I spending my time on? How do I adapt when new evidence shows up? Thinking deeply about the world [49:25- 54:11] Closing Segment  Connect with Juan David Links below The movie, “Soul” Final announcements  Tweetable Quotes: “It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be wrong, and that’s why...when new evidence shows up, you should be able to change.” - Juan David Campolargo “There are more self-inflicted problems than actual problems we couldn’t do much about.” - Juan David Campolargo   Resources Mentioned: Individuals to follow Adam Grant Richard Feyman Read Adam Grant’s book: Give and Take Richard Hamming’s essay: You and Your Research YouTube accounts to follow Real Engineering Wendover Productions   Affiliate Partner: Learn from the best! MasterClass provides 100+ classes across 9 categories. Learn science from Neil deGrasse Tyson, songwriting from Alicia Keys, or style from Tan France! Their insights are not to be missed. Sign up today! https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=797461&u=2576525&m=62509&urllink=&afftrack=PodcastApril22   Follow Juan David on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram Juan David’s links: SUBSCRIBE TO his newsletter! Juan David’s TED Talks Inspiring the Next Generations to be More Optimistic A Case For More Youth Optimism Ju