Should I even post this? I debated with myself quite a bit while looking at the pretty blue button down at the left.

After all, this is the time of year when you look back at the highlights, right?

But I wasn't convinced, so I thought I should ask myself some better questions.

Would this post add value? I absolutely think so.

Value is what I had in mind when I spent all these hours compiling a list of the most valuable posts and videos that I came across last year.

Because if it helps one person, I’m a happy man.

The Paradox in Constant Change

Life is nothing but a phase of a constant improvement where learning has no final destination. Personally, I’m glad that we are a community where people can uplift one another rather than bringing each other down.

And that's why I figured I should destill the most important information I came across in 2016 and share it with all of you.

Well, there may be another reason, as I may be a bit of a romantic.

You see, I’m really curious about a small experiment.

The Time Capsule

Several of the people mentioned in this post are people that I follow, look up to, and learn from all the time.

So it would be absolutely stimulating to look back at this very post one year from now and see how many of the people mentioned here would have adopted steemit in this amazing year we have in front of us.

Without further ado,

Here’s some of the best content (outside of steemit) that I’ve found in 2016:

The Future is Decentralized

by Tim Ferriss and Edward Norton

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2016/01/18/edward-norton-on-mastery-must-read-books-and-the-future-of-crowdfunding/

“I think that one of the things that’s exciting about the networked world and the distributed, the empowerment of a distributed culture of people outside of government agencies, outside of corporate constructs, outside of everything, to be able to assemble and rally together is that people can proactively address things like that.

We can move resources without anybody else’s say so. We can decide, we can decide that we want to get together around things and assemble resources and make things happen with incredible speed, like incredible speed. I think that’s really exciting.”

That was only one of the many notable quotes left to us by three-times Oscar nominee and my favorite actor in the world, Edward Norton.

Am I biased? Hell, yes. And I’m not ashamed to say so.

The entire interview is amazing from beginning to end, with so many things to learn. Edward Norton recounts his muscle gain techniques for “American History X”, his favorite movies, and why he founded Crowdrise, one of the biggest crowdfunding websites in the world.

Edward Norton is a man of action, he saw a problem and then created a solution with the help of others, and other Hollywood actors.

The key lesson here I guess lies within the value of assembling a crowd to change the world.

You Don’t Need Permission

By Chase Jarvis and Jared Leto

Jared Leto: "We’ve always been independent-minded and big believers that you shouldn’t wait for permission to get into action, so that if you take those kind of steps and if that is your philosophy, then you end up doing a lot of different things."

Chase Jarvis: "Yeah. I think one of the things that I’m aware of – as you’ve just alluded to - is that it’s the first time in the history of the world where the gate-keepers are either not present or are way in the background relative to historically…

If you wanted to hang in a gallery, you needed the permission of a gallerist. If you wanted to be in a magazine you needed the permission from the photo editor. If you wanted to be in a film you had to wait for somebody to produce that film, and decide whether or not they wanted you in it.

You’ve mentioned being independent, is that something that I’m just tuned into or is it, or do you feel that same groundswell that independence is the new… It’s almost riskier to go with the old system than it is to remain independent."

Have Your Heart Broken

http://aaronbleyaert.tumblr.com/post/109959086957

This is the most epic fitness post I’ve read in my entire life. Nothing comes even close, probably because I don’t read that many fitness posts but man did this guy kill this post!

Aaron Bleyaert poured his fucking heart out in this one, and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Plus, it may come handy this time of year.

Show up Every Day

By Casey Neistat

In this truly personal video, YouTube powerhouse Casey Neistat describes in details what he calls “The catalyst that took me from where I am, to where I wanted to be”.

This video encapsulates the authenticity of Casey walking around New York City giving us a heart-felt tour down memory lane, showing us his tough beginnings having to live with his infant son under so many uncomfortable living situations, and then showed us how he got to where he is today.

And more importantly, what it took to get there.

Don’t Lose Friends Over Politics

By Jeffrey Tucker

Because politicians will betray you.

https://fee.org/articles/don-t-lose-friendships-over-politics/

There is No Such Thing as Overnight Success

By Gary Vaynerchuk

Ask Those Who Have Already Been There

Before getting married, best selling author Mark Manson asked his 2 million monthly subscribers for marriage advice.

Those who were married for a long time at least, he then took 1500 pieces of advice and turned them into this beautifully detailed long form post.

Even though I’m not getting married any time soon (as far as I know) even by those parameters I still was very impressed.

That's why I added it to the collection, because I think it could be very helpful.

https://markmanson.net/relationship-advice

Go Where Nobody Else is Willing to Go

By Lewis Howes and Chef Fabio Viviani

Chef Viviani recounts the story of how he was able to turn limited media attention in an absolute gold mine.

While he was just a contestant in a reality cooking show, he now has several restaurants in his name and enough media attention to build a career upon. Meanwhile the rest of the contestants have already exhausted their 15 minutes of fame because quite simply, he went further than anyone was willing to go.

“I didn’t even win the damn thing. It was never about that in the first place”.

Most notable quote:

― “Did you hire someone to do social for you?”

― “No man!...I hired an army”.

Click!

Protect the Nerds

By David Hopkins

https://medium.com/@thatdavidhopkins/how-a-tv-sitcom-triggered-the-downfall-of-western-civilization-336e8ccf7dd0#.16s6ulz7v

An unusual take on the TV show “Friends” where Hopkins argues the case that Ross needed more support.

Notable quote:

“Nerds create vaccines. Nerds engineer bridges and roadways. Nerds become teachers and librarians. We need those obnoxiously smart people, because they make the world a better place. We can’t have them cowering before a society that rolls their eyes at every word they say. Ross needs better friends.”

Big Brother is Watching

By The Nerd Writer

Whether it's music, film, or societal events, Evan posts an excellent video every Wednesday approaching the subject on hands from angles they weren't approached before.

This particular one is about the surveillance states we live under, and the psychology behind such a wild spread phenomenon.

However, I could’ve recommended any other video from his channel, and it would've been just as great.

What can I say? The guy provides top quality content.

OK, I’m gonna stop commenting so much, so that this post doesn’t appear any longer than it already is. But the contents below are just as fascinating.

No More Excuses

By Nicole Arbour

Fresh out of the oven:

Masters of Persuasion

By James Altucher and Scott Adams

http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2016/12/scott-adams-2/

The Art of Timing Your Story

By Charlie Houpert

And last but not least:

(This is off topic, but it has been proven extremely valuable - at least in my case - so I wanted to share it with you guys)

Why You Need a Ulysses Strategy for 2016

By @neilstrauss

https://www.neilstrauss.com/neil/ulysses-strategy/

This was with no doubt one of the most important productivity tips I've ever read. Once I started to leave my phone (on silent) in the other floor downstairs, I suddenly started to accomplish much more goals than I used to.

If you're serious about what you want to achieve, you really have to tie yourself up to the post like Ulysses did and make sure that success becomes is the only possible option for you.

The fact of leaving zero - and I mean ZERO - chance to distractions will make your path substantially easier to navigate, you'll see.

And of course, it's not all strategy, you have to care about what you do as well.

I hope you find in here something that helps you, I hope we all keep upping our game, and more importantly:

I hope that when we'll look back at this post one year from now, we'll all be wearing a big smile.

Let's make 2017 a great year!