68: Rules Aren't Real 📐
Dispensing with the status quo is the key to escaping mediocrity.
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67: Not all that glitters 🪩
In one morning I came across three stories that made me think twice about the ‘metaverse’. It’s not some abstract future dystopia—it’s already here. Many of us already inhabit mini-metaverses full of personalised algorithms, and few of us are ready to take off the headset. The first...
66: Win the small hill ⛷
Sometimes in order to win the game you're optimising for, you must lose the ones you've been told were important.
65: What you want for dinner 🍽
How often do you revisit ideas you believe to be common sense? When thinking of possible ways we could develop our thinking or improve our lives we naturally gravitate to new ideas instead of investigating existing patterns. When you start thinking from first principles, a lot of things you might...
64: Constraints and consistency 🎲
People become great by being creative within the boundaries and persisting when others might quit.
63: Nobody cares 📵
Sometimes you will be out in the field, pushing the limits of expectation, on the verge of changing the world, and not a single soul will care. The masses often sleepwalk through innovation. You can only make great things if you’re willing to be ignored and unafraid of going...
62: The hard thing about hard work ⚒️
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favourite authors. If he writes something I’m going to eat it up. But not immediately. Because Brandon likes to write big beefy books that could double as self-defence weapons or stools for small cats. He writes a LOT. He recently surprised his entire...
61: It Sounds Better Over There 🎋
Whenever words are carried by saltine winds over vast expanses of water, they somehow gain the magical property of resonating clearer in our minds. This is why we seem to fall head over heels in love with wisdom from faraway lands. It explains our obsession with Ikigai. It’s why...
60: The Sum of our Parts 🧩
No one human knows how to make a pencil from scratch despite it seeming like a fundamentally basic thing - something every child can use. To construct something as simple as a pencil takes mining graphite, cutting wood, shaping metal, and figuring out whatever modern erasers are made out of....
59: Greener Grass
The Sword of Damocles has become synonymous with imminent danger and the threat of sudden calamity - but that’s only half the story, and perhaps the wrong half to focus on. If you’ve never heard of Damocles before, you’re in for a treat! The story of Damocles...
57: The Power of Impostors 👻
What the heck is an impostor anyway? Someone who is not supposed to be there. An impersonator. A copycat. A covert intelligence gatherer. Uninformed. Uninitiated. Uninvited. Maybe that’s you. It’s definitely me—but maybe there’s power in that. The ones who are different I am not supposed...
A Tree in the Woods
If the cameras turn off, do the Kardashians still exist? People are designing their lives and actions around black camera lenses, hoping that an audience will exist on the other side. People stand alone in rooms swinging their arms violently and making faces at the wall, because TikTok promises their...
56: Finding your passion 🔮
People spend their lives chasing passion. We have dreams of what life should be like. What it could be like, once we find the magic that's missing. We all want to get paid to do something we love. And we want to be paid well for it! To...
55: Almost Invisible 👻
We quickly get used to the sound of alarm bells. My smart watch keeps vibrating, every single hour, reminding me to stand up. I turned on the feature because I know sitting for too long is unhealthy. And when I say I know, I KNOW. I know it in my...
54: A glass half full 🥃
Is the glass half empty or half full? Apparently, your answer indicates whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist. I think that’s silly. It’s a question of orientation, not optimism. Are you picking it up or putting it down? What’s your motivation in the scene? Are...
It’s a sprint and a marathon: How to Plan Your Life for the Long-Haul
People like to say, “It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon.” The problem is that some people take six hours to run a marathon, while the best do it in two. If you can’t finish the marathon in under three hours they won’t even let you...
The future is cheap: Why Early Action Is the Best Investment
Buying the future is usually cheaper than you think. Alexander Graham Bell tried to sell the telephone to Western Union as soon as he got it working. They said no . Today, there’s a phone in almost every pocket in the developed world. And in the poorest parts of the...
🎙️ 141: How understanding humans gives you the edge over AI in marketing (ft. Neville Medhora)
David speaks with Neville Medhora, an expert copywriter, best-selling author of "This book will teach you how to write better", and founder of Copywriting Course and SwipeFile.com. Copywriting has evolved dramatically since its beginnings, and in this episode, Neville and David explore this transformation. Neville breaks down...
Preparing for a knife fight: How to Predict and Prepare for the Future
Longevity expert Peter Attia talks about the Centenarian Decathlon - the idea that if we want to maintain our physical abilities into old age, we should consider the body's natural rate of atrophy and plan in advance to counteract it. The analog I developed for myself years ago...
Better than average: A Small Mindset Shift to Avoid Mistakes
91% of people think they’re above-average drivers. This is obviously impossible. But it means AT LEAST 40% of people are overestimating their abilities. Think about what dangers that might invite. The lack of caution it might result in. If someone told you categorically that you were in the bottom...
🎙️ 140: From a High-School Side Hustle to 7-Figure Exit (ft. Brandon Pindulic)
David speaks with Brandon Pindulic, President of Spacebar Ventures, a digital business incubator and investment firm. He also previously founded OpGen Media, which he sold in a 7-figure exit at age 21. They talked about: 🏢 Building OpGen Media and leading it to a 7-figure exit 🤝 Surrounding yourself with successful people...
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