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...
🎙️ Level Up Your Startup with Rob Fitzpatrick
David speaks with Rob Fitzpatrick, author of three books, including The Mom Test and Write Useful Books, both of which are among the most universally recommended books for early entrepreneurs and non-fiction writers. His books are used in universities such as Harvard, MIT, and UCL, and are also manuals for...
🎙️ Curiosity, Creativity, and Careers with Buster Benson
David speaks with Buster Benson, an entrepreneur and former product leader at Amazon, Twitter, Slack, and Patreon. He writes for Medium and busterbenson.com and is currently the CEO of 750words.com. He is the author of ‘Why Are We Yelling? The Art of Productive Disagreement.’ They talked about: 🌱 Having...
🎙️ Science, Reasoning, and The Intelligence Trap with David Robson
David speaks with David Robson, an award-winning science writer specializing in the extremes of the human brain, body, and behavior. He has previously worked as a features editor at New Scientist and as a senior journalist at the BBC. He is the author of The Intelligence Trap, which has been...
🎙️The Path to Authentic Writing with Anne-Laure Le Cunff
David speaks with Anne-Laure Le Cunff, a neuroscientist, writer, entrepreneur, and the founder of Ness Labs, which provides content, coaching, courses and community to help makers put their minds at work. They talked about: 🌟 Choosing authenticity over Mimetic desires 🎨 Embracing individuality ⚖️ Work-life balance as an entrepreneur 💪 Overcoming self-consciousness ⏳ Mindful productivity...
🎙️The Power of Pivoting with Jenny Blake
David speaks with Jenny Blake, an international keynote speaker and author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One, winner of the Axiom Best Business Books award in the careers category. She hosts two podcasts with over one million downloads combined: Free Time for heart-based business owners,...
🎙️Leading with Purpose with Ryan Hawk
David speaks with Ryan Hawk, the host of “The Learning Leader Show,” renowned as one of the most dynamic leadership podcasts available. Ryan is also the author of several highly acclaimed books on management, leadership, and excellence, including “Welcome to Management,” which Forbes hailed as one of the best leadership...
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