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...
🎙️Wealth, Investing, and Personal Finance with Rob Dix
David speaks with Rob Dix, a co-founder of Property Hub. Rob is a co-host of The Property Podcast, which is one of the biggest business podcasts in the UK, and the author of 3 popular books about property and investing including The Price of Money which was a Sunday Times...
🎙️ Neuroscience, Writing, and Mindful Productivity 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: 📒 The importance of journaling ✍️ Developing as a writer 👩💻 Anne-Laure's journey from Google to Ness...
🎙️The Art of Storytelling with Lawrence Yeo
David speaks with Lawrence Yeo, a writer, illustrator, storyteller, and the creator of “More To That”, an illustrated long-form blog read by tens of thousands of people. They talked about: 📖 How stories influence thinking 🔍 The value of exploring different genres 🕰️ How history changes beliefs. 🌍 How broad taste can influence creativity...
The secret to intelligence
Most people think intelligence is about knowing and saying fancy words (jargon). They accumulate abstractions and discuss them, thinking it's smart. Intelligence is mostly the opposite; it's a factor of your ability to construct and deconstruct abstractions. Acquisition speed is definitely a factor in intelligence, but...
🎙️The Pursuit of Excellence with Ryan Hawk
David speaks with Ryan Hawk, who’s the host of "The Learning Leader Show," labeled as the most dynamic leadership podcast around, and author of some very popular books about management, leadership and excellence. And including Welcome to Management, which Forbes called one of the best leadership books...
🎙️The Price of Money with Rob Dix
David speaks with Rob Dix, a co-founder of Property Hub, co-host of The Property Podcast, which is one of the biggest business podcasts in the UK, and author of 3 popular books about property and investing including The Price of Money which was a Sunday Times Bestseller. They talked about:...
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