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...
Conquer Your To-Do List with the Pomodoro Technique: Bye-bye Procrastination, Hello Productivity!
Feeling overwhelmed by your never-ending to-do list? Is procrastination rearing its ugly head? Meet the Pomodoro Technique, to help you focus and turn that mountain of tasks into a molehill of conquered goals. According to researcher Jonathan Schooleran, the average mind wanders 15-20% of the time. Naturally, that would not...
Igniting Your Potential: The Power of Activation Energy
Have you ever felt trapped in a stagnant state, unable to make headway toward your aspirations? It's an all-too-familiar struggle, but fear not, for there exists a scientific concept capable of breaking this cycle. It's called activation energy—a powerful force that holds the key to...
🎙️Building World-Class Athletes with Jamie Smith
David speaks with Jamie Smith, founder and Head Sports Preparation coach of The U of Strength. They talked about: 🌦️ Impact of Climate on Sports Performance 🌍 Environment’s effects on athlete development 🤸 Effects of early sports specialisation 🤕 Dealing with injuries and burnout in sports 🏀 Coaching and mindset in sports 🧠 How the...
The Power of Gratitude: How Appreciation Transforms Your Life and Relationships
There was a mom taking care of her baby and all her household chores. She was so busy that she was almost in a panic. Then, while she was cooking and holding her 1-year-old, who was crying frantically, her 5-year-old little girl called her "Mommy." She looked down...
The trap of a good puzzle
The problem with trying to optimise for certain things is that the more data points you collect, the more complex navigating to the outcome can become. If you decide to run and all you do is open the door, run, and come back after a while, running isn’t complex....
Applying The Buffet Formula: "Go to Bed Smarter Than When You Woke Up”
In today's age of information overload, it's easy to get lost in the sea of data and opinions and feel overwhelmed and unproductive. The challenge is not just to find the right information, but also to be able to use it effectively in our daily lives....
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