68: Rules Aren't Real ๐
Dispensing with the status quo is the key to escaping mediocrity.
Dispensing with the status quo is the key to escaping mediocrity.
In one morning I came across three stories that made me think twice about the โmetaverseโ. Itโs not some abstract future dystopiaโitโs 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...
Sometimes in order to win the game you're optimising for, you must lose the ones you've been told were important.
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...
People become great by being creative within the boundaries and persisting when others might quit.
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 youโre willing to be ignored and unafraid of going...
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favourite authors. If he writes something Iโm 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...
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. Itโs why...
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....
The Sword of Damocles has become synonymous with imminent danger and the threat of sudden calamity - but thatโs only half the story, and perhaps the wrong half to focus on. If youโve never heard of Damocles before, youโre in for a treat! The story of Damocles...
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 thatโs you. Itโs definitely meโbut maybe thereโs power in that. The ones who are different I am not supposed...
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...
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...
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...
Is the glass half empty or half full? Apparently, your answer indicates whether youโre an optimist or a pessimist. I think thatโs silly. Itโs a question of orientation, not optimism. Are you picking it up or putting it down? Whatโs your motivation in the scene? Are...
David speaks with Taylor Pearson, an entrepreneur and author ofย The End of Jobs. They talked about: ๐ Deciding not to pursue law โ ๏ธ The trap of traditional career paths ๐ค The silent risk of staying in a job too long ๐ The concept of a personal balance sheet ๐ Experiencing different cultures ๐ฑ How living...
Two equally strong men engaged in a competition to determine who could cut the most trees in a single day. Armed with identical axes, one of them relentlessly exerted himself throughout the day, while the other strategically took a break every hour to rest. Surprisingly, when they tallied the trees...
You may not be a Bible fan, but this blog might still be for you. Paul is one of Jesusโ apostles. He is, I could say, one of the most articulate apostles in the Bible, not because of his profession (he is a tent maker), but because he knows both...
Not enough people watch game tape. Iโm always surprised when I hear podcasters say they donโt listen back to their recordings. When I played American football in university, we watched 'game tape'. Every week weโd gather together in a small lecture room and the head...
I would love to start this post by quoting one of my favourite lines in John Maxwell's seminar: Focus does not come naturally to us, yet it is essential for anyone who wants to make the most of his talent. Having talent without focus is like being an...
Venture capitalists often complain about founders who suck for not sending monthly update emails. I think a lot of people talk about this like it's a leading rather than a lagging measure. And that's largely because VCs are getting the ensemble average of returns rather than...