Hello Familia - Welcome to vol. 21 of Move Fast, Think Slow. It’s been over a month since my last dispatch. These things happen. The demands of modern adulting in America in 2023. And so it goes.
If you are new here, it’s worth going back to my last dispatch to learn more about Move Fast, Think Slow. You will find background on this newsletter to see if it’s the type of chili you want to nourish on. Or better yet, just subscribe below if you are into deep dives on cultural trends, a dash of marketing shop talk mixed in with a bit of stoicism and namaste health talk.
And if you are not new here, let’s get cooking.
Setting new goals in search of new systems 👐
At the top of 2023, I made some new goals. Sue me, I can’t help but set new plans at the top of the year. I don’t like the term “New Year’s Resolutions” but I do like looking for new notches to put onto the belt.
Joko Willink’s book Discipline Equals Freedom drew me to a place I haven’t been to in a very long time. Having goals and pursuing concrete objectives in spirit of achieving said goals is something I haven’t done since I was 17. Back then I was lifting weights and committed to a regimen. It was in service to something larger but ever since I hung up the old cleats, I haven’t zero’d in on that kind of system since.
Then I read James Clear’s Atomic Habits which forced me to take stock of how my daily habits made for an inconsistent system. Specifically when I would sleep, wake up, eat meals and what kind of meals I would eat. Or what time of day I would run during a given week and how long for. Basically going through my days per the usual. Taking on whatever was thrown my way.
To be honest, at the end of 2022 I felt a little ragged. A little tired. And it felt like I wasn’t fighting hard enough for myself. And it was time for a change. I started thinking how can I expect my life to change if I don’t?
We’re all going to be gone soon
The combination of having a kid plus watching my Dad hit 80 years old this year has pushed me to take stock. Specifically the stock of time.
Some might say, why do you need to change your life? What’s so bad now that change is required? It’s not so much about me getting to something new as much as it is about me wanting to get the most out of this short ride.
Our lives are short. One day life will be over. It’s the one guarantee for all of us. As I think about that, I don’t want to look back and think I didn’t do everything I could to maximize the time. I mean, life is pretty amazing when you think about it. And I’d like to do my best at it. With it. While I can.
Letting go of expectations
As I set these new goals with a plan to experiment a new system, I had zero expectations about any of it. Yes, I want to reach the new in hopes for improvement. Yet, I don’t really care about the results. It’s an attempt to be more in the here and now. The glory of the present. Letting go while still observing all the little miracles happening around me. When you stop and do the math, just the fact we are here on our little patch of sand in this universe is phenomenal. So what does your ego even matter? There’s a thing Joko says: “Detatch. Your ego is a trap.” And that’s a power move if I ever heard of one.
Started in January now we here
I share all of this because I’m at the month 3 mark of this new system. The consistency of waking up early (515am / 530am) and focusing on physical health from the jumpstart of the day has spilled over into other parts of my life. Are there days I don’t want to get up early and get after it? Are there days where I’m like, what am I doing this for? Absolutely. It’s the days you don’t want to do the thing that matters the most. Keeping the routine going is more important than being perfect at it. The goal isn’t excellence. It’s consistency. And hopefully, that consistency leads to the kind of change I can count on.
A quick note on the importance of power & simplicity 🔌
I’ve been fascinated by power lately. Power takes on so many manifestations, interpretations, and meanings. The word illustrates the limitations of our language. This idea of focusing on what you can control versus not is a form of power. Your power. When you pour energy into things beyond your direct control you’re draining your resources and energy. Typically these things do not matter. The things that drain you. What matters is what you can control with your own vibes. How much of your power are you using to do the things that ensure a positive light? You have the power to remove the waste. Hone in on what you can put your positive power towards. You will see how your energy burns brighter and longer.
Simplicity is Power
Every week I work with large groups of people who are trying to do really smart creative things in small pockets of time. And when we start to stumble through or lose sight of what “good” looks like I always press time out and ask “what are we really trying to do here? What are the 2 things we need to accomplish?” When you answer those questions and pin them to the board the path forward often becomes very clear. And clarity tends to make things simple. And simplicity tends to be the most powerful.
For reasons I am unsure of, many humans think that getting to good means you have to trudge through the complex. That’s sometimes true but most of the time it’s not. Most of the time, when humans make problems more complex than they really are, it’s anxiety and insecurity masquerading as intelligence. The complex is often a big energy waster. The next time you’re in the middle of a complex situation or complex thought process ask yourself. Is this really worth it? Am I focused on the right one to two things? Or do I need to quit this path and move onto the next? Do I need to find new paths within my control that builds on my super powers? The answers tend to reveal themselves when you make space for it. And in the simple is the powerful.
Quick links to make you think 🤔
Scott Galloway has been on fire lately calling it like it is.
Venture Catastrophists (on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.
More interesting than who signed the letter was who didn’t. In sum, venture capital firms that have a vested interest in destabilizing the banking system and the dollar, via crypto investments, have morphed from Americans to agents of chaos. I believe Marc Andreessen or Peter Thiel could have stopped the run with one tweet. They chose not to."
Citizenship is not just an obligation; it’s also a trade. In the case of America, the best trade is to invest in each other and what MLK called our “beloved community.” We need reformers, not quitters.
They either overgenerate (producing both truths and falsehoods, endorsing ethical and unethical decisions alike) or unregenerate (exhibiting noncommitment to any decisions and indifference to consequences). Given the amorality, faux science and linguistic incompetence of these systems, we can only laugh or cry at their popularity.
This coffee shop metaphor on Facebook/Meta is well put
Imagine your coffee house in town serves free coffee. Everyone goes because it’s free and all the other ones have gone bankrupt. So you have no choice. And it’s free because on the tables are microphones and on the walls video cameras recording everything you and do and to whom and it’s sent off to be analyzed. That is roughly the situation when you get Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms.
Speaking of coffee shops (aka third places), do yourself a favor and go out and find them. They’re vital to our humanity and sense of community.
Kathy Giuffre, a professor at Colorado College who studies third places, told me that a real third place can also contain an element of casual social aid. “You can get a shoulder to cry on via your best friend, but sometimes you need someone to lend you a cup of sugar, and that’s about proximity,” she told me. “You just need someone to watch your dog for five minutes while you run into a store or something.” Ultimately, she said, a world made up of atomized, physically isolated people is a world without a true shared reality—which is a recipe for civic disengagement, misinformation, and perhaps even political extremism.
Been thinking a lot about: The importance of distinction in order to stick out and drive a specialness.
“The world pull[s] at you in an attempt to make you normal...You have to pay a price for your distinctiveness, and it’s worth it…don’t expect it to be easy or free. You’ll have to put energy into it continuously.” — Jeff Bezos
And thinking about: Despite distinction & sticking out is the fundamental rule of creating dynamic works of art or products….but how we are drowning in the sea of average. And it’s everywhere. Alex Murrell does an excellent job of capturing this.
This article argues that from film to fashion and architecture to advertising, creative fields have become dominated and defined by convention and cliché. Distinctiveness has died. In every field we look at, we find that everything looks the same.
Photos of the week 📸
Go forth. Stay safe. Ride the wave.
- Mitch