-
A quick spine prompt
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how you can stay focused on a creative project with a spine. 50 Cent writes a good example in his book, Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter: Whenever I’m about to hit the studio, I try to think about all the great musical moments I’ve experienced from different artists. I…
-
Fingerprints
In The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis writes of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman’s collaborative writing: By the time they were finished with the paper, in early 1970, they had lost any clear sense of their individual contributions. It was nearly impossible to say, of any given passage, whether more of some idea had come from…
-
Getting ahead of it
When it’s possible, the best time to meet somebody is when you don’t need to meet them. In The First 90 Days, Michael Watkins writes: Remember: you don’t want to be meeting your neighbors for the first time in the middle of the night when your house is burning down. There’s also a big difference…
-
Three appointments, please
A co-worker told me his secret to keeping a streak of haircut appointments: Because his barber is busy, he books three appointments in advance.
-
Losing 101
You might’ve been born and bred to win. As a kid, you might’ve won awards, made the most friends, or been recognized as an excellent athlete. Many of us grow up like this, children of parents who were taught to do the same. We mostly learn to do this as individuals. In situations like this,…
-
Subtle life changes
In September 2021, my fiancée and I went to Hong Kong. What was supposed to be a six month visit turned into nearly sixteen months. We really liked it there. Sometimes, when I caught up with friends back in North America or Europe, they’d inevitably ask, “What’s it like?” When I lived on Hong Kong…
-
On writing a newsletter about books
Every month, I recommend 3 books to nearly 2,000 people. This has been an extremely rewarding experience. I’ve met some really great people through this newsletter. Some of these friends even kindly tell me to pick a new topic. I’m aware that books are not the most catchy hook, and that I could probably grow…
-
Contentions: Advocacy, ambassadorship, and relations
Amazon famously has an empty chair in each meeting, a quiet symbol that represents the customer. That’s not enough anymore. An empty chair won’t share a perspective or have a point of view. It won’t be able to tell you something you didn’t even know you didn’t know. That’s where people who work in advocacy,…
-
World building
A decade ago, Donald Glover said, “You’ve got to build a bigger world. I’m not gonna make [just] an album; I’m gonna make an album, I’m gonna make the roll out dope, I’m gonna make the movie with it dope, I’m gonna make everything dope. I’m gonna make a world.” This approach is what led…
-
Independence is a team sport
When you work in a team, you’re in a position where you’re frowned upon if you’re not a team player. You feel like you need to be a team player in order to get by. When you work as an independent, you don’t need to be a team player—you might not even have a team!…