“Why all the busyness? One must distinguish between motion and progress"

“The thinking part of you can tell you that a decision has been made, but it’s not the part of you which decides things.”

It’s research, but not in a traditional sense of research. It’s almost like a personal philosophy research or something. It’s how you form your opinions about a specific category of things. The terms I use most often are “textured” and “resonant” — I think when you see collections that have been cared for over many years and have a very specific vi... See more

Consider the difference between Trader Joe’s (a beloved grocery store with a wide variety of goods, all of which you can trust) and whatever new CPG goods are popular on TikTok. Hype is a flash in the pan. Narrative network effects are durable, long-lasting, and broadly applicable.

Software engineer Kent Beck on why creators struggle to release projects (and why people in general don't take action):

"By far the dominant reason for not releasing sooner was a reluctance to trade the dream of success for the reality of feedback."

Many of us spend our lives pursuing private acceptance through external success. But no matter the award or honor, our inner doubts will remain. True acceptance comes from inside us. It takes asking ourselves challenging questions like: What do I want from my work? What’s most important about it to me ? How would I create my work differently if I p... See more

A framework is a tool for thinking. Not a pre-packaged thought.

Escape: the perks of being unavailable

When we forget our ability to choose, we learn to be helpless. Drip by drip, we allow our power to be taken away until we end up becoming a function of other people's choices — or even a function of our own past choices. In turn, we surrender our power to choose.