If stuck between two potential options, ask: What is the best story?

"Life is a form of self storytelling. We're continually retelling ourselves our life story, but very few people think of themselves as authors of their story, not mere subjects. People with extraordinary high-agency realize this early in life and start maximizing the... See more

‍ Rumination Trap Escape Route: How can I take action on this now?

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Rumination can be reframed as a smoke alarm for action. If you catch yourself ruminating, reply with How can I take action on this?

The Swedish House Mafia Technique

Step 1 - Collect the smartest people you know.

Step 2 - Tell them about your 3rd world jail cell. (Problem you're stuck on)

Step 3 - Lock the door. Block out the outside world.

Step 4 - Keep rallying ideas back and forth like a tennis game. Take immediate action on the best ideas.

‍ Thought experiment: If the reward for solving the problem was a trillion dollars, and the consequence for not solving the problem was the death penalty -- would you find a way to solve the problem?

The normal paradox: We hide our weirdness and act out “normal” behaviour to be liked by the tribe — but the tribe forgets the normal behaviour.

High agency can be a confusing idea to understand because it’s not just one idea. It’s a combination of three distinct skills rarely found together:

1. Clear thinking


2. Bias to action


3. Disagreeability

When faced with a problem, ask your brain, “ Does this defy the laws of physics? ” — it will reply with “ No ” — and begin generating ludicrous ways this could be possible. Asking your brain this question wipes your mental whiteboard around the problem and knocks on the door of your sleeping creativity.

Normal is forgotten. Only weird survives.

Don’t put any adult on a pedestal. Kill your gurus. A more useful belief: The 'adults' aren’t going to save you — they don’t even exist.