Reminders for myself
The most radical thing you can do in a culture obsessed with optimisation is to fully occupy your own choices . To be here instead of somewhere else. To do this instead of something better. To be satisfied with enough instead of always reaching for more.
What if This is it?
I watch people scroll through lives they're not living, amassing evidence of their own incompleteness. The investment they didn’t make. The startup they didn’t join. The newsletter they didn’t start, the career pivot, the relationship that might have been different. We've turned existence into an infinite ramble of inadequacy, each swipe an attempt... See more
What if This is it?
There are times when goals make sense. Training for a marathon. Preparing for an exam. Trying to ship a product by a hard deadline. In finite, controlled, well-understood domains, goals are fine.
But smart people often face ambiguous, ill-defined problems. Should I switch careers? Start a company? Move cities? Build a media business? In those spaces... See more
But smart people often face ambiguous, ill-defined problems. Should I switch careers? Start a company? Move cities? Build a media business? In those spaces... See more
Joan Westenberg • Smart People Don't Chase Goals; They CreateLimits
refusals shape lives just as powerfully as ambitions.
Joan Westenberg • Smart People Don't Chase Goals; They CreateLimits
A goal is a win condition. Constraints are the rules of the game. But not all games are worth playing. And some of the most powerful forms of progress emerge from people who stopped trying to win and started building new game boards entirely.
Smart People Don't Chase Goals; They CreateLimits
“Shortcuts will cut you short. There are no shortcuts in life.”
- Narendra Modi (PM of India, on Lex Fridman)
I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that the ability to demand creativity, impact, and control isn’t just about wanting it—it’s about earning it.
We chase the philosophy of ‘love what you do’ without first becoming great at what we do. But true freedom comes from mastery.
The moment you shift from ‘what this job is giving me?’ to ‘what am I bringin... See more
We chase the philosophy of ‘love what you do’ without first becoming great at what we do. But true freedom comes from mastery.
The moment you shift from ‘what this job is giving me?’ to ‘what am I bringin... See more
Substack • Home | Substack
The secret is not to chase butterflies, but to take care of the garden so they'll come to you
it’s super tempting to take the path of least resistance. scrolling through insta, avoiding anything too challenging, staying in the comfort zone. but here’s the thing: the more you avoid hard things, the harder life actually becomes. even the smallest challenges can feel overwhelming when you’re not used to pushing yourself.