Telling stories is a process of mattering. Who matters? When we tell stories, we make ethical choices about who to bring in and who to leave out. We cannot bring in all of the voices. The voices themselves only come to exist once we recognize them. The in-between power increases the probability that we notice the voices, listen to the voices and in... See more

Imagine you are at the end of your life and you are granted the ability to repeat one day. Which period of your life do you choose to repeat? Which phase of life would you want to go back to? Does that tell you anything about how you should be spending your time today?

Measuring from zero helps us keep perspective. I’ve often recommended a similar exercise, but in this version you make your friends disappear instead. You might know it already: when you’re with a loved one, imagine that they’re gone from your life and you’re not actually seeing them in the room with you, you’re just remembering what it was like wh... See more

People exist on a spectrum between fast-twitch and slow-twitch thinking.

Fast-twitch people speak fast, work fast, and crave novelty. Socially, they're quick and witty. Throw a problem their way and they'll come up with 3–5 solutions in a matter of minutes. They're the people you want in the room when you're brainstorming an idea.

Slow-twitch people ... See more

Systems Thinkers

In recent years, I've begun to suspect that a life consumed by ideas will not bring me closer to the divine. The freedom I seek, it seems, doesn't lie in my laying about, steeped in my own brain, but rather in the stillness I've found in the more mundane moments of my life. In these moments, there is no euphoria, nor even any active reflection on g... See more

A bigger problem than price inflation is expectations inflation: A constant increase in what you need to be satisfied.

“The more successful you become,” Flemings said, “the fewer people you can trust. The more successful, the less the public thinks of you; billionaire has become a pejorative word. The more successful you become, the harder it is to find someone who will look you in the face and tell you the truth.”

About half of my friends kind of hate their jobs, so they're moderately unhappy most of the time, but never unhappy enough to leave. This is the mediocrity trap : situations that are bad-but-not-too-bad keep you forever in their orbit because they never inspire the frustration it takes to achieve escape velocity.

The mediocrity trap is a nasty way t... See more