Curiosity Chronicle

Episode at a glance:What do you think you're in the top 0.1% of the world at? This question from a friend sparked me to think deeply about my own answer. I would encourage everyone to think about the question for themselves.My response: I legitimately enjoy being wrong. My father once told me that the most important thing wasn't being right; rather, it was finding the truth. From that point forward, I began embracing new information as “software updates" to improve upon the old.One result of this practice has been the logging of a long list of "truths" that I now believe are anything but. In today's piece, I share a portion of that list: 23 lies you've been told about careers, business, life, and more.Read the full post

Hank is a 95-year-old man who asked to spend a day at Harvard for his 90th birthday. He arrived early, sat in the front row, took notes, and asked questions. He learns with no end in mind. He learns because he loves learning.The forced structure of our formal education years often saps the innate curiosity and excitement for learning. New knowledge is crammed into closed containers in our brains--it's not allowed to mingle and network in a way that sparks new thinking pathways.5 core habits of highly-effective lifelong learners: stimulate dynamically, build learning circles, build a learning engine, consistently ask why, and read daily.

Episode at a glanceRead the full postThe letter to your future self is a 10x unlock for life. The process of writing a letter forces deep reflection on the present and thoughtful rumination on the future.Use a baseline time horizon of 5 years in the future, but adjust as you see fit. A basic letter structure to follow: (1) Reflections on the Present, (2) Changes to Make, (3) Goals for the Future, and (4) Fun & Crazy Predictions.I handwrite the letters and store them in a cabinet, but if you’re looking for a more technology-enabled solution, there are tools like FutureMe that should do the trick.

Welcome to the 1,070 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 100,000 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Thank you to all the subscribers that have joined me on this journey. 100,000 is an amazing milestone—but to be honest, I feel like we’re still at the starting line. Let’s go!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Flatfile!Personally, I have spent enough time in spreadsheets to get my excel PHD. This also means I’ve spent enough time pounding my face into my keyboard in frustration while trying to import spreadsheets.Data onboarding is a MASSIVE headache. Flatfile fixes this.Flatfile is an unmatched toolkit for data import that is helping teams save precious time to focus on the business tasks that matter. Instead of staring at cell D47 and wondering how a missing comma just caused you to miss your lunch break, Flatfile does the work for you and sends you on your way. With over $44 million in funding and blue chip clients like Square, Zuora, and Clickup, Flatfile is making serious waves. To level up your data onboarding and improve your customer experience, schedule a risk-free demo of Flatfile today!Today at a Glance:Our minds tend to overcomplicate the process required to achieve forward progress. We incorrectly assume that it requires herculean effort or intensity.The reality? Giant leaps forward are simply the macro output of tens, hundreds, or thousands of tiny daily steps.The Seinfeld Calendar Framework: (1) Hang a big calendar on the wall; (2) Use a big red marker to put an X over every day that you complete your daily habit; and (3) Don’t break the chain of Xs!The 30-for-30 Challenge: Choose the arena, commit to 30 days of 30 minutes per day, create pressure loops by stating your intentions publicly, and use a calendar or tool to track your daily execution.If you’re interested in being a part of a 30-for-30 Challenge community, fill out the form here to get exclusive first access when it’s launched.The 30-for-30 ChallengeI spend a lot of time thinking about progress.I find happiness and fulfillment in progression—in the feeling of being one step further down the path from where I was yesterday.I’m not quite sure where that path is headed, but I am sure that the only way I want to progress along it is forward.Over time, I’ve observed that our minds tend to overcomplicate the process required to achieve this forward progression. We incorrectly assume that it requires herculean effort or intensity.The reality? Giant leaps forward are simply the macro output of tens, hundreds, or thousands of tiny daily steps.My goal with my writing is always the same: take the complex and make it simple. So today, I’d like to share my simple, tactical approach for making forward progress.Seinfeld’s SecretJerry Seinfeld is an absolute legend—an inspiring figure to study for creatives and non-creatives alike.He is considered one of the top comedians of all time and has amassed a reported financial fortune of nearly $1 billion. He earned a total of $100,000 for the entire first season of Seinfeld. By season 9, he was earning over $1 million per episode.Jerry Seinfeld is impressive in many ways, but perhaps most impressive is the fact that he has exhibited such tremendous creative consistency over the years. As he is quick to point out in a number of interviews, this was not some gift he was simply born with.It was—at least partially—engineered.An up-and-coming comedian named Brad Isaac had a famous interaction with Jerry Seinfeld that revealed his strategy for hacking consistency and growth:He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day.He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day.“After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.”I call this the Seinfeld Calendar Framework:Hang a big calendar on the wall.Use a big red marker to put an X over every day that you complete your daily [insert habit]. The habit should be simple and manageable to complete.Don’t break the chain of Xs!Importantly, it was not about the writing or jokes being high quality—it was about the consistency of the daily practice.The beauty in this system was in its sheer simplicity. It emphasized a manageable daily practice that would compound effectively.Seinfeld knew: With daily practice comes long-term prowess.30-for-30 ChallengeAfter reading about Seinfeld’s calendar hack, I adapted it to create my own improvement approach.I call it the 30-for-30 Challenge: 30 days, 30 minutes per day.The mechanics are simple:Choose your arena f

Welcome to the 675 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 98,027 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Trends!Trends is my personal cheat code for generating new business and content ideas.It’s a premium newsletter from The Hustle that deconstructs the secret sauce of interesting businesses, side hustles, and emerging opportunities—and gives you the playbook to pounce on them. Even better, membership provides instant access to an exclusive community of 15,000+ entrepreneurs who are building the future.I learn something new from every single issue—it has become a core part of my content and learning engine. A true must-read. I can’t recommend it highly enough.Use the link below to join—no commitment, no catch, cancel anytime!Today at a Glance:Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that undermine the quality of an argument.Combatting them relies first and foremost on establishing a level of awareness—both academically and practically.The Logical Fallacy Guide covers 20 common logical fallacies: Ad Hominem, Texas Sharpshooter, Sunk Cost Fallacy, Bandwagon Fallacy, Straw Man, Appeal to Authority, Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc, Personal Incredulity, False Dilemma, Burden of Proof, Red Herring, No True Scotsman, Hasty Generalization, Non-Sequitur, Tu Quoque, Slippery Slope, Begging the Question, Loaded Question, Equivocation, and Fallacy Fallacy.The Logical Fallacy GuideIf you’ve been reading this newsletter, you know that I like to say that humans are fascinating creatures.We possess the capacity to accomplish some complex feat of technology and engineering, and subsequently fall victim to the most obviously flawed base logic.Logical fallacies—errors in reasoning that undermine the quality of an argument—are classic examples of this fact.The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines fallacy as a false or misleading idea. A logical fallacy, therefore, can simply be thought of as logic based on a false or misleading idea.Unfortunately, unless you went to law school—or took a robust philosophy course load in college—you’ve likely been minimally exposed to them in a formal context.Accordingly, we frequently fall victim to logical fallacies—our own emotional, psychological, and intellectual blindspots create the cracks and we fall right into them.There is no such thing as a perfect logician, but we can all strive to cover our blindspots and craft better arguments. Similar to the study of cognitive biases—which I’ve written about recently here and here—the first step in avoiding logical fallacies is developing an awareness of them.In that vein, today’s piece will cover 20 common logical fallacies to learn, identify, and avoid.Without further ado, let’s dive in…Ad HominemLatin phrase for "to the person”—an ad hominem attack is an attack of the individual rather than the argument.Instead of addressing the argument—its structure, logic, and merits—the offender attempts to refute the opposition on the basis of personal characteristics.It may be overt—openly attacking the person’s character or personality—or covert—subtly doing the same—but it always focuses on the person, not the argument.Often referred to as “mud-slinging” in political circles, if you’ve ever watched a political debate or political campaign ads, you’re already familiar with this one. It’s all-too-common on Twitter and other online discourse, as well.ExampleCandidate 1: “…and this is why I believe we need to implement a much more aggressive set of climate change regulations.”Candidate 2: “I’m sorry, but are we really expected to believe anything coming from a known liar who cheated on his college entrance exams to get to this position?”The offender (Candidate 2) has attacked Candidate 1 the individual, rather than the argument itself.The Texas SharpshooterThe name of this fallacy is based on a fable:A Texan fires a gun multiple times at a barn wall. He then walks over to the bullet-riddled wall and paints a target around the closest cluster of bullet holes to create the appearance of impressive marksmanship.Think of this as cherry-picking—selecting and highlighting evidence that supports the conclusion and systematically ignoring evidence that may refute it.Example“Tara is a really impressive and successful restauranteur. Her restaurant on Park Avenue is always full and gets really high ratings on Yelp.”This may be true, but it ignores the fact that Tara’s five other restaurant openings have failed. The cherry-picked data—the successful Park Avenue restaurant—is used to draw a broad conclusion about Tara’s quality as a restauranteur that may be inaccurate.Sunk Cost FallacyA favorite of behavioral economics.Sunk costs are the economic costs already invested in an activity that cannot be recovered. Money spent on non-refundable flights and hotels, time invested in a project, or energy put towards a relationship all qualify as sunk costs.The fal

Welcome to the 853 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 96,549 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by The Hustle!See why 2m+ professionals start their day with The Hustle newsletter.Anyone can regurgitate the news, few can make it interesting and entertaining. The Hustle does just that. Be the most interesting person in the room from reading The Hustle each day. While their Monday - Friday coverage is 5 star, their Sunday Deep Dives are epic. Ever wondered how all-you-can-eat-buffets make money? Or what happened to the 250K American Airlines lifetime pass? It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s ad free!Today at a Glance:There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Extraordinary success is simply the byproduct of a large volume of ordinary actions. The quality of our daily habits governs the ultimate quality of our long-term outcomes.I frequently write and speak about the good habits—the ones that positively contribute to your desired outcomes. But what about the bad habits? Just as we want to identify what will propel us forward, isn’t it at least as important to know that which is holding us back?Today’s piece covers 20 bad habits that are holding you back from reaching your potential. All of these are bad habits I have—or currently am—struggling with, so you definitely aren’t alone in this fight.Bad Habits Holding You BackI’m mildly obsessed with the myth of the overnight success.There’s a story I love about Spanish painter Pablo Picasso that captures the essence of the myth very well:Picasso was walking through the market one day when a woman approached him.She pulled out a piece of paper and said, “Mr. Picasso, I am a fan of your work. Please, could you do a little drawing for me?”Picasso smiled and quickly drew a small, but beautiful piece of art on the paper. He handed it back to her.“That will be one million dollars.”“But Mr. Picasso,” the woman protested, “It only took you thirty seconds to draw this little masterpiece.”Picasso smiled, “On the contrary, it took me thirty years to draw that masterpiece in thirty seconds.”The lesson: extraordinary success is simply the byproduct of a large volume of ordinary actions.The quality of our daily habits governs the ultimate quality of our long-term outcomes.I frequently write and speak about the good habits—the ones that positively contribute to your desired outcomes.But what about the bad habits?Just as we want to identify that which will propel us forward, isn’t it at least as important to know that which is holding us back?In that vein, today’s piece will cover 18 bad habits that are holding you back from reaching your potential. All of these are bad habits I have—or currently am—struggling with, so you definitely aren’t alone in this fight!These are designed to be short, punchy insights—I would encourage you to skip any that don’t apply and think deeply about those that specifically resonate with you.Without further ado, let’s dive right in…Focusing on the UrgentIt's easy to jump from one urgent task to the next.But when you focus on the short-term urgent, you lose sight of the long-term important.Spend most of your time focused on long-term important tasks—the compounders.Delegate or delete the rest.Saying Yes to EverythingConfession: I've always had a tough time saying no. I'd take on too much and then grind my way through—or even worse, under-deliver vs. expectations.The ability to say no is a superpower of successful people. Be deliberate about what you spend your time on—and who you spend it with.My rule of thumb: You should spend your 20s saying yes and your 30s and beyond saying no. Your 20s are a time to say yes to almost everything. Saying yes puts you into new and uncomfortable situations that expand your luck surface area. Your 30s and beyond are a time to say no to almost everything. Saying no allows you to focus & build leverage.Glorifying the Wrong ThingsWhat I used to glorify:No sleep100-hour workweeksBusy schedulesFancy titles and credentialsWhat I now glorify:Sleeping 8 hoursRegular physical activityUnstructured schedulesWorking in short sprintsSpending time with family and friendsThe realization: Freedom and control over your time is the one true status symbol. Success and wealth is meaningless if it doesn’t provide that freedom and control.Comparison TrapsThroughout your life and career, it's tempting to compare yourself and your progress to those around you.It’s borderline impossible to avoid:This person made X dollars last yearThat person got Forbes 30 Under 30So and so raised $100m for their startupThey just got a vacation home and new carIt's natural, but dangerous—comparison is like gas on your “more” fire—it tears away the enjoyment of the present and tells you that it’s not enough.Learn to turn it off.Focus on what you can control. When you notice yourself falling into the trap, reset and focus on yourself.Pr

Welcome to the 1,719 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 94,548 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Morning Brew!There's a reason why over 4 million people read Morning Brew—the free daily email that covers the latest from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Unlike traditional news, Morning Brew will keep you informed AND entertained.Morning Brew is one of my consistent daily reads. I know you’ll love it as much as I do!The Beauty of Enough“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.”My son was born one week ago—it feels like one of those fabled weeks where decades happen.I spent the first three decades of my life trying to find the meaning and purpose of all of this—then one week, it all came into view.On Monday morning, I was with him in bed and had this profound sensation: For the first time in my life, I have enough.I’ve always been extremely driven—I’ve always been in this constant cycle of wanting more.But I feel…different.Really, what more could I want?This profound feeling prompted today’s piece—on our perpetual desire for more, and more importantly, on the beauty of enough.My hope is for you to come away from it feeling empowered to think clearly and deeply about finding your “enough” amidst the constant search for more.The Fisherman & The BankerThere’s a beautiful parable that I think about quite often…A wealthy investment banker goes on vacation to a tropical fishing village. As he walks along the docks one afternoon, he comes upon a small, run-down fishing boat with several large fish on its deck."How long did it take you to catch those fish?" he asks.The fisherman looks up from his work and smiles at his new visitor."Only a little while."The investment banker is caught off guard by this response. He likes the fisherman and wants to help."Why don't you fish for longer so you can catch more fish?"The fisherman shrugs and explains to his new friend that he has all he needs."Each day, I sleep late, fish a little, and spend time with my children and beautiful wife. In the evening, I go into town, drink wine, play the guitar, and sing and laugh with my friends."The investment banker is puzzled. He wants to help his new friend, who he recognizes is clearly confused. The investment banker has helped many businesses and has an MBA and other fancy credentials to his name. So he lays out a plan for the fisherman..."First, you spend more time fishing, so you can catch and sell more fish. You use the proceeds to buy a bigger boat, which allows you to catch and sell even more fish. Then you buy a fleet of boats. You hire a team. Vertically integrate! As CEO of a large, growing enterprise, you could move to the big city. You would take your company public and make millions!"The fisherman looks confused, but smiles."And then what?" he asks.The investment banker laughs at the silly question."Well, then you could retire to a quiet town! You could sleep late, fish a little, and spend time with your children and beautiful wife. In the evening, you could go into town, drink wine, play the guitar, and sing and laugh with your friends."The fisherman smiles broadly, thanks his new friend for the advice, and wanders off slowly into the warm afternoon sun.More vs. EnoughThis parable illustrates the importance of perspective.The story isn’t about the fisherman or the banker being “right”—it’s about personally identifying what success and purpose looks like to you, and then building a life that meets that definition.Fundamentally, it’s about a dichotomy that rules our lives: More vs. Enough.The Hedonic TreadmillHedonic adaptation is the tendency of humans to revert to a happiness baseline shortly after new positive or negative events.It (probably) developed as a survival mechanism of sorts—in the wild, you needed to stay on an even keel in order to survive to reproductive age. After a big hunt and kill, the thrill of the victory had to wear off quickly so that you didn’t let your guard down and get eaten by a lion. That seems…good.But in the modern age, hedonic adaptation has a darker side.It becomes a treadmill—the Hedonic Treadmill—a perpetual motion machine that keeps us running in search of the next thing.We create this magical universe in our minds where that one next thing will be exactly what makes us permanently, sustainably happier.The harsh reality? We get to that next thing, appreciate it for a moment, and then turn our gaze to the next, next thing, with no marked improvement in our happiness.You’ve undoubtedly seen this general dynamic play out:We can finally buy the second home in Florida we’ve always dreamed of. Two weeks later, we’re complaining about maintaining it and thinking that a third home in Sedona sounds nice.We buy that fancy car—we ride around smiling broadly with the music blasting, and then see someone in the newer model and start

Welcome to the most important new member of the curiosity tribe who joined us since Friday—my son, Roman Reddy Bloom.I spent the first 30 years of my life trying to find the meaning and purpose of all of this. Then one day, it was staring right back at me. My new best friend.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by LEX!What they do: make it easy to invest in real estate!Pop quiz: What asset class has created more millionaires than any other? Answer: Real estate.LEX has a really cool angle for investing in real estate. LEX does an “IPO” for a building, so you can directly invest in marquee commercial real estate. You can build a portfolio of buildings you want to invest in. Each building has a ticker, just like stocks. As a shareholder, you can get paid dividends flowing from the rent paid by the tenants. You can also earn tax advantaged passive income and trade without lockups.Check out LEX’s live assets in New York City and upcoming IPO in Seattle.Sign up for free here and get a $50 bonus when you deposit at least $500.Today at a Glance:Anti-goals are the things we DON'T want to happen—either as final outcomes or along the way. Establishing them allows you to win the battle AND the war.If traditional goals are the rudders that set your direction, think of anti-goals as the map that tells you where the rapids are. Awareness keeps you on smooth waters.The generalized process involves four steps: (1) Choose Your Arena, (2) Establish Traditional Goals, (3) Invert the Problem, and (4) Establish Anti-Goals. Test it out by establishing anti-goals when planning for new projects, designing your life, or creating self-improvement plans.The Ultimate Goal Setting ToolI love writing this newsletter.There are plenty of reasons, but at the top of the list is the fact that I get to take you all on a journey with me. Not a physical journey—though it would be fun to do a Curiosity Chronicle retreat someday!—but a learning journey.I’m able to share new insights and perspectives in *real time*.This isn’t some academic newsletter where I lecture you on truths and personal wisdom—this is simply me sharing ideas, frameworks, and models that I am battle-testing on my own journey.I am not a teacher—I am a student, learning alongside all of you.In that vein, today’s piece will share a new learning: the power of Anti-Goals.An Introduction to Anti-GoalsAt the start of 2022, I shared a piece called The Goal Setting Guide—a breakdown of my framework for setting—and smashing—goals.Shortly after I shared the piece, however, I came across the intriguing concept of “anti-goals” from my friend Andrew Wilkinson. I began to wonder if my goal setting framework was in need of a refresh.I like to personally battle-test new concepts before I share them publicly, so I started establishing “Anti-Goals” for all new projects.Everything changed.It quickly became a staple for:Planning for new projectsDesigning my lifeCreating self-improvement plansSo with sufficient battle-testing behind me, I'd like to share how to leverage anti-goals to level up your goal setting process.The concept is grounded in inversion—a foundational mental model that says that complex problems are often easier solved backwards vs. forwards.Inversion was made famous by one quote from Charlie Munger:All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.With traditional goals, we envision the optimal outcome. We then build systems that will—hopefully—lead to that outcome.This is important and necessary—but it’s incomplete. Anti-goals leverage inversion to complete the picture.Anti-goals are the things we DON'T want to happen—either as final outcomes or along the way.I think of anti-goals as being about avoiding the Pyrrhic victory—a term coined after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who suffered devastating losses while defeating the Roman army in battle in 279 B.C.E.The term is now commonly used to refer to a victory that takes such a terrible toll on the victor that it might has well have been a defeat.My friend Shaan Puri, another proponent of anti-goals, elaborates:What if your dream was to be a musician. And guess what - you did it! But while you’re touring the world, you gain weight, get addicted to drugs, your marriage is in shambles, and your kids don’t recognize you....you won the battle but lost the war.Anti-goals allow you to win the battle AND the war!The Anti-Goal FrameworkOk, so how do you leverage anti-goals in your goal setting process?The generalized version involves four steps:Choose Your ArenaEstablish Traditional GoalsInvert the ProblemEstablish Anti-GoalsLet’s walk through each step:Choose Your ArenaThe arena is the "project" you’re going to be working on.A few broad categories to consider:PersonalWorkHealthYour arena should be a specific project under a larger category. It’s the place where you’re looking for achievement, progress, or growth.Establish Traditional GoalsThese are your standard goals—the desired outcomes from the chosen arena. This should b

Welcome to the 1,044 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 91,634 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Hyper startup accelerator is open for applications!If you're thinking about joining an accelerator or raising capital for your startup, Hyper is a new accelerator backed by the biggest venture capital firms in tech.A few reasons I’m a huge fan:More competitive terms than competitors ($300k for 5%).Hyper is the sister company of Product Hunt—companies get unique access to Product Hunt, the team, and launch support.World-class advisors including Sequoia’s Alfred Lin, Ryan Hoover, Deena Shakir, Disney’s Jeffrey Katzenberg, and a lot more.Small batches make for a far more personalized experience.Efficient 4 week long program.Participants get time with me on how to scale your storytelling!This is an amazing opportunity for startups all around the world. Apply for the program here.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Air!If you’re still using Google Drive and Dropbox to store your files, you’re going to want to listen up. While those tools are fine for people who just need to store everything, they fall terribly flat when it comes to creative collaboration and scalability on images and videos.Walk with me…let’s talk about Air. Air has built a solution—a platform that allows marketers and creatives to collaborate seamlessly across the entire content library of a business. All the work happens directly in the visual asset. The end result? Businesses can 10x the power of their content to become storytelling machines.Air is the “holy s*** why didn’t this already exist?!” solution for marketing and creative collaboration. My startup portfolio loves it and you will too. Get a demo today and level up your content.Today at a Glance:Public speaking is scary. So scary that a number of surveys and studies have found that people rank public speaking ahead of death on a list of their greatest fears.It’s also one of the most critical skill sets for your career and life. Confident, powerful public speaking—whether informal or formal—will accelerate your personal and professional life.Strategies for more confident public speaking: avoid memorization, study the best, strike a power pose, practice relentlessly, find the anxiety killers, play the lava game, slow down to 0.75x, engage the audience, implement a storytelling structure, move with purpose, never self-sabotage, and cut the fear.The Power Speaking Guide"There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars." — Mark TwainOk, so public speaking is scary.How scary?Well, a number of surveys and studies have found that people rank public speaking ahead of death on a list of their greatest fears…THAT scary.Unfortunately, public speaking is also one of the most critical skill sets for your career and life. Confident, powerful public speaking—whether informal or formal—will accelerate your personal and professional endeavors. It sits in the all-important top-right quadrant of the Scary vs. Beneficial 2x2 grid.So we can’t just hide from it. We need a set of strategies to increase our confidence and level up our speaking game.In today’s piece, I’ll propose 12 such strategies. Some of the strategies will appear non-obvious or even counter-intuitive—but trust me, they work.Without further ado, let’s dive in…Avoid MemorizationWhen we’re nervous for a speech, toast, presentation, or talk, our bias is to memorize the content word-for-word.We memorize in a valiant effort to avoid screwing up.Ironically, memorization often has the opposite effect.Imagine you are driving to a friend’s new house. You look up the directions before leaving—they seem simple enough, so you just memorize them. On the way, there’s a bit or roadwork that forces you to make a slight detour. Suddenly, you’re completely lost. You memorized the directions from A to B, but the slight twist has taken you off course and you have no clue how to get back on track. You only memorized the directions for one specific scenario (going directly from point A to point B), but the situation became more dynamic.For most people, the same general principle applies to public speaking.When you memorize material, one tiny slip-up can throw you off. You only know the material in one fixed direction, so you're unable to adapt. All it takes is a glitch in the slides, an off-track question from the audience, or a slight stumble in your opener and all of your preparation is out the window.Furthermore, rote memorization can make you appear distant to the audience.Instead of memorizing:Focus on a few key moments. Perfect the opening line, transitions, and closing. When you nail these, you create momentum—with the audience and yourself. It instills a confidence you can build on. Manufacture these small "wins" that compound.Create “lego blocks” that you can piece together. Hone small chunks of stories and ideas

Welcome to the 404 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 89,181 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by LEX!What they do: make it easy to invest in real estatePop quiz…What asset class has created more millionaires than any other? Answer: Real estate.Today’s sponsor, LEX, has a really cool angle for investing in real estate. LEX does an “IPO” for a building, so you can directly invest in marquee commercial real estate. You can build a portfolio of buildings you want to invest in. Each building has a ticker, just like stocks. As a shareholder, you can get paid dividends flowing from the rent paid by the tenants. You can also earn tax advantaged passive income and trade without lockups.Check out LEX’s live assets in New York City and upcoming IPO in Seattle.Sign up for free here and get a $50 bonus when you deposit at least $500.Today at a Glance:Cognitive biases and logical fallacies are systematic errors in thinking and reasoning that negatively impact decision-making quality, logic, and outcomes.Combatting them relies first and foremost on establishing a level of awareness—both academically and practically.Part I of this series covered Fundamental Attribution Error, Naïve Realism, the Curse of Knowledge, Availability Bias, and Survivorship Bias.Today’s Part II covers Loss Aversion, the Spotlight Effect, Heaven’s Reward Fallacy, Confirmation Bias, and Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.Dangerous Mental ErrorsA few weeks ago, I shared Part I of a multi-part series on cognitive biases and logical fallacies.In the opening to the piece, I commented on the fascinating dichotomy of our species:We possess the capacity to accomplish some complex feat of technology and engineering, and subsequently fall victim to the most obviously flawed base logic. For a hyper-intelligent species, our thinking and decision-making patterns can be pretty fractured.To be sure, many of these fractures were—for much of human history—features, not bugs. It’s logical to surmise that they were hardwired into our DNA because they made it incrementally more likely that we would survive to reproductive age.But the facts on the ground have changed—we live in a Digital Age—and our thinking and reasoning pathways have not had enough time to “catch up” to those new realities.So, we have to force it—we have to fight back and regain control over the quality of our decision-making and logic.In today’s Part II of the multi-part series, I’ll cover five common cognitive biases and logical fallacies that negatively impact decision-making quality, logic, and outcomes. To really bring it to life, for each one, I’ll provide a definition, example, and perspectives on how to fight back.Without further ado, let’s dive in…Loss AversionDefinitionThe pain of losing something is more powerful than the pleasure of winning it.Loss aversion was first identified by famed behavioral scientists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who found that humans had a tendency to prefer avoiding losses over acquiring equivalent gains.Accordingly, people were typically willing to take actions to avoid losses that they wouldn’t have taken to seek gains. Economists had previously assumed humans were rational actors—that $100 in losses would drive the same amount of pain as $100 in gains would create pleasure. Wrong. Humans are enigmatic creatures!ExampleInvestors—professional and amateur alike—provide some of the most clear, trackable examples of loss aversion. The pain and fear of realizing a loss often leads investors to hold onto losing positions much longer than they should.The media contributes to this bias—dunking on investors who cut ties with losing positions rather than celebrating the fact that they may have exhibited clear, rational thinking.How to Fight BackAvoid emotional connection to your possessions—whether they are investments, material items, or money. Attempt to distance your emotions from the decision-making process where possible.Ask questions:Am I being objective and rational in this decision?Am I too connected emotionally to make a rational decision?If you are too connected to a given decision, you may need to outsource it to an objective third-party.The Spotlight EffectDefinitionHumans significantly overestimate the degree to which other people are noticing or observing our appearance or actions.It causes a lot of social anxiety—it keeps people from being themselves due to an irrational fear of judgement.We incorrectly assume that others are thinking about us. The reality: Everyone is just thinking about themselves.ExampleImagine you go to a dinner party. You’re nervous about the party, because you know there will be a lot of smart attendees and you won’t know anyone there.During the cocktail hour, you’re in a small group discussion and say something incorrect about the current state of domestic economic affairs. Your error is pointed out politely a

Welcome to the 1,146 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 88,500 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Quick Announcement: Audience Building Course is back May 3-6!It's a live cohort-based course designed to help you build a high-leverage audience. Results from prior cohorts were awesome—hundreds of thousands of new followers and subscribers and countless new monetization opportunities created.Only 25 spots remaining—you can grab your seat here.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by LMNT!LMNT is my healthy alternative to sugary sports drinks.I work out a lot and pay close attention to what I put in my body (other than the occasional whiskey). That means that I reject all the standard sports drinks and their sugar-filled formulas.LMNT is a tasty solution—an electrolyte drink mix with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means a science-backed electrolyte ratio with no sugar, no coloring, no artificial ingredients, or any other junk.Get your free LMNT Sample pack below (you only cover the cost of shipping). You’re going to love it.Today at a Glance:An intellectual sparring partner is a friend, colleague, or acquaintance whose combination of background, competency, and personality makes them well-suited to strengthen the quality of your reasoning and decision-making via active, grounded discussion and debate.To identify one, look for a combination of a different background from your own, clarity and depth of thinking, and a kind but direct personality.Establish structure with regular “sparring sessions”—1 hour on a fixed weekly or monthly cadence, with clear topics and desired outcomes to guide the discussion.Intellectual Sparring PartnersOver the weekend, I posted a thread on Twitter on the topic of ideas I can’t stop thinking about.It was intentionally broad—a running list of some of the most interesting concepts, frameworks, paradoxes, and mental models that have been percolating in my mind over the last several months.If you’ve been following along for a while, by now you’ve realized that my posts are rarely intended to give you “the answer”—they’re intended to make you think. I want to give you the tools, but leave it up to you to create your own maps of how to use them.If I can spark new curiosity about a topic—and that curiosity leads to active thinking, learning, discussion, and personal or professional growth—I’ve done my job.One idea from the list—Intellectual Sparring Partners—seemed to spark a lot of interest, discussion, and follow-up questions.Interestingly, when my friend Alex Lieberman asked me which of the ideas on the list has had the biggest impact on my life to date, intellectual sparring partners was my answer.Why?Well, one intellectual sparring partner—and one “sparring session”—completely changed my life.So in today’s piece, I’d like to shine a spotlight on this idea:What is an Intellectual Sparring Partner?The sparring session that changed my life.How can you find one?The makeup of a great “sparring session”.With that context in mind, let’s dive right in…IntroductionI’ve been fortunate to meet and interact with many top performers in my life.One common trait I’ve observed: they all legitimately enjoy being wrong. They embrace new information that forces them to change their viewpoints—their open mindsets allow them to accumulate and compound knowledge at an accelerated rate.This innate desire to be wrong—to get closer to the truth—leads them to seek out people who are willing and able to push their thinking in new directions and to greater depths.These people are their intellectual sparring partners…Let’s check Sahil’s Dictionary for a definition:Intellectual Sparring Partner (Noun): A friend, colleague, or acquaintance whose combination of background, competency, and personality makes them well-suited to strengthen the quality of your reasoning and decision-making via active, grounded discussion and debate.Put simply, an intellectual sparring partner is a person who is willing and able to question, critique, and pressure test your thinking.Friends come easy—intellectual sparring partners are harder to find, but are incredibly important and valuable.A Personal StoryTo bring this concept to life, I’ll share a quick personal story…In early 2021, I was completely lost. From the outside looking in, everything was fine—I had built a large following on Twitter, I had a good job, etc. But on the inside, I felt like I was wandering around with a blindfold on.I had decided to leave my stable job in private equity—and the wonderful group of colleagues that came with it—to pursue something new, but had run into a series of rejections along the way.In May 2021, at my point of peak uncertainty, I sat down for a meal with Shaan Puri, the host of the My First Million podcast and one of my go-to intellectual sparring partners.The conversation went something like this:Shaan: So, tell me how you’re thinking a

Welcome to the 840 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 86,375 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Quick Announcement: Audience Building Course is back May 3-6!It's a live cohort-based course designed to help you build a high-leverage audience. Results from prior cohorts were awesome—hundreds of thousands of new followers and subscribers and countless new monetization opportunities created.50 spots remaining—you can grab your seat here.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by LEX!What asset class has created more millionaires than any other? Real estate. The problem is that it’s an asset class that has previously been inaccessible to most investors. LEX has changed that with a unique new way to invest in real estate.LEX does an “IPO” for a building, so you can build a portfolio of buildings you want to invest in. Each building has a ticker, just like stocks. Any US investor can open a LEX account, browse opportunities in various asset classes such as multifamily and office buildings, and buy shares of individual buildings.I’m a huge fan of the platform—you will be too! Get a $50 bonus when you deposit $500 by using the link below.It’s Later Than You ThinkYou work and work for years and years, you're always on the goYou never take a minute off, too busy makin' doughSomeday you say, you'll have your fun, when you're a millionaireImagine all the fun you'll have in your old rockin' chairEnjoy yourself, it's later than you thinkEnjoy yourself, while you're still in the pinkThe years go by, as quickly as a winkEnjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think- Guy Lombardo, Enjoy Yourself, It’s Later Than You ThinkA few weeks ago, I posted a thread on Twitter on harsh truths of life.Contrary to what you may believe, this piece was not intended to be dark or morbid. It was intended to make you think—to hopefully question some underlying (yet flawed) assumptions and spark active discussion with those around you.Today’s newsletter has the same intention.It’s more emotion-inducing than most of my work—I teared up several times during the writing!—but also arguably the most important piece I will ever write.My hope is for you to come away from it feeling cleansed, refreshed, and empowered to think clearly and deeply about your time and how you choose to spend it.With that context in mind, let’s dive right in…The Harsh TruthHarsh Truth: You’ll only see your loved ones a few more times.A Personal StoryI’ll start with a personal story.In May 2021, I had a conversation with a new friend that changed my life.We were having a chat—over a few whiskeys, of course—about living in California. He had grown up there and his entire family had settled there, so I was lamenting that it was so far away from my parents and sister in Boston.My friend asked how often I saw them and how old my parents were...I replied that I saw them about once per year, and that they were in their mid-60s. He looked me square in the face and plainly said:"Ok, so you'll see them 15 more times in your life."Gut punch.It sounds insensitive—but it's just real. It’s just…math. If the average life expectancy is ~80 years, my parents are in their mid-60s, and I see them one time per year, the math—however depressing—says I will see them 15 more times before they are gone.Our time together is finite, but we fail to recognize it until it's too late.Time is cruel. You’ll love it with all of your being, you may even pray for more of it, but the reality is that time doesn’t care about you.Your relationship with time is the ultimate unrequited love.The morning after this conversation, I woke up and had a very candid conversation with my wife about what we wanted in life. A few days later, we listed our brand new house in California on the market. Thanks to a blazing hot housing market, we sold our house within days, packed up our things, and shipped off to the East Coast to be closer to our parents.It’s been almost a year, and it was the best decision I've ever made.I'll never regret these tiny moments—of doing nothing in particular—that we'll get to spend together in the years ahead. I’ll never regret the moments my parents get to spend with my son once he is born.I’ll never regret any of this.Visualizing TimeWhen I first shared this story on Twitter, the response was pretty overwhelming. It seemed I wasn’t alone in having this painful, yet powerful, realization.Tim Urban—one of my favorite writers (and an upcoming guest on my podcast!)—wrote about this phenomenon in a recent New York Times op-ed.In classic Tim Urban fashion, he produced a simple visualizations to capture the sentiment of the entire piece.Quoting from the article:What it boils down to is this: My life, in the best-case scenario, will consist of around 20 years of in-person parent time. The first 19 happened over the course of my first 19 years. The final year is spread out over the rest of my life. When I

Welcome to the 4,178 (!!!) new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 84,638 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by LMNT!LMNT is my healthy alternative to sugary sports drinks.I work out a lot and pay close attention to what I put in my body (other than the occasional whiskey). That means that I reject all the standard sports drinks and their sugar-filled formulas.LMNT is a tasty solution—an electrolyte drink mix with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means a science-backed electrolyte ratio with no sugar, no coloring, no artificial ingredients, or any other junk.Get your free LMNT Sample pack below (you only cover the cost of shipping). You’re going to love it.Today at a Glance:Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that negatively impact decision-making quality and outcomes.Combatting them relies first and foremost on establishing a level of awareness of the biases—both academically and practically.Today’s deep dive covers five common cognitive biases that derail decision-making: Fundamental Attribution Error, Naïve Realism, the Curse of Knowledge, Availability Bias, and Survivorship Bias.Dangerous Mental ErrorsHumans are fascinating creatures.We possess the capacity to accomplish some complex feat of technology and engineering, and subsequently fall victim to the most obviously flawed base logic. For a hyper-intelligent species, our thinking and decision-making patterns can be pretty fractured.Many of these fractures fall into the category of cognitive biases—systematic errors in thinking that negatively impact decision-making quality and outcomes.Importantly, these are typically subconscious, automatic errors. We are wired to take shortcuts in our decision-making—to be more efficient and effective in the wild—but shortcuts are a double-edged sword. Speed and efficiency can be great, but when we systematically misinterpret the data, signal, and information from the world around us, it dramatically impacts the consistency and rationality of our decisions.Fortunately, we can fight back and regain—at least a modicum of—control over the quality of our decision-making.In today’s piece, I’ll cover five common cognitive biases that derail decision-making. For each, I’ll provide a definition, example, and perspectives on how to fight back.This will be Part I of a multi-part series on cognitive biases and logical fallacies—as it’s a topic that deeply impacts all of our careers and lives. Developing an awareness of these errors—and a plan to combat them—will give you a legitimate competitive advantage in all of your pursuits.Let’s dive in…Fundamental Attribution ErrorDefinitionFundamental Attribution Error is the human tendency to hold others accountable while giving ourselves a break.It says that humans tend to:Attribute someone else's actions to their character—and not to their situation or context.Attribute our actions to our situation and context—and not to our character.In short: We cut ourselves a break, but hold others accountable.Why do we do this? Well, as with many of the biases we will cover, it likely developed as a heuristic—a problem-solving or decision-making shortcut—in this case for simplifying the process and judgement around new human relationships.From an evolutionary perspective, quickly attributing negative actions to character—rather than situation or context—may have kept you alive, as you’d be more likely to avoid that individual in future interactions to play it safe.But in a modern context, it can create real problems—a failure to recognize or empathize with the context and situational factors impacting others is at the core of many societal and organizational issues.ExampleThe workplace is a common breeding ground for Fundamental Attribution Error.It’s easy to form perspectives on the character of colleagues and bosses based on small pieces of incomplete information.If a colleague arrives late for work, they’re just lazy, right?This is clearly a flawed line of thinking, as there are numerous factors that could have contributed to your colleague’s lateness.The reality is that, in these instances, you are using limited information to create an overall picture of an individual. You’re seeing one square of a map and believing you know the map in its entirety.How to Fight BackYou’ll never completely eliminate Fundamental Attribution Error, but you can limit its impact.The first step is always awareness—keep it in mind, particularly as you build a body of experiences with new colleagues or acquaintances. This is when it’s most likely to strike.Force yourself to slow down and evaluate the potential circumstances or situational factors that may be influencing an individual’s actions or behaviors.You won’t always have the time to do so—shortcuts are often necessary and helpful—but with longer-term or important relationships, it’s worth the extra effort.

Welcome to the 979 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 80,207 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Write of Passage!Fun Fact: This newsletter would not exist if not for David Perell.When we first met, David explained his concept of the Personal Monopoly and convinced me to go all in on building mine. One year later, here we are.The Internet unfairly rewards people who have a unique set of skills, experiences, and ideas. When that combination is so unique that it can’t be replicated, you create a Personal Monopoly.David Perell has become the go-to guy for writing online, and has helped thousands of students create their own personal monopolies. He’s created a free guide to help people uncover their strengths, clearly communicate their value, and start building their reputation online with a free lesson from his Write of Passage course.This is a life cheat code. I highly recommend checking it out!Today at a Glance:Type I Procrastination is common and generally not very harmful. We procrastinate on doing the laundry, taking out the trash, or replying to our emails. Type II Procrastination is equally common, but much more damning. Type II tasks tend to be the long-term important projects—the true growth creators. When we procrastinate on these projects, we fail to make progress.The Anti-Procrastination System involves five core steps: (1) Awareness, (2) Deconstruction, (3) Plan Creation, (4) Stake Creation, and (5) Action.The system is equally applicable for both Type I and II, but given its deliberate structure, it’s likely better to walk through for the first time in the context of Type II Procrastination.How to Stop ProcrastinatingConfession: I’ve spent most of my life as a chronic procrastinator.I’ve also spent most of my life justifying that chronic procrastination. “It’s just how I work,” I’d say to myself after yet another stress-inducing last-minute sprint to complete a project. The pressure of an imminent deadline was what I needed to thrive.Scientifically, I wasn't wildly off…The Yerkes-Dodson Law—originally developed by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dodson in 1908—says stress and performance are positively correlated…up to a point, after which more stress reduces performance.But there are two core issues here:It’s very difficult to honestly review where you sit on the curve. Are you really at optimal stress, or have you gone past that point on the curve?If procrastination is the only way you’re able to create optimal stress, you only work on the urgent tasks—very rarely the long-term important tasks. As you’ll recall from my piece on The Ultimate Productivity Tool, this is a recipe for stalled progress.What I realized: A modest amount of stress, pressure, and arousal is good—but relying on procrastination to create it is bad. Procrastination is a growth limiter—it restricts our potential.It became clear to me that I needed to develop a system to fight back.In today’s piece, I’d like to share that system with all of you.The Anti-Procrastination SystemI categorize procrastination-prone tasks into two types:Type I: Small & BoringType II: Big & ScaryType I Procrastination is common and generally not very harmful. We procrastinate on doing the laundry, taking out the trash, or replying to our emails.Type II Procrastination is equally common, but much more damning. Type II tasks tend to be the long-term important projects—the true growth creators. When we procrastinate on these projects, we fail to make progress—we stall. The Anti-Procrastination System involves five core steps:AwarenessDeconstructionPlan CreationStake CreationActionThe structure is sequential, but its practice is often dynamic & iterative.Note: The system is equally applicable for both Type I and II, but given its deliberate structure, it’s likely better to walk through for the first time in the context of Type II Procrastination.Let's walk through each of the steps...AwarenessAs with most mental hurdles, the first step is becoming aware of the problem.Procrastination is defined as the action of postponing or delaying something. Ancient Greek philosophers called it Akrasia—acting against your better judgement. We procrastinate when it's easier to delegate a task to our future self.Don’t beat yourself up about it. The proclivity to procrastinate is literally hardwired into our DNA. We value immediate rewards, even if we know that it isn’t what’s best for us in the long-term.To develop awareness, schedule a daily assessment of your day-to-day actions. Start by identifying the important long-term projects in your life.Then ask a few questions:Am I proud of the actions I am taking on these big projects?Am I doing what I should be doing?If the answers are “no”—that’s great.You're now aware of your procrastination and can proceed to the next step...DeconstructionThe driver of Type II Procrastination i

Welcome to the 1,002 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 78,225 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Veridas!Do you struggle with verifying the identity of your customers?Gone are the days of needing to ask customers over the phone to verify 3 pieces of information to prove their identity, and wasting your support rep's time. Veridas’ voice biometric authentication will confirm a person's identity simply by hearing them speak. No language requirements, no special phrase, just 3 seconds of chatter. In fact, 100 companies around the world already trust Veridas thanks to its simplicity, accuracy (+99.9%), and speed (150 milliseconds).Veridas is offering a special 15% discount for all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers that book a live demo in the next 30 days. Sign up at the link below to take advantage of the offer!Today at a Glance:Whether you’re just starting—or building—your career, you’ve undoubtedly faced new challenges that no textbook or classroom could have prepared you for. Early career years can be quite painful and anxiety-inducing. You face a completely new world with no map—no guide to help you navigate the uncharted terrain.Today’s piece provides that guide—a simple set of core principles that you can turn to and rely on as you start and build your career.If you prefer a printable, evergreen format that you can refer to in future, I turned this into a beautiful e-book, which you can buy here. It includes several additional principles and visualizations not in the newsletter version.The Career Success GuideWhether you’re just starting—or building—your career, you’ve undoubtedly faced new challenges that no textbook or classroom could have prepared you for.Early career years can be quite painful and anxiety-inducing. You face a completely new world with no map—no guide to help you navigate the uncharted terrain…So today, I’d like to provide that guide—a simple set of core principles that you can turn to and rely on as you start and build your career.All of the principles contained herein were developed and earned through my own experience, generally through failures or missteps. My hope is that by providing this in writing, you can avoid those same mistakes and accelerate your path.If you prefer a printable, evergreen format that you can refer to in future, I turned this into a beautiful e-book, which you can buy here. It also includes several additional principles and visualizations not in the newsletter version.With that context in mind, let’s dive right in: The Career Success Guide—10 principles to help you navigate the challenges of your early career…Build a Personal Board of AdvisorsThe general logic here is simple.If you treat your career lifecycle as a company...You start as a high-growth startupYou grow into a bigger businessYou IPO and are a public companyAt each phase, you're faced with a variety of difficult and new decisions and challenges.Traditionally, people have turned to "mentorship" to navigate the uncharted waters they encounter at each stage. But "mentorship" feels very formal. It carries a connotation of a fixed cadence and time commitment. From the mentor's perspective, it feels like a big commitment.Furthermore, having one formal mentor often falls short from a utility standpoint. Your mentor may not have encountered the challenge you're facing—they may not have a "map" that you can leverage to navigate the terrain. They may not be available when you need to make an important decision.Instead, build a Personal Board of Advisors. Companies have boards—ideally comprised of individuals from varying backgrounds and arenas. The board isn't involved in the day-to-day, but provides advice on strategy, key decisions, and challenges.Your Personal Board of Advisors is a group of 5-10 individuals.Important features:Unbiased (not family)Diverse experiences and backgroundsWilling to provide raw feedbackOver time, you can add and subtract from your board. The members don't need to know each other or that they are on your board. Informality is a feature, not a bug.As you encounter challenges, key decisions, or inflection points in your career, these are the people that you can reliably turn to for grounded perspectives, feedback, and advice.Swallow the Frog for Your BossThe “frog” is a difficult or annoying task your boss doesn’t want to do. But their frog is your opportunity!It presents one of the single greatest hacks to getting ahead early in your career:Observe your boss.Figure out what they hate doing.Teach yourself to do it.Take it off their plate (i.e. swallow the frog!).Swallowing the frog for your boss is a clear way to add value, put up a win, and build momentum.Create a Decentralized Growth TribeHaving a decentralized friend group to learn from and grow with is a legitimate competitive advantage.The features of a decentralized friend group:Unconnected to ot

Welcome to the 1,202 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 76,887 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Rows!After spending 7+ years in traditional finance, I had Chronic Excel Fatigue–the result of countless hours spent wrestling with the dated, legacy technology that hasn’t been updated since 2006!Fortunately, I discovered Rows—spreadsheets, reimagined. Rows is a truly magical product experience. It allows you to seamlessly pull data on stocks, crypto and more, and instantly integrate with services like Stripe, Google Analytics, Twitter, Salesforce, Instagram, Facebook and public databases like Crunchbase and LinkedIn.Rows is one of the most insane new product experiences I have had in recent memory. I use Rows for everything from managing my Startup Portfolio, social analytics, fund investing, and LPs to tracking household budgets and personal finance. I may never open Excel again.For your next spreadsheet, give Rows a try. You won’t be disappointed. Join thousands of teams that have stepped up their spreadsheet game with Rows.Today at a Glance:It has become in vogue to bash the traditional education system and the learning models it reinforces in our youth. I’m certainly guilty of it. In a broad sense, it’s always quite easy to criticize the incumbent—but much more difficult to propose a viable alternative, particularly one that works at scale.Traditional learning models fall short in two respects: (1) they endorse compartmentalized knowledge and (2) they create forced, linear progressions.The ultimate meta-goal of learning is for knowledge to compound over time. We want to learn in such a way that new knowledge builds on top of existing foundations—ideally in an accelerating, non-linear manner.Networked Learning is a way to return to our roots and allow knowledge to freely interact and compound. There are many ways to engage it, including: (1) Explore vs. Tour, (2) Analogize Constantly, (3) Paired Learning, (4) Read Broadly & Quit More, and (5) Slow Down Learning.The New Way to Learn“Traditional learning models are dead.”If you’ve been scrolling Twitter or attending any group events over the last five years, you’ve probably heard some variation of the above statement countless times.It has become in vogue to bash the traditional education system and the learning models it reinforces in our youth. I’m certainly guilty of it. In a broad sense, it’s always quite easy to criticize the incumbent—but much more difficult to propose a viable alternative, particularly one that works at scale.In today’s piece, I’d like to lay the foundation for an alternative, better learning model: Networked Learning. Let’s begin with the traditional model and its deficiencies before diving into the details of the new way and how to use it.Note: I say *foundation* because my thinking on the topic remains a work-in-progress. I believe I have identified a truly better way for children and adults to learn—and clear methods to use it—but the challenge of deploying it at scale remains.The Traditional ModelI graduated from my public high school thinking I hated most subjects.It was odd—I was a pretty interested kid, but I drifted from class to class, doing the bare minimum to deliver an adequate report card to my discerning parents and clear the academic hurdles required by Stanford Athletic Department’s admissions team.Reflecting on it with the benefit of hindsight—and a bit of maturity—what I actually hated was the learning model the traditional education system forced upon me: A learning model grounded in linear, compartmentalized learning. A learning model that praised rote memorization of facts.Unfortunately, this learning model is drilled into us for so many years that the bad habits stick with us throughout our life. As a result, few find a way to learn more effectively in adulthood.Stick with me today and I’ll help you break the vicious cycle…Let's start with a quick breakdown of the traditional model and why it's broken.Problem #1: CompartmentalizedTraditional education asks you to create containers in your mind.I imagine them like little houses. You have your history house, your English house, your science house, your math house, etc. Each house is discrete and closed off to the rest of the houses and world.Let’s say you have a history test on Monday. On Sunday night, you sit down with a coffee and cram some new abstract information about Genghis Khan into your designated history house. You remember it for the test on Monday and manage to ace it. Your teacher, parents, and friends pat you on the back and say "great job!”—but by the following Monday, you've forgotten it.“Oh well,” you say, “I didn’t need to know about Genghis Khan anyway…”This process repeats for every subject. Knowledge is crammed and trapped into its designated house.The problem? Trapped knowledge is basically useless. It's insula

Welcome to the 613 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 75,508 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Babbel!Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks!One of my goals for 2022 is to learn a new language. Studies show that learning a language increases the volume and density of gray matter, the volume of white matter, and brain connectivity.Babbel is the tool I’m using to achieve this goal—it’s one of the world’s top language learning platforms and prepares you for situations you’ll actually encounter in real life. I’ve been blown away by the experience thus far—lessons are just 10 minutes and you can start having basic conversations in the new language in just 3 weeks. Plus, you get access to podcasts, games, videos and more.It’s a great household activity to enjoy with your partner and your kids as well!For a limited time, you can join me on this journey and get up to 60% off your subscription by using the link below. Take advantage of this amazing offer and get your language learning on today!Today at a Glance:The Eisenhower Decision Matrix is a simple, powerful tool anyone can use to prioritize effectively and enhance daily productivity. It’s a visualization tool that forces you to differentiate between the urgent and the important.The four quadrants of the 2x2 matrix: Important & Urgent (“Do Now”), Important & Not Urgent (“Decide”), Not Important & Urgent (“Delegate”), and Not Important & Not Urgent (“Delete”).The goal is to spend more time on important tasks that further your long-term values, missions, goals, and principles. In Eisenhower Decision Matrix terms: Manage the top-right, optimize for the top-left, and remove the bottom half.The Ultimate Productivity ToolWe’ve all been there.Scrambling from task to task, moving from one stress-inducing fire to the next. The minute one fire is out, another one is sparked. The day becomes an energy-draining fight to survive.The worst part? At the end of it all, it’s hard to point to any substantive progress. There was a lot of movement, but no forward progress—a “rocking horse” day, if you will.Today, I’d like to share a simple, immediately-actionable solution to this all-too-common problem. To set the stage, a short history lesson…Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David Eisenhower—or Ike as his friends called him—was an American military officer and politician born in Denison, Texas in 1890.He was a West Point graduate and rose through the military to achieve the 5-star rank of general in the United States Army. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and led the famed invasion of Normandy from the Western Front.Eisenhower would serve as President of Columbia University and the first Supreme Commander of NATO before being elected as the 34th President of the United States, a role he occupied from 1953 to 1961.As his military and civilian accomplishments indicate, Eisenhower was a highly-effective leader and executive. He became known for his prolific, almost otherworldly productivity.His secret? He never confused the urgent with the important:"What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important." - Dwight D. EisenhowerWith this idea as a foundation, let’s dive into today’s prioritization and productivity solution…The Eisenhower Decision MatrixThe Eisenhower Decision Matrix is a simple, powerful tool anyone can use to prioritize effectively and enhance daily productivity. It’s a visualization tool that forces you to differentiate between the urgent and the important. The matrix was popularized by Stephen R. Covey in his famous 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Here’s how the 2x2 matrix works:X-Axis: Not Urgent to UrgentY-Axis: Not Important to Important Two key definitions:Urgent: requires immediate, focused attention to complete.Important: promotes or furthers your long-term values, goals, or principles.The four quadrants of the Eisenhower Decision Matrix:Important & UrgentImportant & Not UrgentNot Important & UrgentNot Important & Not UrgentA quick discussion of each…Important & UrgentThese are the tasks that are both important and urgent.They require immediate, focused attention—but also contribute to our long-term vision, goals, or principles.I call these the "Do Now!" tasks. They are time sensitive, but also contribute to real forward progress.Important & Not UrgentThese are the tasks that are important but not very urgent.I like to think of these tasks as the compounders—the tasks that compound long-term value in your life. The most successful people in the world find a way to focus their energy on these tasks.This is where you should try to spend most of your time and energy. You can decide when to attack them, but you need to prioritize this quadrant.Not Important & UrgentThese are the tasks that are not important,

Welcome to the 930 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 73,957 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Trends!Trends is my personal cheat code for generating new business and content ideas.It’s a premium newsletter from The Hustle that deconstructs the secret sauce of interesting businesses, side hustles, and emerging opportunities—and gives you the playbook to pounce on them. Even better, membership provides instant access to an exclusive community of 15,000+ entrepreneurs who are building the future.I learn something new from every single issue—it has become a core part of my content and learning engine. A true must-read. I can’t recommend it highly enough.Use the link below to join—no commitment, no catch, cancel anytime!Today at a Glance:Much of what we come to call "luck" is actually the macro result of 1,000s of micro actions. Your daily habits put you in a position where “luck” is more likely to strike.In order to get lucky, you have to remove the “black holes” (anti-luck) from your existence. You have to take actions to expand your personal luck surface area.Today’s piece shares 20 ways to expand your luck surface area.How to Get Lucky“Diligence is the mother of good luck.” - Benjamin Franklin“Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.” - Serena Williams“Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” - Ralph Waldo EmersonLuck is an interesting concept.There is certainly “luck” that is uncontrollable—pure and raw. Where you are born, who you are born to, and the base circumstances of your life all fall into this category of luck.But as we push beyond this baseline, the concept of luck morphs into something more impure and fluid.In fact, I believe that much of what we come to call "luck" is actually the macro result of 1,000s of micro actions. Your daily habits put you in a position where “luck” is more likely to strike.Interstellar & Luck Surface AreaIn the movie Interstellar (slight spoiler if you haven’t seen it!), there’s a scene in which the main characters discuss the habitability of a planet on the edge of a large black hole.The protagonists realize that the proximity to the black hole makes life unlikely to exist on the planet—the black hole absorbed all of the “lucky” events that might have been the spark for life. The asteroids carrying the seeds of life, the chance collisions—none of them could occur because the “luck surface area” of the planet was minuscule given its proximity to the all-absorbing black hole.I think about this scene a lot—it’s a sneakily powerful metaphor for life.In order to get lucky, you have to remove the “black holes” from your existence. You have to take actions to expand your personal luck surface area.In today’s piece, I’d like to get you started on this journey…Here are 20 ways to expand your luck surface area:Be the Dumbest in the RoomIf you have a choice between entering two rooms, choose the room where you are more likely to be the dumbest one in the room.Once you’re in the room, talk less and listen more. It’s bad for your ego, but it’s great for luck.Good things tend to happen in these rooms.Hang Out With OptimistsPessimists sound smart, optimists get rich.When choosing who to spend time with, prioritize spending time with optimists. Pessimists see the doors that are closed. Optimists see the doors that are open—and probably kick down the closed doors.Pessimists are “black holes” in your life that need to be removed in order for you to get lucky.Get in the ArenaThere's no luck on the sidelines—the arena is where it strikes.It's lonely and vulnerable, but it's the only path that bears real fruit. When faced with two paths, choose the path that puts you in the arena—where collisions happen, where luck can strike.Furthermore, surround yourself with people who are also in the arena. Sideline rock slingers never get lucky.Write in PublicWhen you write and publish your ideas and insights, you are casting a web of magnets out into the world.Those ideas and insights will attract some people to you—and perhaps repel others.As your web grows, the connections—and luck—compound accordingly.Sahil Note: I am a testament to this fact. My luck has increased significantly since I started writing in public. There are no qualifications or requirements to get started—just energy.Talk to Strangers"Don't talk to strangers" is a classic we are told as children—the residue of which carries into adulthood for far too many people.New relationships spark new ideas, insights, and opportunities—these compound just as well as any financial investment.Broad Network = Broad Luck."There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met." - William Butler YeatsSend More Cold EmailsCold emails are responsible for som

Welcome to the 498 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 72,546 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Rows!After spending 7+ years in traditional finance, I had Chronic Excel Fatigue–the result of countless hours spent wrestling with the dated, legacy technology that hasn’t been updated since 2006!Fortunately, I discovered Rows—spreadsheets, reimagined. Rows is a truly magical product experience. It allows you to seamlessly pull data on stocks, crypto and more, and instantly integrate with services like Stripe, Google Analytics, Twitter, Salesforce, Instagram, Facebook and public databases like Crunchbase and LinkedIn.Rows is one of the most insane new product experiences I have had in recent memory. I use Rows for everything from managing my Startup Portfolio, social analytics, fund investing, and LPs to tracking household budgets and personal finance. I may never open Excel again.For your next spreadsheet, give Rows a try. You won’t be disappointed. Join thousands of teams that have stepped up their spreadsheet game with Rows.Today at a Glance:Economic sanctions fall into the category of economic statecraft—the use of financial levers to drive desired geopolitical outcomes. They can be broadly defined as any planned commercial or financial penalties applied by one or more countries on another country, group, organization, or individual.The goals of the sanctions include constraining cross-border money flows that are necessary for financing a long-term war effort, punishing the oligarchs who support Putin and his war efforts, depleting Russia’s financial reserves, and creating political unrest within Russia that puts Putin under pressure.While the base package of sanctions was considered standard, the weekend announcements of a cutoff from SWIFT and a Central Bank reserve freeze is potentially much more damaging to Russia and Putin.A Primer on SWIFT & Sanctions“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” — Vladimir LeninThe world is in a dramatically different state since you last received a deep-dive piece from me just one week ago. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tragically plunged countless lives into chaos and encouragingly rallied much of the world to support the besieged Ukrainians. In the vein of support, I will be donating the proceeds from today’s newsletter to UNICEF: Protect Children in Ukraine.The situation is an intensely complicated one. There are two wars being waged here: a military war and an economic war.Today, I’d like to talk about that economic war and provide a simple breakdown of the most important weapons involved. I hope this piece makes you feel more well-informed in the days and weeks ahead.A Brief History of SanctionsEconomic sanctions have become a staple of modern statecraft.Economic sanctions fall into the category of economic statecraft—the use of financial levers to drive desired geopolitical outcomes. They can be broadly defined as any planned commercial or financial penalties applied by one or more countries on another country, group, organization, or individual.They are not new.Most historians agree that the first formal economic sanctions were in 432 B.C., when Athens restricted merchants from a rival city-state called Megara from participating in its marketplaces. The action choked off economic activity in Megara—the sanctions were highly-effective.Fast forward several millennia to World War I and economic sanctions had become a core tool in the geopolitical toolkit. A prolonged naval blockade by the Allies was used to restrict the flow of goods to Germany and the other Central Powers.As the 20th century progressed, sanctions were used time and again—the industrial logic was that their potential dire impact on an economy would cause would-be aggressors to think twice before taking military action.Unfortunately, this didn’t take into account the human impact of the collateral damage of these sanctions, which was often devastating.In the post-9/11 world, the increased awareness of this human impact gave rise to so-called “targeted” sanctions—sanctions specifically designed to mitigate collateral damage and have precise impact. If general sanctions had been a shotgun blast historically, targeted sanctions were designed to be a sniper shot.This is largely where we are today and how we got here. The U.S. and Western world continue to make heavy use of sanctions due to broad global reliance on the dollar for trade and commerce.With that history in mind, let’s turn to our present situation…The Russia SanctionsOver the weeks preceding Russia’s formal invasion of Ukraine, as its military aspirations became increasingly well-understood, the U.S. and Western world began preparing its financial response.There are several interconnected goals of the sanctions package here:Constrain cross-border money flows that are

Welcome to the 577 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 71,548 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Revelo!If you’re a growing technology company, chances are you’re struggling to find talented developers right now.Revelo helps companies like GitHub, Intuit, and Carta hire faster, so they can grow faster! It’s a talent platform that matches you with vetted remote developers in Latin America who work in US time zones. It offers a full-suite platform that covers payroll, benefits, compliance, and more, allowing you to hire full-time remote developers without the headaches.Get matched with vetted candidates within 3 days—guaranteed. They even offer a 100% risk-free 14-day trial. If you’re not satisfied, you pay nothing.SPECIAL OFFER: Revelo is offering Curiosity Chronicle subscribers 20% off the first 3 months of any hire! Use the link below to take advantage of this crazy deal!Today at a Glance:“The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.” - Oliver Wendall Holmes, Sr.As children, we are taught to live by an ever-expanding set of rules. The rules keep us safe. They limit our downside during a fragile period of our lives. They also limit our upside, as they create artificial constraints on our movement and collisions as we travel through the universe.Rules are good—but just like the old man in the quote above, you have to know when to bend and break them.15 Life Rules Worth BreakingI’d like to open with one of my favorite quotes of all time:“The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.” - Oliver Wendall Holmes, Sr.Read that again.So much wisdom contained in such a short, concise statement.As children, we are taught to live by an ever-expanding set of rules. This is (mostly) good—it gives us a concrete, stable way to view the increasingly complex, dynamic world that we have entered.The rules keep us safe. They limit our downside during a fragile period of our lives.The problem? They also limit our upside, as they create artificial constraints on our movement and collisions as we travel through the universe. They force us to walk down a narrow path with bumpers on both sides—they eliminate the flashes of serendipity, the asymmetries that define the lives of the greatest among us.Rules may limit your risk, but they also limit your reward.Rules are good—but if you’re looking to play asymmetric games—those with low downside and uncapped upside—you have to know when to bend and break them.Here are 15 life rules worth breaking:Wait for the Perfect MomentThis rule has paralyzed would-be action-takers for generations.The reality: there is no such thing as the perfect moment.Sometimes you just have to open the door, jump out of the plane, and hope you packed the parachute tight.You Have to Work Hard to SucceedHard work is important—but it's relative, not absolute.In the Digital Age—when creative and inspired work stands out and is rewarded—what you work on is more important than how hard you work.Play your game, not theirs. You’ll play it better.Become an Expert, Not a GeneralistSociety celebrates experts in any given field.But as David Epstein finds in Range, many experts succeed because of the range of pursuits that preceded their main endeavor.Become a polymath. Generalize first, specialize later.Let Things Play OutThis isn't a movie that you're watching on your TV.You are not a passive observer of your own life. There are times to sit back, and there are times to push.Learn to identify the difference and never be afraid to provide a little push.Don't Ask Too Many QuestionsChildren are born with an insatiable curiosity, but somewhere along the line, we are told to stop asking questions.The most successful people in the world never listened—they broke this rule.Ask questions. Be curious. Be interested.If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix ItComplacency will always lead you down a bad path.Just because something isn't broken, doesn't mean it can't be improved.Continuous improvement is the way. Focus on small, incremental improvements—day in, day out.Get a Stable JobThis might have been a good rule in the Industrial Age, but its foundation is crumbling in the Digital Age.The way we work is fundamentally changing—opportunities for creative, unstructured career paths are endless.Find your Zone of Genius and operate in it.Stay in Your LaneA rule of the fixed, stagnant, and hierarchical—often used to keep employees in line.It's great to double down on your strengths, but never let external pressures prevent you from expanding your domains.Growth mindsets rule the world.Think Through Every Big DecisionWe are told to methodically consider the pros and cons of every big decision in our lives.As a result, many of us have decision paralysis.With big decisions, you're actually better off making them fast—let your gut and instincts guide you.Don't Talk to StrangersA cl

Welcome to the 542 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 70,546 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Rows!After spending 7+ years in traditional finance, I had Chronic Excel Fatigue–the result of countless hours spent wrestling with the dated, legacy technology that hasn’t been updated since 2006!Fortunately, I discovered Rows—spreadsheets, reimagined. Rows is a truly magical product experience. It allows you to seamlessly pull data on stocks, crypto and more, and instantly integrate with services like Stripe, Google Analytics, Twitter, Salesforce, Instagram, Facebook and public databases like Crunchbase and LinkedIn.Rows is one of the most insane new product experiences I have had in recent memory. I use Rows for everything from managing my Startup Portfolio, social analytics, fund investing, and LPs to tracking household budgets and personal finance. I may never open Excel again.For your next spreadsheet, give Rows a try. You won’t be disappointed. Join thousands of teams that have stepped up their spreadsheet game with Rows.Today at a Glance:Razors are rules of thumb that help simplify decisions and drive better outcomes.When used appropriately, they can meaningfully improve the quality of your decision-making (and reduce stress along the way).The article below provides 20+ valuable razors, when to use them, and a few additional notes from the author.The Most Valuable RazorsThe Feynman RazorNamed after famed American theoretical physicist Richard Feynman—the Feynman Razor is a simple recognition that complexity and jargon are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding.If you can’t explain it to a 5-year-old, you don’t really understand it.If someone uses a lot of complexity and jargon to explain something to you, they probably don’t understand it.Use It When: You’re faced with a hand-waving, jargon-heavy explanation to a simple question.The Smart Friends RazorIf your smartest friends are all interested in something, it’s worth paying attention to.If that something seems crazy, it's worth paying a lot of attention to.The passions of the smartest people in your circles are a looking glass into the future.Use It When: Your smart friends have mentioned something that sounds crazy 3+ times.Sahil Note: I’ve ignored this signal on two occasions: Bitcoin (2013) and NFTs (BAYC). Both cost me a lot of money. I’ll never make that mistake again, and I suggest you don’t either.The Rooms RazorIf you have a choice between entering two rooms, choose the room where you are more likely to be the dumbest one in the room.Once you are in the room, talk less and listen more.Bad for your ego, great for your growth.Use It When: Deciding what to do on your next free night out.The Man in the Arena RazorIt's easy to throw rocks from the sidelines—it's hard to step into the arena.It's lonely and vulnerable, but it's where growth happens.When faced with two paths, choose the path that puts you in the arena—choose the path with real skin in the game.Use It When: Choosing how to approach a new and scary endeavor.Sahil Note: This is often a very challenging one, but it’s the one I feel most strongly about. It’s so much more comfortable to stay on the sidelines—it’s easy to convince yourself that it’s the safe or appropriate path. Ultimately, it’s very hard to create asymmetric outcomes on the sidelines. You have to be in the arena if you want to reap the outsized rewards.The Serendipity RazorSome of what we call luck is actually the macro result of 1,000s of micro actions.Your daily habits put you in a position where luck is more likely to strike.When choosing between two paths, choose the path that has a larger serendipity surface area.Use It When: Choosing what to do on a free night (when you have some energy).Sahil Note: The topic of “serendipity surface area” is one I plan to write about in greater depth in the future. It’s hard to get lucky watching TV at home. It’s (relatively) easy to get lucky when you’re engaging with people, interacting, and learning—physically or digitally. It’s possible to put yourself in a position to get lucky.The Uphill Decision RazorWhen faced with two options, choose the one that’s more difficult in the short-term.Naval calls this making "uphill decisions”—overriding your biological pain avoidance instinct.It's worth it—short-term pain creates compounding long-term gain.Use It When: Deciding between two near-term development pathways.The Rare Opportunity RazorThere is a rare class of opportunities that the average person will get 0 to 1 chances at in their lifetime.They look scary, but have insanely asymmetric return profiles.If you are fortunate to be faced with one of these opportunities, jump at it.Use It When: Making a decision on that one big opportunity.The Buffett Reputation Razor“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about

Welcome to the 1,116 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 68,953 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Trends!Trends is my personal cheat code for generating new business and content ideas.It’s a premium newsletter from The Hustle that deconstructs the secret sauce of interesting businesses, side hustles, and emerging opportunities—and gives you the playbook to pounce on them. Even better, membership provides instant access to an exclusive community of 15,000+ entrepreneurs who are building the future.I learn something new from every single issue—it has become a core part of my content and learning engine. A true must-read. I can’t recommend it highly enough.Use the link below to join—no commitment, no catch, cancel anytime!Today at a Glance:Learning is a meta-skill—arguably the most important meta-skill.School taught us many things, but unfortunately, how to learn was not one of them.The retention framework I use involves five steps: (1) Inspired Consumption; (2) Unstructured Note-Taking; (3) Consolidation; (4) Analogize; and (5) Idea Exercise. The structure is sequential, but its practice is often dynamic & iterative.Spaced Repetition is the most formal—and powerful—idea exercise method. It’s a method in which information is consumed at increasing intervals until it's committed to long-term memory. It leverages cognitive science—the way our brains work to convert short-term to long-term memory—to help you retain newly-consumed information.How to Retain What You LearnLearning is a meta-skill—arguably the most important meta-skill.School taught us many things, but unfortunately, how to learn was not one of them.Learning is how we adapt to our changing environments, circumstances, and situations. Learning allows us to create new “maps”—and edit old ones—in order to navigate the dynamic, highly-complex world with confidence.Growth is fundamentally driven by the long-term accumulation and compounding of usable learning. We accumulate and compound this learning through consumption and retention. Consumption is the inputs—what comes in. Retention is what remains after any leakage.Imagine your brain like a bathtub.The faucet is the entrance, the drain is the exit. Everything you research and consume flows in through the faucet. Everything you forget flows out through the drain.I’ve written a lot about the faucet in the past—here and here most recently—but I’ve never talked about the drain.Let’s fix that today—let’s talk about learning retention.Learning from The MatrixI love The Matrix. It’s not just sci-fi, there is a lot we can draw from it about learning and retention.Bear with me…In one of the early scenes of the first film, Keanu Reeves’ character—Neo—is plugged into the system and has a program uploaded into his brain. He has a moment of shocked revelation where he looks up and says, “I know kung fu.” He proceeds to demonstrate his new mastery in a virtual sparring room. Most importantly, Neo never forgets this new skill.To be sure, this isn’t that crazy an idea. Our brains are just software. When we learn, we are updating that software. But in the real world, though, our software is flawed and buggy—we forget important things or overwrite old data all the time.Our best bet? Develop a strategy for retention that is grounded in science. An approach to retention that is as integrated and comprehensive as our approach to learning. We may not become Neo, but we can become more Neo-like.The Retention FrameworkHere's a tactical framework for improving your retention…The retention framework I use involves five steps:Inspired ConsumptionUnstructured Note-TakingConsolidationAnalogizeIdea ExerciseThe structure is sequential, but its practice is often dynamic & iterative.Let's walk through each of the steps...Step 1: Inspired ConsumptionRetention starts with consumption.I bucket consumption into two types:Forced: Compelled, either internally or externally. Inspired: Driven entirely by your internal inspirations.If you've ever been in school, you know what forced consumption looks like. Forced consumption is the book you're told to read, despite the topic being of zero interest to you. It's the foundation of much of the traditional education system—yet another reason why so many of us are bad at learning retention!Inspired consumption is when you feel genuinely pulled to consume—when you enjoy the consumption process.It requires the willingness to put ego aside and "quit” more books (or content) when that genuine inspiration fades.Inspired consumption is important for retention for two key reasons.Inspiration is a precursor to flow. More flow state, more retention.Inspiration fuels engagement. Engage with the content, retain the content.Inspired consumption is the foundation of retention.Step 2: Unstructured Note-TakingWhen you start consuming, you should have a note-taking system in fron

Welcome to the 1,151 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 67,557 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Babbel!One of my goals for 2022 is to learn a new language. Studies show that learning a language increases the volume and density of gray matter, the volume of white matter, and brain connectivity.Babbel is the tool I’m using to achieve this goal—it’s one of the world’s top language learning platforms and prepares you for situations you’ll actually encounter in real life. I’ve been blown away by the experience thus far—lessons are just 10 minutes and you can start having basic conversations in the new language in just 3 weeks. Plus, you get access to podcasts, games, videos and more. It’s a great household activity to enjoy with your partner and your kids!For a limited time, you can join me on this journey and get up to 60% off your subscription by using the link below. Take advantage of this amazing offer and get your language learning on today!Today at a Glance:De Beers created the modern diamond industry through the use of market manipulation, psychological hacks, and clever marketing.At its height, De Beers had direct or indirect control of the majority of the global diamond supply chain, allowing it to wield its influence to manage prices.“A Diamond is Forever” was the genius marketing campaign that created the diamond industry as we know it—convincing generations of men and women (1) that diamonds are a show of love—and that the size and quality of the diamond is proportional to the size and quality of the love and (2) that courtship and engagement involve a diamond.Broad-based pushback against the industry and its roots has led to the rise of alternatives—like lab-grown diamonds—but diamonds remain the standard show of love in most Western cultures.Diamonds Aren’t ForeverThe mandate of this newsletter is simple: I explore my curiosity and share what I learn along the way. To be clear, this is an intentionally-broad mandate—I don’t believe that curiosity follows any fixed lesson plan.The topics I will continue to cover include:Growth and decision-makingStartups, investing, business, and financeWriting and storytellingMarketingLifeThe one constant across all of this: I can guarantee you will learn something new and interesting from each and every piece I share. One new idea or insight that will make you smarter or spark your curiosity to go deeper.This is a learning-rich journey and I am fortunate to have almost 70,000 of you along for the ride. We’re just getting started.This felt like a fitting preface to today’s piece. Why? Well, every now and then, a story comes along that grabs my attention and simply won’t let go until I write about it.The story of De Beers and the making of the modern diamond industry is one of those stories. It stands out because it’s not a clear fit for any one of those buckets above—rather, it’s a fit for all of them!So sit back, grab a coffee (or whiskey), and let’s go down this rabbit hole together…The BeginningsThe story of De Beers starts well before the international giant existed.It may be difficult to believe in the current context, but for most of history, diamonds were not a particularly important gem. Largely found in parts of India and Brazil, they were considered rare and beautiful, but had little intrinsic value due to their lack of industrial or monetary use cases. Diamonds were a vanity item of the ultra-ultra-rich—a very niche market.But in 1870, everything began to change.Massive diamond stores were discovered in South Africa near the Orange River, setting off the first diamond rush. South Africa was officially a British colony at the time, which meant that British investors immediately flocked to the region and commissioned labor—both forced and paid—to begin building the diamond mines.It quickly became clear that the new South African mines would be producing never-before-seen quantities of diamonds.The British investors grew worried. In a free market, the glut of supply—and associated dent in the perception of scarcity—would send the price of diamonds into free fall. Given diamonds did not have any major industrial use cases to buoy demand, the perception of scarcity was critical to their price and desirability.So in 1888, one British financier and mining operator proposed a plan…The Making of De BeersCecil Rhodes was born in England in 1853, but after a sickly adolescence marked by severe asthma, his father sent him to South Africa, a climate he believed would be better for his health.Rhodes entered the diamond industry at age 18 in 1871 and began to systematically acquire and consolidate mining operations in South Africa. By 1888, he had built one of the most powerful mining operations in the region.But the diamond industry was in turmoil, with wild price fluctuations and uneven demand. Sensing an opportunity, Cecil Rhodes and hi

Welcome to the 600 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 66,096 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Revelo!If you’re a growing technology company, chances are you’re struggling to find talented developers right now.Revelo helps companies like GitHub, Intuit, and Carta hire faster, so they can grow faster! It’s a talent platform that matches you with vetted remote developers in Latin America who work in US time zones. It offers a full-suite platform that covers payroll, benefits, compliance, and more, allowing you to hire full-time remote developers without the headaches.Get matched with vetted candidates within 3 days—guaranteed. They even offer a 100% risk-free 14-day trial. If you’re not satisfied, you pay nothing.SPECIAL OFFER: Revelo is offering Curiosity Chronicle subscribers 20% off the first 3 months of any hire! Use the link below to take advantage of this crazy deal!Today at a Glance:First principles thinking is the most powerful framework for deconstructing complex problems, generating creative solutions, and driving non-linear outcomes.A first principle is a basic, foundational assumption—one that cannot be deduced or broken down any further. In simple terms, think of first principles as foundational truths that do not require any additional assumptions.As a simple rule of thumb: when speed and efficiency are critical, use reasoning by analogy; when creativity and innovation are required, use first principles thinking.To leverage first principles thinking, use Socratic Questioning to drill down to the foundational truths of a problem. Once you uncover them, you can begin to slowly build up to a more creative, imaginative solution.First Principles ThinkingThe most successful entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists in the world often reference first principles thinking as having been critical to their success.Run a simple Google search of the term and you’ll find countless articles, videos, and quotes from an array of billionaires and Nobel Prize winners who all point to the importance of first principles thinking.Accordingly, first principles thinking has become something of a buzz-phrase—often talked about, yet rarely understood (let alone employed effectively).In this post, I’d like to provide a simple, intuitive breakdown of first principles thinking: what it is, how it works, when to use it, and how to leverage it in your problem solving journey.Introduction to First PrinciplesFirst principles thinking is the most powerful framework for deconstructing complex problems, generating creative solutions, and driving non-linear outcomes.Let’s start with the basics: what is a first principle?Aristotle—the Ancient Greek philosopher, polymath, and student of Plato—defined a first principle as "the first basis from which a thing is known."A first principle is a basic, foundational assumption—one that cannot be deduced or broken down any further. In simple terms, think of first principles as foundational truths that do not require any additional assumptions.They are the base layer—the atomic unit.First principles thinking—sometimes referred to as "reasoning from first principles”—is a problem-solving and innovation framework that requires you to deconstruct a complex problem down to these most foundational elements.The aim: to ground yourself in the foundational truths and build up from there.Elon Musk explained this in a 2013 interview:“First principles is kind of a physics way of looking at the world. You boil things down to the most fundamental truths and say, ‘What are we sure is true?’ … and then reason up from there.”This method runs in contrast to our natural wiring.When we encounter challenging problems, our tendency is to rely on base level assumptions we have been told are true (or we believe to be true). Why? It’s quick and easy to do.This is called "reasoning by analogy”—it leads to solutions that are much like something else. Slight modifications or iterations on an existing solution. The unimaginative, linear solutions that closely resemble what has been done before.To be sure, it can be very useful when speed is the priority. Moving fast has its advantages at times—like if our ancestors were trying to avoid being eaten by a lion! But reasoning by analogy falls short when dealing with complex problems requiring creative, imaginative solutions.Imagine the solution to a problem as a house:The foundation of the house is the assumptions upon which the ultimate solution will rest.If it's a shoddy, quickly-built foundation, the house may collapse. Even if it remains standing, the architect and builder will know that they are limited in what they can build on top of it.If it's a sturdy, deliberately-built foundation, the house will thrive. The architect and builder can get creative with what they build on top of it, as they know the base is strong.First principles form tha

Welcome to the 1,441 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 64,851 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Athletic Greens!On last week’s episode of the Where It Happens podcast, we interviewed new Athletic Greens President & COO Kat Cole. Athletic Greens is the one product I use every single day. I have been taking their halo product—AG1—first thing when I wake up for the last 5+ years. It’s my personal nutritional insurance policy.Special Offer: Athletic Greens is offering a free 1-year supply of Vitamin D (for those dark winter months) and 5 travel packs with all new orders to Curiosity Chronicle subscribers. Use the link below to take advantage of this offer!Today at a Glance:In the normal course of my content consumption habits, I come across a steady stream of learnings, ideas, and connections, some of which have an asymmetrical impact on my life.In this post, I share a list of 20+ high-impact ideas on business, investing, growth, and life, all of which were learned or surfaced in the last year.I plan to begin sharing a regular quarterly post of new ideas to bring you along for this learning journey.The Most Powerful IdeasI am an avid content consumer.Content consumption is a core part of my “job”—a critical element of my personal flywheel. I have built a “content engine” (more on that in a future post!) that provides a steady stream of learnings, ideas, and connections, all of which amplify the quality of my investing, business building, and content creation pursuits.In this post, I’d like to share some of the most powerful ideas I have come across over the last year, with additional notes and insights where helpful.So let’s dive right in: 20+ high-impact ideas on business, investing, growth, and life…Time BillionaireTime is our most precious asset.When you're young, you are a "time billionaire”—rich with time. Too many people fail to realize the value of this asset until it is gone.Treat time as your ultimate currency—it’s all you have and you can never get it back.Sahil Note: When I first learned this concept—from a Tim Ferriss podcast with Graham Duncan—it hit me hard. I had spent most of my life prioritizing the value of money or power, when the reality is that time is our most valuable asset, and the only one that cannot be bought or sold. It forced me to think deeply about how I want to spend my time, who I want to spend it with, and why I want to pursue certain paths over others. I would encourage you to think deeply about the same…Darkest Hour FriendsIt's easy to be there for people to celebrate their wins. It takes character to show up for them in their darkest hour.People never forget those who supported them when the chips were down.I call these your “darkest hour friends”—find them, treasure them.Engineered SerendipitySome of what we call "luck" is actually the macro result of thousands of micro actions. Your daily habits can put you in a position where "luck" is more likely to strike.It's possible to increase your serendipity surface area and engineer your own luck.Sahil Note: Serendipity surface area is an interesting concept. When you’re on a “track” in your life or career, you are walking on such a narrow path that very little luck can hit you. The more you open yourself up to the world—to new experiences and people—the more you expand your serendipity surface area. There’s quite literally more area for luck to strike.Leverage"Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough and I shall move the world." - ArchimedesLeverage is anything that multiplies the force of your inputs.Building systems that provide leverage on your time, money, and energy will allow you to create a life you deserve.Sahil Note: Leverage can cut both ways. When used too aggressively, it can be a negative (just ask Archegos or the founders at Long-Term Capital Management). Beware of over-leveraging your life or pursuits!Free Time as a Call OptionYou've incorrectly been told that free time is bad—hustle culture lied to you.The reality: Free time is a call option on future interesting opportunities.When you have free time, you have the headspace and bandwidth to pursue high-upside ideas.Sahil Note: I have learned that the same idea applies to cash. I used to believe that I had to be fully invested, otherwise I was leaving return/yield on the table. But I later realized that cash is a call option on future interesting opportunities. Having some idle cash allows you to invest in that new idea, pursue a weekend project, etc. It’s worth it.Decentralized Friend GroupsThere are two types of friend groups:Centralized: one cluster of friends with shared backgrounds & beliefs.Decentralized: small, varied, unconnected clusters of friends.When in doubt, opt for decentralized friend groups. The variety of backgrounds and beliefs is the key to developing independent thought.Sahil Note: I picked this up

Welcome to the 808 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 63,073 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Revelo!If you’re a growing technology company, chances are you’re struggling to find talented developers right now.Revelo helps companies like GitHub, Intuit, and Carta hire faster, so they can grow faster! It’s a talent platform that matches you with vetted remote developers in Latin America who work in US time zones. It offers a full-suite platform that covers payroll, benefits, compliance, and more, allowing you to hire full-time remote developers without the headaches.Get matched with vetted candidates within 3 days—guaranteed. They even offer a 100% risk-free 14-day trial. If you’re not satisfied, you pay nothing.SPECIAL OFFER: Revelo is offering Curiosity Chronicle subscribers 20% off the first 3 months of any hire! Use the link below to take advantage of this crazy deal!Today at a Glance:Curiosity and inspiration are perishable—they must be acted upon when they strike. But unfortunately, despite its importance to your career and life, learning is not a skill we’re ever explicitly taught how to approach.The Feynman Technique is a beautiful, intuitive framework for learning literally anything.The process in a nutshell: identify a topic, research it deeply, attempt to explain it to a child, and then study to fill in the gaps.The Feynman TechniqueCuriosity is unpredictable.It strikes at random—and often inopportune—moments. But it is also notoriously perishable, so it must be acted upon.Let’s assume for a moment that you've been bit by the curiosity bug and are ready to act on it—ready to learn something new and (hopefully) exciting.Now what? Where do you start? What approach do you take?You’re inspired and motivated to learn, but you don’t even know where to begin.Unfortunately, despite its importance to your career and life, learning is not a skill we’re ever explicitly taught how to approach.Let’s fix that…In today’s piece, I’d like to talk about a beautiful, intuitive framework for learning literally anything: The Feynman Technique.IntroductionRichard Feynman was an American theoretical physicist born in 1918 in New York City.Feynman was a very late talker—he didn’t utter a word until he was three—but it was clear from a young age that he was extremely observant and intelligent. His parents valued non-consensus thinking—they constantly encouraged young Richard to ask questions and think independently.Feynman taught himself advanced mathematics in his teens and would go on to earn a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD from Princeton University. He would then become famous for his work in quantum electrodynamics and receive the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for his contributions to the field.So yes, you could say that Richard Feynman was intelligent...But there are a lot of intelligent people in the world. Feynman's true genius was in his ability to convey extremely complex ideas in simple, elegant, digestible ways—to abstract complexity and deliver simplicity.He had observed at a young age that complex language is often used to mask a lack of deep understanding. As a rule of thumb, if someone uses a lot of acronyms and jargon to explain something to you, they probably don’t understand it very well themselves.We've all encountered this type of “expert” at one time or another…What was Richard Feynman’s secret? He had developed a learning framework—accidentally or intentionally—that forced a deep, elegant understanding of a topic that most people never achieve.The Feynman Technique: How It WorksThe Feynman Technique can be broken down into five key steps:Set the StageRead & ResearchELI5 (Explain It To Me Like I'm 5)Assess & StudyOrganize, Convey & ReviewLet's walk through each step, including notes on how I personally implement each one in my own learning processes…Step 1: Set the StageWhat’s the topic you want to learn?Starting with a blank page, write the topic at the top and jot down everything you know about it. For some topics, that might be precisely nothing; for others, it might be a lot.The starting point is irrelevant, you’re just setting the stage.Sahil Notes: I like to use Notion for tracking and managing my various research and learning efforts. It’s just a personal preference, so you can identify what works for you. I keep a “Knowledge Neural Net” board and for each new topic, I create a new page. I can then go back and connect ideas and topics as I see fit.Step 2: Read & ResearchNow that you have a baseline of your starting knowledge, you can begin your reading and research.The most effective strategy for research: start horizontal, then go vertical.Horizontal = BreadthVertical = DepthHere’s a simple visualization of how I think about this process:Horizontal Research (“HR”): Lays the foundation for your learning. When you star

Welcome to the 3,290 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday (🤯). Join the 61,177 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Revelo!If you’re a growing technology company, chances are you’re struggling to find talented developers right now. It’s a massive problem.Revelo is your solution—the largest talent platform to match you with vetted full-time remote developers in Latin America who work in US time zones. It offers an all-encompassing platform that covers payroll, benefits, compliance, and more, allowing you to hire full-time remote developers without the logistical headaches.Revelo helps companies like GitHub, Intuit, and Carta hire faster, so they can grow faster! Get matched with vetted candidates within 3 days—guaranteed. They even offer a 100% risk-free 14-day trial. If you’re not satisfied, you pay nothing.SPECIAL OFFER: Revelo is offering Curiosity Chronicle subscribers 20% off the first 3 months of any hire! Use the link below to take advantage of this crazy deal!Today at a Glance:Goal setting is everywhere—we all set goals, but very few do it well. Why? Goal setting is equal parts art and science—it’s a craft that must be honed like any other.The new framework for goal setting involves five core steps: (1) Set the Stage, (2) Identify BHAG, (3) Work Backwards, (4) Establish Process Goals, (5) Track & Adjust.It’s critical to avoid goal competition and paralysis. To stay focused, the framework only allows for 1 BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), 1 connected medium-term goal, and 2-3 daily process goals per category.The Goal Setting GuideWell, we made it. Welcome to 2022!2021 had a whole lot of twists and turns, but if you’re reading this, you managed to navigate them all and come out on the other side. Congratulations on surviving another year in this crazy simulation we call life.Pardon the cliché, but a new year signifies a new opportunity. It’s officially time to look ahead to the opportunity before us, plant a stake in the ground, and attack 2022 with boundless energy.Hopefully you rested up over the holiday break, because it’s time to go…An Intro to Goal SettingFrom a young age, we are taught to set goals—first for our grades and athletic endeavors, next for our careers, and last for our health and lives.Goal setting is everywhere—we all set goals, but very few do it well.Take me as an example. I'm very goal-oriented. But I've set—and then failed to achieve—many over the years. I would start the new year with an ambitious set of goals and then slowly fall short on most of them.Discouraged, I started reading more on goal setting to understand why…What I’ve learned: Goal setting is equal parts art and science—it’s a craft that must be honed like any other. Most importantly, there is a clear framework for successful goal setting—a better way.Put simply, consistent goal achievement is never an accident.In this piece, I will share my new framework for goal setting.Goal Setting: A New FrameworkFirst, it’s worth pointing out that most of us struggle with the same set of issues with respect to goal setting.The most common issues:Too Many: Goal competition occurs, with goals effectively competing against one another for your time and mindshare. Too Loose: Weak, unstructured goals lacking clear metrics or time bounds.Not Tied to Actions: Lack of clear process actions to achieve them.Unfit Environment: Environment unsuited for consistent execution.If you've struggled with goal setting (like me), chances are one of these issues is to blame.But let’s get to the better way—a new framework for goal setting that will allow you to set and smash your goals for 2022.It involves five core steps:Set the StageIdentify BHAGWork BackwardsEstablish Process GoalsTrack & AdjustThe general framework is fixed, but its application is intended to be dynamic and iterative.Let's dive right in…Step 1: Set the StageIn the first step, you’ll establish the categories that you'll be building goals around.For me, it’s three:PersonalProfessionalHealthNote: I find that covering these three areas forces progress in all major domains of my life, but some people will likely prefer a more narrow focus with just one. That’s totally fine!Within each category you choose, you only have room for:1 BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal): Your big, bold goal.1 Connected Medium-Term Goal: Interim goal on the path to the BHAG.2-3 Daily Process Goals: Daily actions and habits.That's it—that’s all you’re allowed. Nothing more. The clarity and simplicity this limitation forces is a core feature of the framework.Step 2: Identify BHAGYour BHAG—Big Hairy Audacious Goal—is exactly what it sounds like. It should be big and ambitious (but stop short of being completely ridiculous).Think of this as your North Star for the year.It's the metaphorical poster on your wall—motivating on an abstract macro scale, but perhaps too grand and scary to be motiva

Welcome to the 1,253 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 56,355 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Also be sure to follow and subscribe to my new podcast—Where It Happens—and join our 3,000+ person community on Discord!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Trends!Trends is my personal cheat code for generating new business ideas.It’s a premium newsletter from The Hustle that deconstructs the secret sauce of interesting businesses, side hustles, and emerging opportunities—and gives you the playbook to pounce on them. Even better, membership provides instant access to an exclusive community of 15,000+ entrepreneurs who are building the future.I learn something new from every single issue—it has become a core part of my content and learning engine. I can’t recommend highly enough.Use the link below to join—no commitment, no catch, cancel anytime!Today at a Glance:At the end of every year, I sit down and reflect on what I learned. There is no specific aim or purpose to the exercise—the goal is to put on wings, fly up to 10,000 feet, and assess myself and the year that has passed.2021 was a uniquely transformative year for my life. So for the first time, I attempted to synthesize that jumble.Today’s piece is the result of that attempt: 21 lessons learned in 2021.21 Lessons Learned in 2021At the end of every year, I sit down and reflect on what I learned.I’ve been conducting this self-reflection exercise for the last 10 years, with varying degrees of structure and rigor.There is no specific aim or purpose to the exercise—the goal is to put on wings, fly up to 10,000 feet, and assess myself and the year that has passed.Generally speaking, the reflection has been free flowing and resulted in a jumble of words and thoughts in a notebook. But this year felt different. It was a uniquely transformative year for my life.So for the first time, I attempted to synthesize that jumble—to abstract the chaos into something simple and coherent.Today’s piece is the result of that attempt: my 21 lessons learned in 2021…Engineered SerendipityI believe that some of what we call "luck" is actually the macro result of 1,000s of micro actions.Your daily habits can put you in a position where "luck" is more likely to strike.Increase your serendipity surface area. Engineer your own serendipity.Pessimists Sound Smart, Optimists Get RichPessimists look at the future and see the doors that are closed.Optimists look at the future and see the doors that are open—and probably kick down the closed doors, too.Surround yourself with optimists—those who believe the future is bright will make it so.The Exponential Growth ChallengeHuman brains cannot fathom the insane power of exponential growth. We consistently underestimate its impact.When you're on an exponential growth curve—stop trying to set specific goals.Strap in, keep your head back, and enjoy the ride.Work Like a LionMost people are not wired to work 9-5.Modern work culture is a remnant of the Industrial Age—long periods of steady, monotonous work.If your goal is to do inspired, creative work, you have to work like a lion.Sprint when inspired. Rest. Repeat.Overestimate a Day, Underestimate a YearWe overestimate what we can accomplish in a day, and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.To fight this, focus on small daily actions that compound over the long-term.Small things become big things. When in doubt, zoom out.Ruthlessly Eliminate NegativityEveryone has a few negative people in their circle. They tell you to be realistic. They laugh at your ambition.Eliminate this negativity from your life. It's a boat anchor holding you back from your true potential—cut the damn line.Tolerance for UncertaintyHaving a high tolerance for uncertainty is a unique competitive advantage. It prevents you from settling.When we fear uncertainty, we settle to escape its grasp.Tolerate uncertainty for a bit longer—never settle for less than you deserve.Step into the ArenaIt's easy to stand on the sidelines.It's hard to step into the arena. It's scary to put yourself out there, to expose yourself, to become vulnerable.But it makes all the difference. Get off the sidelines. Be the Man—or Woman!—in the Arena.Go For More WalksWant to get unstuck? Go for a walk.No phone. No music. No podcasts. Just you, your thoughts, and the fresh air.When you let your mind wander—in its true natural state—good things happen. It works—I guarantee it.Put Family FirstIn May, I woke up one morning and told my wife that I wanted to move back to the East Coast to be closer to family.That month, we sold our house in California and moved to New York. It has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The simple moments with family and friends are, quite literally, priceless.Life is short & fragile—you'll never regret spending more time with your loved ones.The Dots Really Do ConnectIn his 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech, Steve Jo

Welcome to the 749 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 54,500 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Also be sure to follow and subscribe to my new podcast—Where It Happens—on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Lemon.io!Lemon.io fixes the developer headache—it makes hiring remote developer talent as easy as ordering a meal on DoorDash. Tell them about your project and they match you with an affordable, vetted developer in Eastern Europe within 48 hours. Guaranteed. I’ve used it for several quick projects and have loved the experience.SPECIAL OFFER: 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work for all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers. Take advantage by using the link below!Today at a Glance:Study the lives and practices of today’s most successful entrepreneurs, financiers, and builders and you’ll find one common trait: a deep, visceral understanding of the importance of powerful, efficient, high-leverage writing.Why? These leaders know that powerful writing isn't an accident—clear writing is clear thinking.The four key principles of powerful business writing: (1) Draft Fast, Edit Slow, (2) KISS, (3) Clear Target Reaction, and (4) Storytelling.The Power Business Writing GuideWant to accelerate your career? Write better. Period.Study the lives and practices of today’s most successful entrepreneurs, financiers, and builders and you’ll find one common trait: a deep, visceral understanding of the importance of powerful, efficient, high-leverage writing.Jeff Bezos famously installed memo writing as a mainstay of Amazon’s business culture. Prior to kicking off a meeting, attendees would be asked to read and digest several pages of written memos from the meeting leads. Why? Bezos deeply believed in the value of these memos, not only for the uninformed participants, but also for the meeting leads to clarify their thinking through the writing process.Warren Buffett famously writes an annual shareholder letter, distilling insights on billions of dollars in investments into a single memo.The list of writing advocates goes on and on…Why? These leaders know that powerful writing isn't an accident—clear writing is clear thinking.In this piece, I will attempt to deconstruct the four key principles of powerful business writing…They are as follows:Draft Fast, Edit SlowKISSClear Target ReactionStorytellingI’ll cover each principle and provide some additional learning resources:Principle 1: Draft Fast, Edit SlowThere's nothing more daunting than a blank page.We have all experienced it at one time or another—sitting at our desk, staring into the abyss of a blank Word document or notebook page, with no idea where to start. The perfect line is illusive, and everyone knows you need a perfect first line…The solution?Play a trick on yourself. Start writing, fast. Get a draft down—and don’t worry at all about the quality (seriously, it’s ok if it sucks).My friend Julian Shapiro said it best: “Making something bad then iterating until it’s good is faster than making something good upfront.”Here's a framework that works for me: Write-Rest-Review.Write-Rest-ReviewGet the first draft down as quickly as possible.Walk away for 5 minutes—go for a walk, grab a coffee, listen to some music, whatever. Come back and review the draft with the benefit of that refresh.Ask a bunch of questions:What's missing?Where are the logical flaws?Where are the cracks?Where is the writing loose or flimsy?When you review with "new" eyes, good things tend to happen.Try out Write-Rest-Review and let me know how it works for you!Principle 2: Keep It Simple, StupidMost people assume that longer, more complex writing will impress and inspire.Sorry, it doesn't.Great business writing is simple and direct. There's no fluff or handwaving—it's tactical.A few actionable tips to tighten and simplify:Cut the FluffIn school, we were taught to heap descriptors into our writing. We were told it made it more vibrant. It also helped fill out the word or page count we were forced to hit…In the real world, those fluff words are the silent killers of powerful business writing.Review your draft with an eye towards removing any unnecessary words & sentences.Some common fluff:"I think X""Very" (or similar adverbs)AcronymsJargon$10 words (i.e. fancy, big, long words)Be ruthless in identifying and eliminating the fluff words & sentences from your writing.Shorten EverythingPowerful business writing is very similar to powerful Twitter writing: short, punchy writing is better.Use short sentence structures.Space sentences or paragraphs out to make the writing more optically pleasing. Great business writing should be engaging to the eye.I have found writing more on Twitter to be a force amplifier for my business writing—it’s a forced brevity training ground. Use it to your advantage as you work at your craft.Add DataThis is a classic principle instilled by Jeff Bezos in

Welcome to the 1,456 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 53,312 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.And if you haven’t already done so, check out the Where It Happens podcast! Follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, plus subscribe on YouTube so you never miss a beat.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Eight Sleep!Eight Sleep has legitimately changed my life.Great sleep = great performance. Sleep is the secret weapon of the world’s top performers. Thousands of CEOs, investors, and operators—and this humble newsletter writer—rely on the Eight Sleep Pod Pro to power their performance. It has patented technology to help you sleep at the perfect temperature all night, which research has shown can make you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper—so you can wake up energized to attack the day.Special Offer: For a limited time, Curiosity Chronicle subscribers can use the special link below to get $250 off on their first Eight Sleep purchase!Today at a Glance:I recently found out I’m going to be a father. In reflecting on my own life, I sketched out a long list of principles I hope to teach my child as they grow up.While I readily acknowledge that he will—as I did—have to fall painfully to learn many of these, I will do my best to teach—and embody!—all of them.Perhaps I need to lower my expectations and embrace the chaos. I’ve never really been the type to walk away from a challenge, though, so consider this piece my stake in the ground.Principles of LifeI recently found out I'm going to be a father.I’ve always considered myself something of an introspective individual—I try to reflect regularly on my motivations, mistakes, learnings, principles, and frameworks. I find that the act of reflection provides value—it helps the good stick and the bad wither.So perhaps it isn’t all that surprising that the news of my upcoming responsibility raise—to that of “Dad”—has taken my introspection to another level.With that in mind, I sat down recently to sketch out a long list of principles of life—formed through my failures, missteps, stumbles, and successes—that I hope to be able to teach my child as they grow up.While I readily acknowledge that he will—as I did—have to fall painfully to learn many of these, I will do my best to teach—and embody!—all of them.With that as a backdrop, here are the 20+ principles I hope to teach my child to live by…Be InterestedTalent is overrated—interest is not.What does it mean to be interested? Interested people are prone to giving their deep attention to something to discover more about it. They ask questions, listen, & observe. They open up to the world around them.Being interested is a key to a fulfilling life.Show Up in the Darkest HourIt's easy to be there for people to celebrate their wins. It takes character to show up for them in their darkest hour.People never forget who supported them when the chips were down.Be the friend who is always there—in good times and bad.Different is BeautifulWhen you’re a kid, you’re told that different is ugly. Growing up, I feared being different—I desperately wanted to fit in, but I couldn't figure out how.Was I Indian or white? Was I an athlete or a nerd? The struggle to conform to a single identity led to bad decisions grounded in insecurity. The reality was I was all of those things. I was just different.It took growing up and a lot of mistakes and soul searching to realize: being different is an edge—it’s the ultimate competitive advantage.No one can compete with you, at being you.Work HardIf you want to accomplish anything in life, you have to work hard. Full stop.But beware the hype. Hard work isn't the sexy, flashy social media posts saying "rise & grind”—it's the ugly, painful effort in the dark, when no one is watching.If you want something, go get it. Period.Be Kind to OthersKindness remains severely underrated.It fosters relationships, reduces stress and anxiety, and improves overall happiness.When you are consistently, genuinely kind, you become a magnet for the highest-quality people.Change Your MindWillingness to change one's mind is a rarity in today's society.It's great to have a strong view, but always open your mind to counterarguments.Stubborn objection to alternative perspectives stalls progress. Strive for strong opinions, weakly held.Operate in Your Zone of GeniusYour Zone of Genius is where your interests, passions and skills align.Operating in your Zone of Genius means playing games you are uniquely well-suited to win. Once you identify it, you can stop playing *their* games and start playing *yours*.Be AccountableA sad, troubling reality: Life isn't fair.But instead of wasting energy on every obstacle in your way, focus on what you can control and how you can break through the wall.Stop looking out. Look in. Own your s***.Listen More & Argue LessHave you noticed that the most argumentative people rarely persuade anyone of anythi

Welcome to the 521 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 51,175 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.And if you haven’t already done so, check out the Where It Happens podcast! Follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, plus subscribe on YouTube so you never miss a beat.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Lemon.io!I was recently working on a project and needed a developer, but I knew the process of finding, vetting, and hiring one was going to be an expensive headache.Lemon.io fixes this—it makes hiring remote developer talent as easy as ordering a meal on UberEats. Tell them about your project and they match you with an affordable, vetted developer in Eastern Europe within 48 hours. It’s as simple as that.Lemon.io is offering a special 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work for all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers. Sign up at the link below to take advantage of the offer!Today at a Glance:One cold email can literally change your life. But a cold email success is never an accident. You need a framework for writing and executing highly-effective cold outreach.The principles of a great cold email: Short & Sweet, Personalized, Credentials or Social Proof, Create Value, and a Clear Call-to-Action.Importantly, these principles apply to any form of cold outreach (Twitter DM, etc.), so can be leveraged broadly for a variety of use cases and needs.The Cold Email GuideOne cold email can change your life. It can open doors to a new job, secure a new mentor, or unlock new opportunities.A cold email—as an investment—has the ultimate asymmetric return profile: Huge upside, limited downside.In this piece, I will attempt to deconstruct a framework for optimizing your cold outreach in order to further accentuate that beautiful return profile…BackgroundI’ve sent (and received) a lot of cold emails—some great, some not.What I've learned: a cold email success is never an accident. There are very specific principles of great cold emails that you can apply to enhance your cold outreach efforts today.The best part? The results are instantaneous.So let’s just dive right in…the core principles of a great cold email:Short & SweetPersonalizedCredentials or Social ProofCreate ValueClear Call-to-ActionI’ll cover each principle and then workshop a few examples:Short & SweetIf you're sending a cold email to someone, remember that the person receiving it probably gets a lot of these. They don't have time—or energy—to read through long and winding notes.Keep it short and sweet!Space out the text to make it optically inviting. To bring this point to life, here are two emails—identical content, different spacing.Option A:Option B:Same exact email—one a block of text, one spaced out. Option B (the spaced out version) is so much more digestible and optically inviting for a reader. As such, Option B is much more likely to elicit a response.PersonalizedNo one likes a generic email—it's going to get auto-deleted 99% of the time.Personal touches can make all the difference in the effectiveness of a cold email. They require a bit more upfront time investment—for background research, diligence, and execution—but have the potential to create a 10x+ impact.Do your research on the person you are emailing. A simple search across Google, Twitter, and LinkedIn will probably take you 15 minutes and is definitely worth it.Then include some of these findings in your note.A few to consider:Reference a book they loveMention a podcast they were on (with a specific insight you gleaned from listening to it)Compliment their workThe goal: Make it clear you didn't send out hundreds of the note (even if you did).Credentials or Social ProofThe infusion of credentials or social proof is an important—yet often overlooked—element of successful cold outreach. Credentials and social proof are, in effect, the reasons the person should take you seriously.Credentials are just the outward markers of your success to date—degrees, accolades, awards, etc.Social Proof is formally defined as a psychological phenomenon where people imitate the actions of others in an attempt to behave appropriately for a specific situation.In the context of cold emails, this means that the receiver should be given examples of others—hopefully impressive others—who have responded in the way that you want this receiver to respond.“In recent weeks, I’ve interviewed Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and the Pope.”The receiver immediately sees (a) big names and (b) the action—it sparks their intrinsic psychological desire to follow suit.In infusing these credentials and social proof, don't be humble—let it shine.What have you done or created that is interesting or notable? Who has engaged? Show the receiver that they would be crazy to ignore your email!Create ValueMy foundational rule (in business & life): create value, receive value.If you create value for the person you’re emailing, they are much more like

Welcome to the 2,497 (!!!) new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 49,371 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by AppSumo!I have found some life changing products on AppSumo. From productivity tools to teleprompter portals, AppSumo is my go-to place for discovering and investing in unique business-building products at a deep discount to their market rate.This Black Friday, AppSumo is rolling out some insane deals on digital products at discounts of up to 90% off. This is their biggest sale of the year and they sell out quickly! Click the link below and grow your startup today. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this.Today at a Glance:A paradox is defined as a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.Life is full of paradoxes. Once you become aware of them, you will find yourself empowered to use them to your advantage.Paradoxes of LifeParadox: a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.From a young age, we are pressured to view the world as linear and logical—when in reality it is anything but. Many of life’s most important truths appear contradictory or convoluted on the surface.Look around long enough and you’ll realize the ultimate truth:Life is full of paradoxes.They are everywhere around you. They have the potential to confuse…or empower.Once you become aware of these paradoxes—once you truly internalize them—you will find yourself empowered to use them to your advantage.To get you started on this journey, here are 20+ powerful paradoxes of life…The Persuasion ParadoxHave you noticed that the most argumentative people rarely persuade anyone of…well…anything?The most persuasive people don’t argue—they observe, listen, and ask questions.Argue less, persuade more.Persuasion is an art that requires a paintbrush, not a sledgehammer.The Effort ParadoxSprezzatura is an Italian word meaning “studied carelessness”—it encapsulates the effortful art of appearing effortless.You have to put in more effort to make something appear effortless.Effortless, elegant performances are often the result of a large volume of effortful, gritty practice.Watch videos of Roger Federer playing tennis in his prime. There is a certain nonchalance to his actions on the court, but this nonchalance was the earned result of endless hours of studied, careful, meticulous practice.Small things become big things. Simple is not simple.The Wisdom Paradox“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” — Albert EinsteinThe more you learn, the more you are exposed to the immense unknown.This should be empowering, not frightening. Embrace your own ignorance. Embrace lifelong learning.The Productivity ParadoxParkinson's Law says that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.Work longer, get less done.When you establish fixed hours to your work, you find unproductive ways to fill it.Modern work culture is a remnant of the Industrial Age. It encourages long periods of steady, monotonous work unsuited for the Information Age.To do truly great, creative work, you have to be a lion. Sprint when inspired. Rest. Repeat.The Money ParadoxYou have to lose money in order to make money.Every successful investor & builder has stories of the invaluable lessons learned from a terrible loss in their career. Sometimes you have to pay to learn.Put skin in the game. Scared money don't make money!The Growth ParadoxGrowth takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you ever would have thought.Growth happens gradually, then suddenly.When you realize this, you start to do things differently—apply effort appropriately, stay the course, and let compounding work its magic.The Failure ParadoxYou have to fail more to succeed more.Our greatest moments of growth often stem directly from our greatest failures.Don’t fear failure, just learn to fail smart and fast.After all, getting punched in the face—a few times, but not too many—builds a strong jaw.The Say No ParadoxTake on less, accomplish more.Success doesn’t come from taking on everything that comes your way. It comes from focus—deep focus on the tasks that really matter.Say yes to what matters, say no to what doesn’t. Protect your time as a gift to be cherished.The Speed ParadoxYou have to slow down to speed up.Slowing down gives you the time to be deliberate with your actions. You can focus, gather energy, and deploy your resources more efficiently.It allows you to focus on leverage and ROI, not effort.Move slow to move fast.The Death ParadoxYou must know your death in order to truly live your life.Memento Mori is a Stoic reminder of the certainty and inescapability of death. It is not intended to be morbid; rather, to clarify, illuminate, an

Welcome to the 1,236 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 46,076 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Eight Sleep!The Eight Sleep Pod Pro has legitimately changed my life.Sleep is the secret of the world’s top performers. Thousands of the world’s greatest CEOs, investors, and operators—and this humble newsletter writer—rely on the Eight Sleep Pod Pro to power their performance. It has patented technology to help you sleep at the perfect temperature all night, which research has shown can make you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper—so you can wake up energized to attack the day.Special Offer: For a limited time, Curiosity Chronicle subscribers can use the special link below to get $250 off on their first Eight Sleep purchase!Today at a Glance:The Cantillon Effect is an economic concept on the distributional consequences of new money creation created by Irish-French economist and philosopher Richard Cantillon in a 1755 paper.In simple terms, the Cantillon Effect says that the flow path of new money matters—those closest to the source and entry point of the new money benefit first and most handsomely.The robust monetary and fiscal response to COVID-19—and a surging wealth inequality problem—has re-ignited the discussion over the distributional consequences of the crisis response and thrown the Cantillon Effect back into the mainstream lexicon.The Cantillon Effect: How the Rich Get RicherThe Cantillon Effect is the most important economic concept you’ve likely never heard of. In today’s newsletter, I’d like to fix that.Here’s a simple breakdown of the Cantillon Effect—what it is, how it works, and why you should care.BackgroundRichard Cantillon was an Irish-French economist and philosopher born in the 1680s.He is something of a mystery man—not much is known about his life. Early in his career, he achieved material success as a banker and merchant—success that historians have attributed to the formidable political and business connections Cantillon made through his family and employer.This fact would prove relevant to his work later in life. At a young age, he had learned of the impact and importance of proximity to power...In the early 1700s, Cantillon is believed to have accumulated significant wealth through speculation in a variety of ventures, including John Law’s infamous Mississippi Company (which would collapse spectacularly, see this thread for more).Around 1730, influenced by his experience to date, Cantillon wrote a paper—Essai Sur La Nature Du Commerce En Général (translation: Essay on the Nature of Commerce in General)—today considered a foundational work in the study of the political economy. It is a broad, overarching paper with significant contributions to the study of economics.While it achieved wide circulation in manuscript form, it was not published until 1755, well after his death in a house fire in 1734.The Cantillon EffectWhile recognized for a variety of insights and contributions, Essai is most well known for its discussion of the distributional consequences of new money creation and the concept of relative inflation.In the paper, Cantillon posited that the early recipients of new money entering an economy will benefit more significantly than those it trickles down to.In other words, the "flow path" of the new money through a system matters.In 18th century terms, Cantillon effectively observed that those closest to the king—the source of money and power of the era—benefitted first when new money entered the economy. In the 18th century, proximity to money and power really mattered.Broadly speaking, Cantillon noted that new money creates disproportionate effects based on where it enters the system.The Cantillon Effect was born...A Simple IllustrationTo bring this theory to life, let's walk through a (very) simple story to illustrate Cantillon's central point.Imagine you live in a tiny, enclosed island society.One morning, you wake up to find a small package on your doorstep. You open it up and gasp—it has $1 million in it.Great! But now what?No one else knows you received this package. You now secretly have $1 million new dollars. Naturally, you start spending it (and maybe investing it) quickly. Prices are still low, because no one knows these new dollars exist yet!Your standard of living improves rapidly. You buy yourself the nicest house, the most beautiful clothes, and a bunch of land.But now, the other island inhabitants start to see and feel this new money flowing through the system. Prices begin to rise as demand surges but supply has yet to "catch up" to the new consumption. It takes time for supply to ramp.So while the money improved your life, it didn’t benefit others in the same way:The sellers of the goods—who received your cash—now face rising prices when they consume.The workers who produced the goods—who earned wages from the sellers—similarly face

Welcome to the 1,050 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 44,581 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Pesto!Problem: You’re a fast-growing startup, but you’re struggling to hire great engineers right now.Solution: Pesto—a platform that matches the millions of talented developers in India with the one million unfilled engineering roles in the West. Pesto’s developers are trained—on both hard and soft skills—through a rigorous bootcamp. The result? Access to a growing pool of highly-qualified, vetted engineering talent, right at your fingertips.Pesto has successfully placed developers at companies like Synthesis School, Rippling, OnDeck, Alloy Automation, and more.To talk to Pesto about filling those engineering roles that have been plaguing your investor updates for months, click the link below and tell them Sahil sent you!Today at a Glance:Frameworks are compasses—they provide clarity by creating structure through which to evaluate situations, deploy shortcuts, and execute sound decisions.When used appropriately, they can meaningfully improve the quality of your decision-making (and reduce stress along the way).The Framework Handbook below provides 20 useful frameworks and tips on when to put them to use.The Framework HandbookEvery single day, you are faced with thousands of questions, challenges, and decisions.These decisions can range from small and simple (what color shirt to wear) to large and complex (whether to quit your job). While an individual decision may not feel overwhelming, when taken in total, our lives can begin to feel like we are navigating a small boat on the open ocean—during a hurricane.Fortunately, there are frameworks that can help us navigate these treacherous waters—our compasses, if you will.Frameworks provide clarity by creating structure through which to evaluate situations, deploy shortcuts, and execute sound decisions. When used appropriately, they can meaningfully improve the quality of your decision-making (and reduce stress along the way).Here are 20 useful frameworks & when to use them:The Feynman TechniqueThe Feynman Technique—developed by famed American theoretical physicist Richard Feynman—is a proven method for learning anything.Here’s how it works:Identify a topic: What is the topic you want to learn more about? Identify the topic and write down everything you know about it. Read and research the topic and write down all of your new learnings (and the sources of each). This first step sets the stage for what is to come.Try to explain it to a 5-year-old: Attempt to explain the topic to a child. Once again, write down everything you know about your topic, but this time, pretend you are explaining it to a child. Use simple language and terms. Focus on brevity.Study to fill in knowledge gaps: Reflect on your performance in Step 2. How well were you able to explain the topic to a child? Where did you get frustrated? Where did you resort to jargon or get stuck? These are the gaps in your understanding. Read and study to fill them.Organize, convey, and review: Organize your elegant, simple language into a compelling story or narrative. Convey it to others. Test-and-learn. Iterate and refine your story or narrative accordingly. Review (and respect) your new, deeper understanding of the topic.True genius is the ability to simplify, not complicate. Simple is beautiful.Use It When: You need to learn anything new.Directional Arrow of Progress"Study the undeniable arrows of progress." — Josh WolfeThe future is extremely difficult to predict—but there are clues. Look at the trend line of progress and where it's pointing—directionally, not precisely. Invest (or build) accordingly.Famed investor Josh Wolfe—one of the smartest, kindest people I have ever met—developed this framework to accurately predict where the future of technology is heading. If it’s good enough for Josh, it’s good enough for all of us.Use It When: You are deciding what to invest or build on a longer time horizon.The Eisenhower Decision MatrixPresident Dwight Eisenhower was an American military officer and 34th President of the United States. He was known for his prolific productivity.His secret? He always differentiated between the urgent and the important.An "urgent" task is one that requires immediate, focused attention to complete. An "important" task is one that promotes or furthers your long-term values, goals, or principles. Remember: Tasks can be both urgent and important.Place all of your tasks on a 2x2 matrix of urgency and importance:Important & UrgentImportant & Not UrgentNot Important & UrgentNot Important & Not UrgentPrioritize, delegate, or delete accordingly.Use It When: You are prioritizing your to-do list.The Regret Minimization FrameworkA framework developed by Jeff Bezos as part of his decision to leave a lucrative hedge fund job at D.E. Shaw to pursue

Welcome to the 590 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 42,681 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Eight Sleep!Trust me…you can’t find and operate in your Zone of Genius without proper sleep. Thousands of the world’s greatest CEOs, investors, and operators—and this humble newsletter writer—rely on the Eight Sleep Pod Pro to power their performance. It has patented technology to help you sleep at the perfect temperature all night, which research has shown can make you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper—so you can wake up energized to attack the day. I love my Eight Sleep Pod Pro and know you will too.Special Offer: For a limited time, Curiosity Chronicle subscribers can use the special link below to get $150 off on their first Eight Sleep purchase!Today at a Glance:Your Zone of Genius is where your interests, passions and skills align. Operating in it means you stop playing their games and start playing yours. It means you start playing games you are uniquely well-suited to win.Finding and operating in your Zone of Genius is a direct path to a more fulfilling, productive, and successful career.My simple framework is four steps: (1) Experiment & Collect, (2) Build Your Matrix, (3) Identify Your Zones, and (4) Execute.Your Zone of Genius“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” — UnknownA few weeks ago, I shared a thread—How to Win (without talent or luck)—that earned a lot of attention.One of the most popular insights in the piece was the idea of operating in your Zone of Genius.But I got a lot of questions about how to practically achieve that, so I decided to dive in deeper on the topic.I first came across the concept of the Zone of Genius in an interview of Naval Ravikant, though have since been informed that the origin of the idea is Gay Hendricks and his book, The Genius Zone (which is now on my reading list!).My perspectives and framework—which are shared in this newsletter—are the result of my own personal 10+ year struggle with finding and operating in my Zone of Genius. My hope is that this piece helps you find and operate in yours.BackgroundWhat is a Zone of Genius?Your Zone of Genius is roughly defined as where your interests, passions and skills align—it is your place of harmony. Operating in it means you stop playing their games and start playing yours. It means you start playing games you are uniquely well-suited to win.Imagine Serena Williams playing on a grand stage in the finals at Wimbledon. She knows exactly what match she wants to play. She doesn’t want to play her opponent’s game—she wants to play her game. She wants to play the game that she is uniquely well-suited to win—the one that plays into her strengths and away from her weaknesses. She wants to operate within her Zone of Genius.But let's get one thing straight: This concept isn’t just for the most elite among us (like Serena!). Everyone has a Zone of Genius!"Genius" here is a relative term, not an absolute. It's not about being top 1% at some craft—it's about the unique space where your relative strengths are accentuated (and relative weaknesses masked).Furthermore, everyone’s Zone of Genius is different and completely unique to them as an individual. The goal of a founder, startup, or organization, therefore, is to build a team with complementary—not conflicting—Zones of Genius. This is where 1+1=3!Sounds great—but how do you identify your Zone of Genius and operate more frequently in it?My simple framework is effectively 4 steps:Experiment & CollectBuild Your MatrixIdentify Your ZonesExecuteLet's walk through each step...Experiment & CollectThe notion that you should know what you want to do with your life by the time you graduate college is one of the greatest lies you've been told by the world.You wouldn’t buy a car without a test drive, so why buy a career or life without one?You have to experiment and collect data in order to make informed decisions.Importantly, you should experiment wildly. Try different things. Test out different working styles. This doesn't mean skipping from job to job—you can experiment on nights, on weekends, etc.One of the best ways to experiment and data collect is simply talking to as many different people as possible. Ask them about their work and path. Learn from the experiences of others. It’s an invaluable way to de-risk your own decision-making.Additionally, the data collection should be both internal—your own perspectives—and external—the perspectives of others.To collect data from those around you, ask about their experiences working with you:What am I great at?What am I bad at?When do you perceive me as being in the flow?When do you perceive me as being forced?The goal from the experimentation and data collection is to build a wide base of information from whi

Welcome to the 2,038 new members (!!!) of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 40,307 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Eight Sleep!Winning starts with your sleep. Thousands of the world’s greatest CEOs, investors, and operators—and this humble newsletter writer—rely on the Eight Sleep Pod Pro to power their performance. It has patented technology to help you sleep at the perfect temperature all night, which research has shown can make you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper—so you can wake up energized to win the day. I love my Eight Sleep Pod Pro and know you will too.Special Offer: For a limited time, Curiosity Chronicle subscribers can use the special link below to get $150 off on their first Eight Sleep purchase!How to Win (without talent or luck)We all want to win.Our definitions of “winning” vary—it may mean happiness and fulfillment to some, money and fame to others—but in some way, shape, or form, we all want to win.The problem? We’ve been told that we can’t win without incredible talent (or sensational luck).This is wrong.Here’s How to Win (without talent or luck): 20+ principles for your career, relationships, and life…Operate in Your Zone of GeniusYour Zone of Genius is where your interests, passions and skills align.Operating in your Zone of Genius means playing games you are uniquely well-suited to win.Once you identify it, you can stop playing *their* games and start playing *yours*.Adopt a Positive Sum MentalityWant to get ahead in life? Start genuinely rooting for others to succeed.When one of us wins, we all win—winning spreads. If you adopt that mentality, you’ll become a magnet for the highest quality people.Speak UpClosed mouths don’t get fed. A little push goes a long way.Don't sit back and wait for good things to happen. If you want something—and you’ve put in the work for it—speak up and ask for it.Worst Case: you’re told no and nothing has changed.Best Case: it’s yours.Play Long-Term GamesLife is the ultimate long game.Those with low time preference play it more effectively—they happily delay gratification to allow compounding to work its magic. In a world of people seeking instant gratification, this is a meaningful edge.Have a High Tolerance for FailureWe fear failure, so most of us play it safe to avoid it. But our greatest moments of growth often stem directly from our greatest failures.Don't accept failure, but don't fear it either.You will fail. Embrace it. Fail smart and fast.Follow Your CuriosityHumans are born with astonishing curiosity. But somewhere along the way, we're told to stop asking questions.Push back.Learn to follow your curiosity—trust it. For the curious mind, anything is possible. Fortune favors the curious.Adopt a Process OrientationPrioritize process, not outcomes.When you prioritize process, you become flexible in where you are headed—you focus on the inputs and stop worrying about the outputs.Just keep laying one brick at a time—forward progress is all that matters.Prioritize PeopleEverything in life comes down to people and relationships.Networks compound as well as any financial investment. Build an army of mentors, friends, and evangelists that is deep and wide. Cultivate deep relationships, but also embrace the power of weak ties.Work Like a LionModern work culture is a remnant of the Industrial Age. It encourages long periods of steady, monotonous work unsuited for the Information Age.If your goal is to do inspired, creative work, you have to work as a lion works.Sprint when inspired. Rest. Repeat.Become AntifragileIn Greek mythology, the Hydra is a creature that has multiple heads. When one head is cut off, two grow back in its place.Life is random and chaotic. Don't be broken by the chaos—rather, adopt a mentality and build structure and systems such that you will benefit from it.Change Your MindWillingness to change one's mind is a rarity in today's society.It's great to have a strong view, but always open your mind to counterarguments. Stubborn objection to alternative perspectives stalls progress. Strive for strong opinions, weakly held.Never Get Too Big to Do the SmallThe leaders of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team famously stay late to “sweep the shed” after a match.Why? Because small things become big things.Whether you're working in the mailroom or the corner office, never get too big to do the small things well.Learn StorytellingStorytelling is a foundational skill—but it's one we don’t learn in the traditional education system.It's no coincidence that the highest performers are the strongest storytellers.High-leverage storytelling is a supercharger for all human endeavors.Develop a Bias for MotionA body in motion tends to stay in motion—a body at rest tends to stay at rest.When in doubt, just start moving.Become Relentlessly ConsistentMany people are able to show up once or twice and produce wild, disorganized bursts of ene

Welcome to the 312 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 37,845 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Tegus!When I started to dive in on Disney, Tegus was my first destination—a cheat code for my research and learning process. Tegus is the leading platform for primary research—a searchable database of thousands of instantly-available, investor-led interviews with experts on a wide range of industries, companies, and topics. It’s fast and cost-effective, enabling you to do great primary research without breaking the bank.Special Offer: Tegus is offering a free 2-week trial to all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers—sign up below to level up your investment research game today!Today at a Glance:Storytelling is a foundational skill for supercharging all human endeavors.Disney was arguably the first company to prove that storytelling can create a durable competitive advantage that builds pricing power and a legitimate long-term business moat.The key principles of high-leverage storytelling: (1) Suspended Reality, (2) Multisensory Experience, (3) Details Matter, and (4) Make It Shareable.High-Leverage StorytellingStorytelling is a foundational skill.Humans are storytelling animals—our species developed around fires, telling tales of successes, failures, and fantasies, of hopes and dreams. It is woven into our DNA.If we study the lives of the greatest humans, we quickly find that the vast majority were exceptionally strong storytellers. This is no coincidence—effective, high-leverage storytelling is a supercharger for all human endeavors.The problem? We don’t study or teach storytelling in the same way we do other foundational skills.Therein lies an opportunity, however—with few understanding the principles of storytelling, those who do are likely to capture tremendous career and personal upside.In finance terms, it’s (basically) free alpha…So in today’s piece, I’d like to talk about the principles of high-leverage storytelling, brought to life by a real world example of these principles in action…Disney World.Disney WorldThe Walt Disney World Resort—Disney World for short—opened on October 1, 1971. It was the second major theme park under the Disney umbrella, following Disneyland, which was opened in Anaheim, California in 1955.Disney World celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 1, marking a major milestone on a historic run for the company, which now operates theme parks around the world.Importantly, Disney was arguably the first company to prove that storytelling can create a durable competitive advantage that builds pricing power and a legitimate long-term business moat.Storytelling is ingrained into the DNA of the company—its founder, Walt Disney, was history’s most obsessive storyteller.So it is no surprise that storytelling is a superpower that's on full display at Disney World. The park—which covers 43 square miles (or 2x the size of Manhattan!) and has 77,000+ employees—can teach us valuable principles for enhancing our own storytelling. This piece deconstructs the principles of high-leverage storytelling that make Disney World so magical (and that you can start using today):Principle 1: Suspended RealityWalt Disney was famous for his focus on suspending reality for his audiences—allowing them to fully experience a new reality he was creating while still being grounded in the safety of their own reality.It is a balancing act—too cold and you never capture the audience, too hot and people retreat to the safety of their reality and disappear.The Imagineers—a brilliant group of creatives, artists, and engineers in charge of designing the theme parks—have executed against this principle brilliantly.It’s on exhibit in several secrets of the park:The Tunnel NetworkAn intricate web of tunnels lies underneath the park, enabling characters to navigate to their respective “worlds” without ever appearing out of world or duplicative.This is critical, because an out of place character breaks the suspended reality for the guests, so Disney created an (expensive) solution.Further, the entire park is designed to create a separation of worlds and maintain the distinction within each domain. You cannot see into other worlds, which creates a legitimate immersion that reinforces the suspended reality.Forced PerspectiveForced perspective is a visual technique which uses optical illusions to make an object appear farther, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. The technique manipulates our visual perception by using scaled objects and the relationship between them and the viewing point of the customer.Disney uses forced perspective throughout its parks to create optical illusions that make objects appear different than reality.A key example: Cinderella's Castle, which has smaller bricks and windows near the top, making the castle look farther away and taller than it is.Purple Traffic SignsThe dep

Welcome to the 924 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 37,001 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Tegus!When I started to dive in on the Chinese energy crisis, Tegus was yet again my first destination—a cheat code for my investment research and learning process. Tegus is the leading platform for primary research—a searchable database of thousands of instantly-available, investor-led interviews with experts on a wide range of industries, companies, and topics. It’s fast and cost-effective, enabling you to do great primary research without breaking the bank.Special Offer: Tegus is offering a free 2-week trial to all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers—sign up below to level up your investment research game today!Today at a Glance:China’s energy crisis is best understood through the simple, Econ 101 lens of supply and demand, with a particular focus on the coal market.Demand-side drivers primarily include a booming recovery from COVID-19 lows and a hotter-than-normal year that increased residential power usage. Supply-side drivers include coal shortages, import restrictions, utility price fixing, and CCP emissions targets.Net-net, we have demand up and supply down, leading to widespread shortages, rising costs, and a ripple effect that extends across the globe—the stage is set for what could be a long, cold winter.China’s Energy CrisisIn last week’s newsletter piece—the aptly named Supply Chain Apocalypse—I made brief reference to China’s burgeoning energy crisis as a supply dislocation further compounding our global supply chain woes.In the days since that piece was released, China’s energy crisis went from under-the-radar to front page news—hitting “above the fold” in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and Bloomberg, among others, as experts bemoaned its potential to hammer our weakened supply chains and derail the global recovery.I’ve always been fascinated by energy—it is, quite literally, what makes our world work—so yet again, I found myself going down the rabbit hole, exploring the crisis in detail and attempting to distill its key drivers and potential effects.Here’s a simple breakdown of what I learned.Spoiler Alert: This may be China’s Energy Crisis, but in an interconnected global economy, nobody is insulated from this disruption.BackgroundThe growing Chinese energy crisis had (mostly) happened outside the spotlight of the mainstream media.To be sure, among real energy market observers, it had been a key topic for months, alongside European natural gas price spikes, carbon credit markets, and the normal course OPEC debates—but the narrative accelerated meaningfully on the back of other China woes (Evergrande, supply chain disarray, etc.).China is most definitely feeling the pain, but we may be in the early innings (sorry, baseball analogies stick with you!), with the contagion likely poised to spread globally.The ImpactWhat are the visible impacts of China's energy crisis?More than half of China's mainland provinces have been forced to limit electricity usage due to shortages. According to a recent Bloomberg article, the Chinese microblogging site Weibo is filled with stories of people sharing how their daily lives are being impacted by the crunch—no tap water, no cell service, no traffic lights, and even a shortage of candles.In the industrial sector, the largest industrial provinces are facing significant cuts just as they try to dig their way out of the backlog that has been created by COVID restrictions and supply chain kinks.Looking outside of China, we see widespread concerns among politicians and energy market experts over rising coal and natural gas prices (the latter of which deserves its own piece in the future). Policymakers are expressing real angst over the ability of their countries to adequately heat homes as winter months approach.The price chart of European natural gas tells a pretty scary story—much of Europe could be in for a long, cold winter.Suffice to say, the impact of the energy crisis is already quite bad—but it has the potential to get much, much worse.The Drivers of China’s Energy CrisisIn attempting to understand the situation, it's important to understand that the economy is an interconnected web of activity. Nothing happens in a vacuum. This means that an energy crisis in China is not just about China—it has a complex set of causes and effects.In this situation, China's crisis is primarily related to coal. Why? Well, China is very reliant on coal—it has been the driving force of their economic growth. Here are two great visualizations of that reliance.While out of vogue due to its environmental impact, coal does remain a key source of electric power globally.The science is pretty simple (see the diagram below). Coal is burned, the heat released boils water, which produces steam, which drives a turbine, which produces electricity.To dissect the coal-

Welcome to the 1,016 new members (!!!) of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 35,181 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Tegus!When I started to dive in on the global supply chain disruption, Tegus was my first destination—it’s a literal cheat code for my investment research and learning process. Tegus is the leading platform for primary research—a searchable database of thousands of instantly-available, investor-led interviews with experts on a wide range of industries, companies, and topics. It’s fast and cost-effective, enabling you to do great primary research without breaking the bank.Special Offer: Tegus is offering a free 2-week trial to all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers—sign up below to level up your investment research game today!Today at a Glance:The ongoing global supply chain crisis is best viewed through the simple, Econ 101 lens of supply and demand.Demand-side drivers primarily include unprecedented government support and economies roaring back to post-COVID life, both of which have driven up consumer spending on goods.Supply-side drivers include Labor Shortages, Factory Shutdowns, Port Shutdowns, Flight Reductions, Container Ship Challenges, Infrastructure Deficiencies, and the China Energy Crisis.Net-net, we have demand structurally higher and supply structurally lower, leading to delays, shortages, and rising costs across the value chain.Supply Chain ApocalypseBy now, you’ve probably heard that global supply chains are in a state of disarray. You’ve definitely felt it—from attempting to order a new bike or sofa, or just trying to get a McDonald’s milkshake—as delays and shortages have spread across the world.But if you’re like most people, you still have no idea how or why we got into this mess.In an effort to fix that, here's a simple breakdown of what’s causing our ongoing supply chain apocalypse:BackgroundThere's a lot of talk right now about the global supply chain crisis.To give you a sense of the drama here, consider the fact that Bloomberg—a traditionally less sensationalist media outlet—recently published an article subtitled “Inside the Brutal Realities of Supply Chain Hell”.Before we walk through the causes, let’s talk about the effects.What are some of the visible impacts of the crisis?Product Delays: Good luck getting furniture, appliances, cars, or Christmas gifts before 2022.Product Shortages: Many critical technology components (e.g. semiconductor chips) are in short supply.Port Buildups: The Los Angeles/Long Beach port has a historic backup that shows no signs of slowing down.Rampant Freight Costs: The cost of shipping a container from China to LA/Long Beach has risen from under $1,000 pre-COVID to over $20,000 at times in 2021.No exaggerations necessary—the effects are really quite bad.But what is causing all of this?Global supply chains are very complex. We live in a highly-interconnected world. A butterfly flaps its wings in Shenzhen and impacts when I receive my bike in New York.Ok, maybe not quite, but almost...To understand the drivers of the crisis, we need a simple framework. Let's break down what is happening using an Econ 101 classic: Supply and Demand.Note: In this framework, supply will refer to everything related to manufacturing, production, and transportation, while demand will refer to everything related to consumption.Demand-Side DriversFirst, demand.This one is pretty simple—it's through the roof. Unprecedented government support (yes, the money printer did go “brrrr”) and economies roaring back to post-COVID life have created a strong demand environment. Consumers are flush with cash and not afraid to spend. Furthermore, the early (and roving) lockdowns and restrictions have meant more spending on goods vs. services. The above chart of global exports shows the robust, sharp rebound from the COVID dip in 2020. Someone is buying all of these exported goods!Supply-Side DriversNext, supply.This one is more nuanced. The major supply drivers I see here:Labor ShortagesFactory ShutdownsPort ShutdownsFlight ReductionsContainer Ship ChallengesInfrastructure DeficienciesChina Energy CrisisLet’s walk through each one in a bit more detail…Labor ShortagesLabor shortages—at ports, in trucking and logistics, and in the manufacturing sector—are the first major supply disruption. Simply put, without efficient levels of labor in these areas, you have bottlenecks that start to slow the flow of goods through our global pipes.Truck driver shortages are all over the news as of late. The U.K. even began offering thousands of visas to foreign truckers in an attempt to ease the pain.COVID Factory ShutdownsFactories—particularly in Asia—have had a tough time managing and containing outbreaks of COVID, leading to sporadic closures and shutdowns.Nike and other large consumer brands have recently noted on earnings calls that they were forced to cut revenue forecasts and s

Welcome to the 645 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 33,832 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Demand Curve!The Growth Newsletter by Demand Curve is my new favorite newsletter subscription.They interview hundreds of Y Combinator founders to find out what works. Then they pack each issue with actionable growth insights—so you can apply them to your startup or personal brand. It gives me new ideas every single week. I can’t recommend it more highly. Catch their next issue by signing up today.The Evergrande Train WreckThe calamity surrounding The Evergrande Group—the massively over-indebted Chinese property developer—is the train wreck that the world can’t help but watch.It’s fascinating—and carries a lot of interesting learnings on finance and business—so I wanted to share more about the situation with all of you curious folks out there!Here’s a breakdown on the business, background, and its rapid, very public demise:BackgroundThe Evergrande Group is a Fortune 500 real-estate developer with headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1996 by Hui Ka Yan in Guangzhou and scaled up over time from a small local player into a national behemoth.Today, it's big…very big. As recently as 2020, it had sales of >$100 billion and adjusted core profits of ~$5 billion. The below chart of its financials gives a perspective on its recent and rapid growth.At its core, it's a homebuilder business—developing from the ground up and selling properties to Chinese consumers. Its website states that it has over 1,300 projects across 280+ cities.But recently, it has pushed the boundaries of its homebuilding circle of competence, making investments in electric vehicles (Evergrande New Energy Auto), an internet and media production unit (HengTen Networks), a theme park (Evergrande Fairyland), a soccer team (Guangzhou F.C.) and a mineral water company (Evergrande Spring).The Business ChallengeAs a developer, Evergrande had to contend with a highly cash-consumptive growth profile.Why? Well, building a new development project may take many months (even years) and requires a lot of cash outflows along the way—you have to buy the land, pay for construction costs and permitting, etc. Meanwhile, with the exception of smaller upfront deposits, cash collections from buyers typically don’t come in until much later, after the project is completed.This creates a challenging cash conversion cycle (the time it takes to convert investments in inventory/resources into cash) that almost any property developer has to deal with. So how did Evergrande fund its impressive growth?Debt—it borrowed aggressively, even by real estate property development standards.It became the world's most heavily-indebted developer, with a debt load of over $100 billion and over $300 billion in outstanding liabilities.As is pointed out in the brilliant thread below (tip of the hat!), there is a bit of a moral hazard problem that was created along the way. Evergrande was largely indifferent to pricing on the land and properties it was purchasing and building, knowing that the risk would be passed off to banks or other financial institutions financing the purchases.The debt-fueled growth propelled Evergrande—and its now billionaire founder—into an elite class. It entered the Fortune 500 at #496 in 2016 and reached #122 by the latest ranking. As the company amassed an enormous debt burden, it also paid out handsome dividends, with Hui Ka Yan (its largest shareholder) reportedly receiving over $5 billion in dividends since 2018.The Debt SpiralBut debt is a double-edged sword—and Evergrande was overdue to catch the other edge.As its debt burden grew, so did the interest payments on that debt. This is (mostly) fine, so long as revenues and profits—with which you can make these payments—continue to grow. But if the growth or profitability slows (or government restricts borrowing!), it's...well…not fine.Imagine a metaphorical boa constrictor tightening its grip on its prey. You can try to resist—borrow more to make your payments—but that only fuels the snake. Moreover, the knowledge of your precarious position increases risk and makes that borrowing more challenging and costly.In Evergrande's case, the snake formally tightened its grip in 2020. It had its first major liquidity scare—a potential inability to meet its liabilities—sending a letter to the local provincial government warning that its upcoming payments could cause a crisis with systemic financial sector risks.In a cynical sense, sending a letter to the government warning that your collapse poses “systemic financial risk” is a pretty savvy tactic—hype up your importance to force the government’s hand. If you collapse and they did nothing, you can point to the letter and say “I told you so” and make them look bad. More likely, they act in advance and bail you out to save you.

Welcome to the 574 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 32,682 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Share this on Twitter to help grow the tribe!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Tegus!Tegus has been a complete game changer for my research and learning process. Tegus is the leading platform for primary research—it offers a searchable database of thousands of instantly-available, investor-led interviews with experts on a wide range of industries, companies, and topics. It’s fast and cost-effective, enabling you to do great primary research without breaking the bank.Special Offer: Tegus is offering a free 2-week trial to all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers—sign up below to level up your research game today!The Best Advice You’ve Ever ReceivedA few weeks ago, I asked my audience a simple question:In 24 hours, 2,000+ responses flooded in from all corners of the world (if you haven’t realized it already, the internet is absolutely amazing).The advice ran the spectrum—from serious to lighthearted, from inspiring to morbid.So today, I want to do something a bit different. I want to share the best advice you’ve ever received. Prolific Idea was kind enough to make simple, powerful visualizations for many of them, which are made to be shared and enjoyed.My hope is that you find one piece of advice below that resonates with you and changes your outlook.Without further ado…here’s the best advice you’ve ever received:Strong FoundationsPut good things between you and the earth. Buy a good bed, boots, and tires.Closed MouthsIf you don’t ask, you don’t get. Closed mouths don’t get fed.Thinking vs. DoingIn regards to doing something you don't want to do...Don't think about it, just start doing it. The more you think about it, the more reasons you'll give yourself to not do it.Walking TallWalk like you have 3000 ancestors behind you.Proud DecisionsMake decisions today that you'll be proud of tomorrow.Life Isn’t FairLife gets a lot easier when you just accept that life isn’t always fair.Birth & DeathWhen you were born, you cried, but the whole world smiled at you. Live a life such that when you die, the whole world cries, but you smile.Find Your PeopleThe world is cold and nasty but there are still a lot of good people. You just have to find 1 or 2 and you will start loving the world.NegotiationsIn life, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.The Two Most Important DecisionsThe two most important decisions that you make in life are what you do for a living and who you marry.You get these two correct and you'll have a nice life.Uncomfortable ConversationsYour success in life is largely dependent on how many uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have.Invest in YourselfInvest in yourself before you invest in others.OptionsThere are always more options than you realize and things are never as bad as they seem.Anything & EverythingYou can have anything you want in life, but you can't have everything.Stupid & ToughIf you’re gonna be stupid, you’d better be tough.Come at the KingYou come at the King, you best not miss.The Juicy PitchWait for a juicy pitch.Life doesn’t reward you for the number of swings you take. Focus on identifying the juiciest pitch. When it comes, swing hard and don’t miss it.Simple is BeautifulThe best moments you’ll ever have in your life are the simplest.Slipping into clean sheets. Hiking right after a storm. A night talking with friends. Being there for others. Helping a friend.What you think of as painful will simply be erased in time.Behavior vs. WordsPay attention to people's patterns of behavior. They are better guides than their words.Experience PyramidExperience is like a pyramid.The broader the base, the higher you can build. So, diversify your experience early in your career.Learn vs. EarnParticipate to learn, not to earn. The latter will come with practice.Can vs. ShouldJust because you can, doesn’t mean you should.So there you have it. 20 pieces of the greatest advice you’ve ever received. I hope you found one piece of advice that inspired you or changed your outlook on the week.Special thank you to Prolific Idea for the incredible visualizations.The original thread can be found below:Sahil’s Job Board - Featured OpportunitiesSkio - Founding Engineer ($50K REFERRAL BOUNTY!)Hyper - Chief of StaffConsensus - Lead Software EngineerScaled - Direct of OperationsFairchain - Software Engineer, Full StackCommonstock: Community Manager, Social Media Manager, Marketing DesignerIncandescent - Operations AssociatePractice - Chief of StaffMaven - GM of Partnerships & OpsOlukai - VP of E-CommerceHatch - Senior PM, Senior Product Marketing ManagerAbstractOps - Head of EngineeringOn Deck - Forum Director, CFO Forum, VP FinanceMetafy -

Welcome to the 716 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 32,004 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Share this on Twitter to help grow the tribe!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Tegus!Tegus has been a complete game changer for my research and learning process. Tegus is the leading platform for primary research—it offers a searchable database of thousands of instantly-available, investor-led interviews with experts on a wide range of industries, companies, and topics. It’s fast and cost-effective, enabling you to do great primary research without breaking the bank.Special Offer: Tegus is offering a free 2-week trial to all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers—sign up below to level up your research game today!Today at a Glance:Incentives are everything—an uber-powerful force governing our interactions, organizations, and society.Unfortunately, humans are astonishingly bad at establishing incentives—we consistently create systems that invite manipulation and unintended consequences.The framework for better incentives involves six key pillars: Objectives, Metrics, Anti-Metrics, Stakes & Effects, Skin in the Game, and Clarity & Fluidity.Incentives: The Failure & The Fix“Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.” — Charlie MungerIncentives are everything—an uber-powerful force governing our interactions, organizations, and society.Well-designed incentives have the power to create great outcomes; poorly-designed incentives have the power to…well…create terrible outcomes.Unfortunately, humans are astonishingly bad at establishing incentives—we consistently create systems that invite manipulation and unintended consequences. More often than not, we wind up in the poorly-designed camp scrambling for answers and quick fixes.Let’s change that…In today’s piece, I will share a framework for establishing incentives (that actually create desired outcomes).Incentives: The FailureLet’s start with a basic definition of incentives:Incentives are anything that motivates, inspires, or drives an individual to act in a specific manner. They come in two forms: intrinsic and extrinsic.Intrinsic incentives are internal—created by self-interest or desire. Extrinsic incentives are external—created by outside factors, typically a reward (positive incentive) or punishment (negative incentive).For today, we'll be focusing on extrinsic incentives…In a (very) simple model, extrinsic incentives involve two key components:Measure: The metric that the individual or group will be judged upon. The measure can be quantitative (KPIs, metrics, etc.) or qualitative.Target: The level of the measure at which a reward or punishment will be initiated. The target can be specific (you receive your incentive if the KPI hits X level) or general (you receive your incentive if your manager is satisfied with your work).But there is a real problem here. This simple model of incentives—which will feel familiar if you have ever worked in the government, a large organization, or anywhere really—often leads to undesirable outcomes and unintended consequences.Goodhart’s LawGoodhart’s Law is quite simple: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. If a measure of performance becomes a stated goal, humans tend to optimize for it, regardless of any associated consequences. The measure loses its value as a measure!Goodhart’s Law is named after British economist Charles Goodhart, who referenced the concept in a 1975 article on British monetary policy.“Any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes.” — Charles GoodhartBut the concept was popularized by anthropologist Marilyn Strathern. In a 1997 paper, she generalized the thinking and called it Goodhart’s Law.“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” — Marilyn StrathernIt became a mental model with considerable practical relevance—a phenomenon that has been observed time and again throughout history.Let's look at a few examples and use them to build a mental model for where incentives go awry.The Cobra EffectThere were too many cobras in India. The British colonists—worried about the impact of these deadly creatures—started offering bounties for cobra heads.Locals excitedly began breeding cobras, chopping off their heads, and turning them in to earn the bounties. When the breeding got out of hand, some of the breeders were forced to release the cobras onto the streets, thereby increasing the population of cobras.Clearly not what the British had in mind…The British viewed cobra heads as a simple way to measure cobra elimination, so it gave the population an incentive to deliver cobra heads. The result? Locals gamed the system, breeding cobras to earn the bounties.An incentive designed to reduce the cobra population actually increased it!Soviet NailsIn order to meet their ambitious goals, the Soviets n

Welcome to the 715 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 30,964 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Share this on Twitter to help grow the tribe!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Tegus!Tegus is the leading platform for primary research—it offers a searchable database of thousands of instantly-available, investor-led interviews with industry experts on a wide range of industries, companies, and topics. It’s fast and cost-effective, enabling you to do great primary research without breaking the bank. I love the Tegus platform and am using it for my investment and general research purposes.Tegus is offering a free 2-week trial to all Curiosity Chronicle subscribers—sign up below to level up your research game today!Today at a Glance:Learning is a skill—but we need a new way to approach learning that is fast, nimble, and tailored for our ever-changing digital reality.The framework for learning anything: (1) Identify & Establish, (2) Research, (3) Skin in the Game, (4) Engage Community, (5) Teach, and (6) Reflect & Review.The New Way to LearnLearning is a skill—arguably the most important skill. But unfortunately, despite its importance to your career and life, it’s not one you’re ever explicitly taught how to approach.Let’s fix that.Today, I will share a tactical approach to learning anything.IntroductionCuriosity and inspiration are not predictable—they strike at random (and often inopportune!) times. But they must be acted on.Growth is a natural byproduct of acting on curiosity and inspiration.“Inspiration is perishable. When you have inspiration, act on it right then and there.” - NavalOk, so let’s assume you've been bit by the curiosity bug and are ready to act on it. Now what? You’re inspired and motivated to learn, but you don’t even know where to begin.All your years of school didn't really prepare you for this. The "old way" of researching and learning—reading textbooks cover-to-cover, checking books out of the library, scouring footnotes for primary and secondary sources—is slow, arduous, and a relic of our analog, industrial past. It may work for school (e.g. if you are writing a final thesis or research paper), but it fails spectacularly in the real world.You need a "new way"—a fast, dynamic, and nimble approach tailored to the new, ever-changing digital reality. I’d like to propose a “new way” for consideration.This learning framework involves six key steps:Identify & EstablishResearchSkin in the GameEngage CommunityTeachReflect & ReviewThe general structure is fixed, but its application is intended to be dynamic & iterative.Let's walk through the steps...Identify & EstablishThe framework begins with a blank page—one that you will progressively fill out as you work through the steps.Identify the topic and quickly write down everything you know about it. Put the topic at the top of the page and drop in the extent of your current knowledge below it. It’s ok if you know nothing about it. The goal is just to get something down on the page. There are very few things as intimidating as starting from zero, so we can use this quick blast to engage in some mental trickery to get going.Here’s a simple example of what this start might look like. Nothing fancy (other than my cool snake emoji icon).I use Notion for my notetaking—I like being able to pull in other links and resources—but anything works (including pen and paper if you are old fashioned).Paradoxically, starting by writing what you do know is the best way to highlight what you don't know. This first action highlights the gaps in your knowledge and understanding of the topic. The goal here is simply to set the stage—establish the holes before filling them.ResearchThis is where the real fun begins—it’s time to learn.The most effective strategy for research: start horizontal, then go vertical.Horizontal = BreadthVertical = DepthWith apologies for the poor artistry—though I might be able to sell this as an NFT for $2 million—this is a simple graphic of how to think about the time spent in each phase. The bulk of your time and learning will occur in the vertical research phase (red), but the horizontal research phase (green) is critical to foundation-setting.Allow me to elaborate:Horiztonal ResearchHorizontal research lays the foundation for your learning. When you start horizontal, you gather information across the full breadth of the topic area. This gives you the capacity to "see the entire field”—it draws a surface-level map of the topic.With horizontal research, it’s perfectly acceptable to keep it simple: Google and Wikipedia (sorry to all of my high school teachers!) are both great tools.Use your note-taking workspace to document the horizontal information. Take notes on the key pillars of a topic, add screenshots or links where relevant, and mark any particularly interesting areas for a deep-dive.Note the underlying sources that pr

Welcome to the 198 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 29,071 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Share this on Twitter to help grow the tribe!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by M1 Finance!M1 Finance is an all-in-one finance super app - allowing you to invest, borrow, and spend on one easy-to-use, technology-driven platform. I’m a huge fan of their smart dollar-cost averaging features, which take the emotions out of your investment process. M1 has low minimums and offers smart auto-invest, zero commission trades, and so much more. I love the platform and know you will too!Join thousands of other happy customers and open an M1 account today!Today at a Glance:Mental models and maps are representations of reality. They take the complexity of reality and reduce it down to something more manageable.“The map is not the territory” is a meta mental model for assessing and understanding the applicability of mental models. If you don’t understand and appreciate a model’s applicability (or lack thereof) to a given situation, you are certain to get lost.Humans have a tendency to over-apply mental models after we see them work. Awareness and constant reflection is the path to avoid this tendency (and avoid getting lost).When Mental Models AttackIf you’ve been following me on Twitter (or if you’re a long-time subscriber to this newsletter), you know that I enjoy writing about mental models.If you’re new to the term, mental models are simply representations of how the world works. The world is filled with complexity, so we constantly create mental models to help us simplify the complexity by reducing it down to a more manageable representation of fact.In most of my writing, I cover the many successes of mental models - they can be extremely useful tools when applied appropriately. But unfortunately, when misapplied, these "useful" models become anything but.My key point? Mental models are only as good as the soundness of their application. Knowing how and when to apply the different models in your toolkit is just as important as having them in your toolkit in the first place.Today, I’d like to talk about a mental model to help you understand the failings of mental models.Very meta, I know…“The Map is Not the Territory”"The Map is Not the Territory" is a core, foundational mental model for assessing and understanding the applicability of mental models. It's a critical addition to your decision-making toolkit. If you don’t understand and appreciate a model’s applicability (or lack thereof) to a given situation, you are certain to get lost.Let’s begin with some basics. First off, for the purposes of this piece, I will use the terms “map” and “mental model” interchangeably. Both terms can simply be thought of as representations of reality. They take the complexity of reality and reduce it down to something more manageable. Because of the reduction in complexity, they enable faster, higher-powered decision-making.But there are two potential problems:What if you are using the wrong map? Trying to navigate Ohio with a map of Mississippi seems…bad.What if the map is overly-simplified? Trying to navigate a 100-yard stretch of Amazon River rapids with a map of the entire 4,000+ mile river seems…bad.In both situations, the map (your mental model) is not an accurate, helpful representation of the territory (the problem you are looking to solve). Pushing forward in spite of this would be dangerous, perhaps even deadly (in the case of the Amazon rapids!).“The map is not the territory” can be thought of as a simple, intuitive reminder (or mantra?) to constantly understand, evaluate, and critique the validity and applicability of your mental models to a given scenario.HistoryWhere did this concept - of the map, the territory, and their potential mismatch - originate?Well, the general concern has been around for centuries. Explorers have long known about the dangers of over-reliance on maps when venturing into new territories. All were aware that early cartographers took certain...liberties. Claudius Ptolemy - the famed Roman mathematician, astronomer, and geographer - was known for filling in blanks on his maps with reckless artistic license. Basically, if he didn’t know what went into a blank area on a map, he just…made it up.As you can imagine, these maps had limited usefulness. They were not accurate representations of the territories they were intended to simplify.The concept was popularized as a mental model by Polish-American mathematician Alfred Korzybski in 1931.In a paper on mathematical semantics, he cemented the concept by dictating two related, critical points:"A map is not the territory.""A map may have a structure similar or dissimilar to the structure of the territory."In simple terms:Maps are representations of reality, not actual reality.The quality of this representation of reality can vary greatly. Korzybski was pointing out t

Welcome to the 398 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 28,496 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Share this on Twitter to help grow the tribe!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by M1 Finance!M1 Finance is an all-in-one finance super app - allowing you to invest, borrow, and spend on one easy-to-use, technology-driven platform. I am a longtime fan of the product, but have truly been blown away by the accelerating pace of new product rollouts. M1 has no minimums and offers smart auto-invest, zero commission trades, and so much more. I love the platform and know you will too!Join thousands of other happy customers and open an M1 account today!Today at a Glance:Children ask questions to understand the world around them and establish first principles; but somewhere along the way, they are told to stop exploring.The Socratic Method is a cooperative, argumentative process of asking questions to expose flawed logic, establish first principles, and generate creative, imaginative solutions to complex problems.It can be put to use in a wide variety of scenarios, including in the worlds of investing, startup building, and education.Productive Discomfort: The Socratic MethodHumans are born with remarkable curiosity. But somewhere along the way, we are told to stop asking questions. We are told to just accept things. We are told to stop exploring.The result? Unimaginative, linear minds and atrophied critical thinking skills.Fortunately, there is a proven strategy for reclaiming your curiosity, stimulating critical thinking, and establishing first principles.The Socratic Method.IntroductionThe human mind is naturally wired for critical thinking.Children are born with an innate curiosity - a desire to understand the world and all of its complexities. If you have kids (or have been around them), you’ve seen this in action. They constantly, incessantly ask “Why?” about absolutely everything.Here’s a common occurrence for any parent:Mom: “Ok, it’s time for bed. You need to get some sleep.”Kid: “Why?”Mom: “Because you need sleep to think clearly and grow.”Kid: “Why?”I’ll stop. You can see where this is going…The reality is they aren’t doing it to be annoying (contrary to what many parents might think!). Children ask questions in order to develop a deeper understanding their existence and surroundings. The world is fascinating. Everything is so new to a child.They ask questions in an effort to dive deeper, think critically, and establish first principles. And newsflash…it works!How many times has a parent had the above interaction, only to realize that they themselves do not know the answer to the questions being asked? If open to the idea, it leads to new learning of fundamental truths (e.g. why humans need to sleep!).Children are the original first principles thinkers.Unfortunately, as we get older, we are typically told - by teachers, our parents, or otherwise - to stop asking questions. Responses like “Because I said so” or “Because that’s how we’ve always done it” pile up. Our critical thinking muscles begin a slow, steady decay into adulthood. We begin to rely on base assumptions that we have been told are true (but have not independently verified).In certain cases, this can be (mostly) fine. Heuristics and decision-making razors are helpful in making quick decisions.But when dealing with more complex edge cases where creativity is required, using heuristics can lead to unimaginative, linear solutions that closely resemble what has been done before.So how do we fight back, rebuild our critical thinking muscles, and establish first principles?Enter our powerful tool: The Socratic Method.HistoryThe Socratic Method is a process of asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and expose and vet underlying assumptions and logic. It is both cooperative and argumentative. It is a strategy for establishing first principles (the basic, foundational truths) in a problem solving process or discussion.Its aim is to create an environment of productive discomfort for its participants.The Socratic Method is named after the Greek philosopher, Socrates, who developed it as an alternative method of debate and teaching. Socrates disagreed with the style of the “sophists” of the era - teachers who used rhetoric and gravitas to entertain and persuade students.Believing that sophists were promoting a self-centered style, he began promoting the Socratic Method as an alternative. The basic structure involved progressive questioning to expose flawed logic, eliminate hypotheses, and sharpen thinking.Let’s cover how it works…The Socratic Method in PracticeThe Socratic Method is dynamic, but typically follows a general four step structure:Start with open-ended questions.Propose ideas based on these questions.Probe these ideas with progressive questioning.Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the best ideas are developed.Imagine your team has encountered

Welcome to the 537 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 27,544 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Oh, and share this on Twitter to help grow the tribe!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Morning Brew!Morning Brew is on my must-read list every single day. There's a reason over 3 million people start their day with Morning Brew — it’s a free daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley in an easy-to-digest format. Join millions of others and subscribe today!Today at a GlanceCognitive biases are systemic errors in thinking that negatively impact decision-making quality and outcomes.Combatting cognitive biases relies first and foremost on establishing a level of awareness of the biases, but each has its own specific combat strategies as well.Overview, examples, and combat tactics for common biases, including Loss Aversion, Endowment Effect, Ben Franklin Effect, Availability Bias, Survivorship Bias, Ikea Effect, Hindsight Bias, Plan Continuation Bias, Gambler’s Fallacy, and Curse of Knowledge.The Cognitive Bias Handbook - Part IICognitive biases are systemic errors in thinking that negatively impact decision-making quality and outcomes. I recently shared a Twitter thread covering the basics of 20 cognitive biases - but it was admittedly surface-level (280 characters only allows for so much depth and nuance on a topic!).Last week, I went deeper, with Part I of The Cognitive Bias Handbook, covering 10 common cognitive biases, including examples and ways to combat each. Today, I will cover the remaining 10. As a reminder, this two-part newsletter series was split as follows:Part I (last week) covered Fundamental Attribution Error, Bandwagon Effect, Egocentric Bias, Naïve Realism, Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, Pygmalion Effect, Confirmation Bias, Backfire Effect, Anchoring, and Dunning-Kruger Effect.Part II (today) covers Loss Aversion, Endowment Effect, Ben Franklin Effect, Availability Bias, Survivorship Bias, Ikea Effect, Hindsight Bias, Plan Continuation Bias, Gambler’s Fallacy, and Curse of Knowledge.This handbook is designed to be a resource you can save and come back to whenever you need a refresher. Given the volume and importance of the information, I am considering working with an illustrator to convert it into a physical/digital book that you can reference as well. Stay tuned!Without further ado, let’s dive into Part II…Loss AversionWhat is it?The pain of losing something is more powerful than the pleasure of winning it.Loss aversion was first identified by famed behavioral scientists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who found that humans had a tendency to prefer avoiding losses over acquiring equivalent gains. Accordingly, people were typically willing to take actions to avoid losses that they wouldn’t have taken to seek gains.Economists had previously assumed humans were rational actors - that $100 in losses would drive the same amount of pain as $100 in gains would create pleasure. Wrong. Humans are enigmatic creatures!ExamplesInvestors - professional and amateur alike - exhibit loss aversion. The pain and fear of realizing a loss often leads investors to hold onto losing positions much longer than they should.Gamblers who are in the red for a given night often risk much more to try to get back into the black (above breakeven) than they should.How do you combat it?Loss aversion is hardwired into our primate brains, but as always, awareness is the first step to fighting back against its influence.Avoid emotional connection to your possessions - whether they are investments, material items, or money. Attempt to distance your emotions from the decision-making process where possible.Ask questions:Am I being objective and rational in this decision?Am I letting my emotions influence my decision?Am I too connected emotionally to make a rational decision?If you are too connected to a given decision, you may need to outsource it to an objective third-party.The Endowment EffectWhat is it?A close relative of loss aversion, the endowment effect (sometimes called “divestiture aversion”) says that once we have something, we don't want to give it up.Specifically, we demand more to give up an object than we would be willing to pay to acquire it. In slightly more scientific terms, willingness to pay (“WTP”) to acquire an object is typically lower than willingness to accept (“WTA”) to give up an object.ExamplesIn a classic experiment performed by Richard Thaler, two groups of people were placed in a room and given either (a) a fancy pen or (b) a coffee mug. They were then asked if they would be willing to trade their item for the alternate item. Both groups expressed an unwillingness to trade their endowed item for the alternate item, even though they had similar objective values.In another study of NCAA Final Four ticket-holders, it was found that their WTA was ~10x+ higher than their WTP for the s

Welcome to the 840 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 26,411 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week! Oh, and share this on Twitter to help grow the tribe!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by MicroAcquire!MicroAcquire is revolutionizing the startup acquisition process. As the #1 startup acquisition marketplace in the world, MicroAcquire provides a platform covering everything you need in order to buy and sell startups. The company recently raised a $6.3 million seed round from a long list of technology entrepreneurs and investors (including this humble newsletter writer!) and is poised for rapid growth.If you are interested in buying or selling a startup, check out MicroAcquire today!Today at a GlanceCognitive biases are systemic errors in thinking that negatively impact decision-making quality and outcomes.Combatting cognitive biases relies first and foremost on establishing a level of awareness of the biases.Overview, examples, and combat tactics for common biases, including Dunning-Kruger Effect, Fundamental Attribution Error, Bandwagon Effect, Egocentric Bias, Naïve Realism, Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, Pygmalion Effect, Confirmation Bias, Backfire Effect, and Anchoring.The Cognitive Bias Handbook - Part ICognitive biases are systemic errors in thinking that negatively impact decision-making quality and outcomes. I recently shared a Twitter thread covering the basics of 20 cognitive biases - but it was admittedly surface-level (280 characters only allows for so much depth and nuance on a topic!).So here we are. It’s time to dive deeper on cognitive biases, including examples and specific ways to combat each one. To avoid a monstrous newsletter piece that no one has the time to read (or listen to), I will be splitting the coverage of the 20 cognitive biases across 2 newsletters over the coming weeks (with each covering 10 common biases).This two-part newsletter series will be split as follows:Part I: Fundamental Attribution Error, Bandwagon Effect, Egocentric Bias, Naïve Realism, Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, Pygmalion Effect, Confirmation Bias, Backfire Effect, Anchoring, and Dunning-Kruger Effect.Part II: Ben Franklin Effect, Loss Aversion, Endowment Effect, Availability Bias, Survivorship Bias, Ikea Effect, Hindsight Bias, Plan Continuation Bias, Gambler’s Fallacy, and Curse of Knowledge.This handbook is designed to be a resource you can save and come back to whenever you need a refresher. Without further ado, let’s dive into Part I…Dunning-Kruger EffectWhat is it?The Dunning-Kruger Effect says that people with a low objective ability at a task are prone to overestimate their ability at that task.Humans are notoriously incapable of objective evaluation of themselves, including of their competency levels.(Note: see below for a deep-dive thread I wrote on Dunning-Kruger!)Examples“Everyone is a genius in a bull market.”This is a common phrase heard in the investment world during bull markets. When everyone is making money, everyone starts to fancy themselves expert investors. They fail to separate their objective skill at the task from the outcomes.If you start hearing more and more people bragging about their stock market prowess, the market is entering the danger zone.How do you combat it?Several tactical strategies for combatting the Dunning-Kruger Effect:Identify your circle of competence: Know what you know, and what you don’t.Get comfortable with “I don’t know”: Most people are afraid of this phrase. Get comfortable with it.Challenge yourself: Consistently challenge your belief on your own competency ratings. Do you actually know something as well as you think you do? What would an unbiased third-party say?It will feel uncomfortable - you’ll be challenging your most basic instincts. If you persist, you’ll be less prone to falling victim to the Dunning-Kruger Effect.Fundamental Attribution ErrorWhat is it?Fundamental Attribution Error (or “FAE” for short) is the human tendency to hold others accountable (while giving ourselves a break).It says that humans will tend to:Attribute the actions of others to their character (and not to their situation or context).Attribute our own actions to situation and context (and not to our character).Why do we do this? Well, as with many of the biases we will cover, it likely developed as a heuristic (a problem-solving or decision-making shortcut), in this case for simplifying the process and judgement around new human relationships.From an evolutionary perspective, quickly attributing negative actions to character (rather than situation or context) may have kept you alive, as you’d be more likely to avoid that individual.But in a modern context, being prone to FAE can create real problems.ExamplesThe workplace is a common FAE breeding ground.It is easy to form perspectives on the character of colleagues and bosses based on small pieces of information. If a colleague arrives late for

Welcome to the 750+ new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 24,766 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by AppSumo!AppSumo was founded with one goal in mind: to give entrepreneurs the tools they need to grow their businesses, at a fraction of their regular cost. To do this, AppSumo partners with the hottest tech companies and gets you insane deals on their products and services. You’ll save money and discover exciting, up-and-coming technologies. I’m a customer, you should be too. Check it out below to take advantage!Today at a GlanceInversion is a simple, powerful mental model for solving complex problems.When problems become challenging to solve forwards, they may be more readily solved backwards.Inversion has a wide variety of applications, ranging from investing to business to leadership to relationships.Invert, Always InvertThe world is an exceptionally complicated and competitive arena. On any given day, you wake up, encounter a wide array of challenging, multivariate problems, make decisions with highly-imperfect information, and then plan to do it all over again the next day.To outperform in this complicated and competitive arena, you need serious problem-solving skills. Fortunately, contrary to what many of you have been told, these skills can be learned.Today, I’d like to cover inversion - a simple, powerful mental model for thinking clearly and solving complex problems.The History of InversionWhen solving problems, the human mind is wired to think in linear, logical, forward terms. This is (probably, I’m not a scientist!) due to the types of problems our ancestors faced - avoiding getting eaten by large animals, hunting other large animals, searching for the next meal, etc. These problems were inherently ephemeral and discrete - they had clear lines of action/reaction and obvious allies and enemies. But as humanity entered the Agricultural Age, followed by the Industrial Age, followed by now the Digital Age, our problems seemed to change. They got much more complex. As Notorious B.I.G. famously said, “Mo technology, mo problems” (or something like that?). As the problems get increasingly complex, the forward, logical process evolved in our ancestors often fails. Enter our simple, powerful mental model: inversion.Let’s start with the basics. What is inversion?Inversion is a mental model and thinking tool used by some of the world’s greatest thinkers and problem solvers. Simply put, it says that when problems become challenging to solve forwards, they may be more readily solved backwards.Inversion as a general thinking tool has been around for millennia. Stoic philosophers would perform an exercise they called “premeditatio malorum” - roughly translating to “the pre-meditation of evils” - in which they would imagine the worst case scenario ahead of time. They believed that this exercise would force them to engage in behavior and make plans to avoid this outcome.The more formal mental model was popularized by German mathematician Carl Jacobi in the mid-1800s. Jacobi was famous for his work in advancing the field of elliptic functions. Wikipedia tells me elliptic functions are “a special kind of meromorphic functions, that satisfy two periodicity conditions” - which provided approximately zero clarity, so I’ll just stick to my lane.When faced with difficult problems (which happened frequently!), Jacobi had a strategy: “Man muss immer umkehren.”The loose translation: “Invert, always invert.”Jacobi frequently used this strategy if he were to be stumped on a challenging math problem. Rather than continuing to look at it the same way (forwards), he would restate it in inverse form (backwards). This new, creative perspective often allowed him to solve the problem more easily.Fast forward 100+ years and inversion went mainstream when Charlie Munger made one classic, quintessentially pithy remark:“All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.”Munger realized that forward, logical thinking can only take you so far. To solve certain problems, you have to think differently.Inversion is just that: a method for thinking about a problem differently. It requires you to look at things from a different angle to embrace a new perspective. Just as the captain surveys the battlefield for a new vector of attack, you too have to uncover a novel approach.Perhaps more importantly, inversion trains your mind to think dynamically. Athletes have long known that training in a single plane leads to stasis. The same principle applies to the mind. Inversion trains it from multiple angles.But let’s get practical. How and where can you apply it in your life?Inversion in InvestingWarren Buffett famously stated that there were only two rules of investing:"Rule #1: Never lose money. Rule #2: Never forget Rule #1."Buffett (and his business partner Charlie Munger) have often evangelized the bene

Welcome to the 500+ new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 23,529 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by AppSumo!Are you an entrepreneur? Do you like great deals? Great news: Sumo Day 2021 is finally here - an event for entrepreneurs hosted by my friends over at AppSumo. Think of Sumo Day as Amazon Prime Day, but for entrepreneurs. AppSumo is bringing entrepreneurs insane products, discounts, and giveaways for just 72 hours! Sign up to take advantage of the deals and get the updates straight to your inbox!Principles of Effective StorytellingStorytelling is a superpower. But it is - for one reason or another - an underrated one. It is rarely talked about alongside other key traits of highly-successful people. Instead, we glamorize traits like intelligence, creativity, and focus, calling these the “keys to success,” often completely ignoring the role that storytelling may play in the trajectories of great women and men.This misses the mark. Storytelling, I would contend, is one of the most important “weapons” to have in your arsenal. It is a key to unlocking growth in your writing, startups, marketing, business, career, or life. Moreover, it is not genetically endowed - anyone can become a great storyteller!So let’s begin our storytelling journey today…Here are 10+ principles of effective storytelling (that you can start using today):Clarity of PurposeThe best storytellers always define a clear purpose prior to crafting their story.What is the story trying to achieve? What does success look like with this story? Do you have a burning desire to tell this story? If so, why?If your answers to these questions are loose or dynamic, you’re going to have a difficult time capturing your audience from the start. The audience feeds off of your commitment and clarity. If you are lacking either, they will feel it. Guaranteed.Commit to answering these key questions before doing anything else.Define the AudienceEvery great story begins with a well-defined audience. The story you tell has to be catered to the audience to whom you will deliver it. Who is the audience? What do they consciously (or subconsciously!) want from the story?Be deliberate with this exercise. It will determine how you approach structure, emotion, novelty, and many of the other storytelling principles we will cover later in this piece.Be ruthlessly honest with yourself. The audience may look different than you expect.Establish Structure“People have forgotten how to tell a story. Stories don’t have a middle or an end any more. They usually have a beginning that never stops beginning.” – Steven SpielbergStories need structure! Imagine your story as a house - the structure is the foundation of that house. A flimsy foundation makes for a flimsy house - a sturdy foundation makes for a sturdy house. Moreover, a sturdy foundation allows the architect to get more creative with what goes on top of it, knowing that the ground will hold.There are structural archetypes you can use or leverage. Clear narrative arcs (like the “hero’s journey” often used by Pixar) work well.If you are struggling to establish structure, try using “the story spine” framework, first created by playwright Kenn Adams. It goes like this:Once upon a time there was [blank]. Every day, [blank]. One day [blank]. Because of that, [blank]. Until finally [bank].It has helped me more times than I can count. Fill it in and watch your story take shape.Weave in the EmotionEmotion is what makes great stories stick.Think about your favorite stories. How did they make you feel? It’s a safe bet that they elicited a strong emotional response - positive or negative.Take it one step further. Watch your favorite movie. Using emojis in a note document, map out your emotions (and the strength of each) that you are feeling at various points throughout during the movie. Your note doc may look something like this:😂😁😫😤😍☹️😆Learn from this. The best stories elicit deep, varied emotional responses. When you are approaching your own storytelling, make sure to weave emotion into the foundational fabric of what you create.Infuse NoveltyEvery great story is infused with novelty.Novelty comes in many different forms: Fresh, new perspectives. Surprising insights. Shock-and-awe moments. Unexpected twists.Novelty is what makes your audience say: “Oh, wow!” It is what catches them off-guard, what distances them from their linear ways of thinking. It immediately signals that this isn’t like anything they have seen, read, or experienced before.Are you meeting this burden? If you’re falling short, dig deeper.Create ContrastsStorytelling expert Nancy Duarte coined the simple “what is vs. what could be” framework for creating contrasts in your stories. This framework forces you to create contrasts to craft a captivating narrative.First, describe the reality (“what is”). Next, describe the potential future

Welcome to the 100+ new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 22,300+ others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week!Today’s newsletter is brought to you by AppSumo!Sumo Day 2021 is almost here - an event for entrepreneurs hosted by my friends over at AppSumo. Think of Sumo Day as Amazon Prime Day, but for entrepreneurs. Starting July 13th, AppSumo is bringing you insane products, discounts, and giveaways for just 72 hours! So sign up to get the updates straight to your inbox!Hedgehogs & FoxesWhat can hedgehogs and foxes teach us about startups, entrepreneurship, investing, and growth? A lot.For today’s newsletter, let me take you down the rabbit (er, fox) hole on a mental model on vision, focus, and the journey from good to great.Let's start at the beginning...In the 8th century BC, a Greek poet named Archilochus penned a line that has stood the test of time."The fox knows many things; the hedgehog knows one big thing."In the thousands of years since it was written, the meaning of Archilochus’ words has been debated by many of the greatest philosophers, historians, writers and thinkers.In a literal sense, the fox has an array of tricks at his disposal, but is defeated by the hedgehog's singular (and spiky) defense. In a figurative sense, Archilochus is highlighting the difference between those with singular vision and those with more scattered inspirations.The dichotomy of the hedgehog and the fox entered the more mainstream lexicon in 1953, when philosopher Isaiah Berlin published an essay entitled, The Hedgehog and the Fox, which would go on to be one of his most popular and well-regarded works.Berlin's essay sought to divide history's great writers and thinkers into two groups:Hedgehogs: who view the world through the lens of a single, all-encompassing ideaFoxes: who draw upon myriad experiences and cannot view the world through the lens of a single idea“For there exists a great chasm between those, on one side, who relate everything to a single central vision, one system, less or more coherent or articulate, in terms of which they understand, think and feel – a single, universal, organizing principle in terms of which alone all that they are and say has significance – and, on the other side, those who pursue many ends, often unrelated and even contradictory, connected, if at all, only in some de facto way, for some psychological or physiological cause, related to no moral or aesthetic principle.” - Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and the Fox, 1953In The Hedgehog and the Fox, Berlin largely focused on categorizing writers and thinkers into these two groups. But he also - perhaps unintentionally - sparked the concept to leap into a new domain.Leadership and business.Enter stage left, Jim Collins...In 2001, renowned author Jim Collins released Good to Great, a book exploring why certain companies are able to achieve greatness after long periods of mediocrity (and why others don’t).In it, Collins referenced The Hedgehog and the Fox in building out what he referred to as The Hedgehog Concept. Collins asserted that the leaders of the good-to-great companies were all hedgehogs - people with a singular, all-encompassing vision.These leaders were uniquely capable of taking the complexity of their businesses and markets and simplifying it into a unifying idea.The Hedgehog Concept is a simple framework for identifying that unifying idea or vision.It is found at the center of:What you are passionate aboutWhat drives your economic engineWhat you can be the best atThis last point is nuanced and worth a brief aside...What can you be the best at?Most people and companies have a very tough time with this question. It's not about a process to become the best. It's not about a strategy, plan, or roadmap. It's a simple, self-reflective exercise in identifying what game you should be playing.Here's one way to go about it:Map a list of skills or attributes on a page. Where do you spike? Where do you lag? Mark the map with pluses (+) and minuses (-) accordingly. Reflect on your map.Questions to ask:What game am I playing?Am I uniquely positioned to "win" that game?What game should I be playing?The key point here is that succeeding on the journey from good to great requires you (or your company) to play a game that you can be great at! Far too many people and companies spend years languishing in the valley of mediocrity simply because they were playing the wrong game.Ok, after that brief aside (which probably deserves its own piece in the future), back to hedgehogs and foxes...We have established a mental model: Foxes have multiple motivations, while hedgehogs have a singular focus.So where might you apply this mental model in practice?InvestingWhether you are investing in startups or mature public companies, understanding management and their motivations is of paramount importance.This is often easier said than done.Try asking a simple, clarifying questio