Mindset

Over the last few years, I’ve been looking for analogies for the variability of life in the world around us. Some parts of life have four recurring seasons. Some are standalone films. Some are like a mini-series. Overall, it’s like a train that starts and stops, with varying passengers staying on for different lengths of time. The last 2–3 months haven’t been easy. They felt like an unexpected storm that only comes around once a century. I’ll write about the details in a separate post, but this one is meant to be a meta-reflection. ...

Do you ever feel like you can hold two contradicting thoughts at the same time? In fact, I’m doing it right now. I think it’s a great skill, but simultaneously it can lead to overthinking. They say your greatest strength is your greatest weakness, so is everything a double-edged sword? I am a frugal person, and I know I’ll keep being frugal even when I’m a billionaire. At the same time, I try to live my life and make decisions as if money is no object. ...

Peter Thiel is well known for his infamous book, Zero to One. In reality, most startups fail, so it probably should have been called Zero or One. The skill set required to go from one to ten, to one hundred, and beyond is broad, iterative, heavily experience-driven, and requires a lot of people serving different functions. But, the jump from zero to one really is a jump. And it isn’t just a skill set. It’s a mindset.

A Read Through On Venting I have a close friend to whom I vent every once in a while. He recently shared a post he wrote called On Venting. I immediately understood why he responds to all of my non-venting messages and pretends as if the vents never happened: When folks interact with me, I often skip past the emotional complaints. I like to think I do the following, but it’s probably only true half the time—at best: ...