Being caught in a situation where I have no choices scares me. It attacks my core value of agency and makes me feel insecure and vulnerable. So, like a student of Sun Tzu who knows that the battle can be won before it is fought, I spend a lot of time (admittedly perhaps too much) considering ways to build in optionality against future scenarios. Can I get them all covered? Of course not, but that part doesn’t scare me. The obvious (or higher probability scenarios) are the ones I seek to cover...

Being caught in a situation where I have no choices scares me. It attacks my core value of agency and makes me feel insecure and vulnerable. So, like a student of Sun Tzu who knows that the battle can be won before it is fought, I spend a lot of time (admittedly perhaps too much) considering ways to build in optionality against future scenarios. Can I get them all covered? Of course not, but that part doesn’t scare me. The obvious (or higher probability scenarios) are the ones I seek to cover...

Walking in Nepal, without connectivity most of the time, one can’t help but feel a sense of liberation. While it’s the birthplace of the Buddha, the liberation may be the same in outcome, though different in intent. It’s a liberation from the incredible amount of noise in our lives. News organizations, social media feeds, email newsletters…most of them pass into oblivion like clouds over the Himalayas. The story we tell ourselves is that “we need to be informed,” but in reality, I suspect it’...

Walking in Nepal, without connectivity most of the time, one can’t help but feel a sense of liberation. While it’s the birthplace of the Buddha, the liberation may be the same in outcome, though different in intent. It’s a liberation from the incredible amount of noise in our lives. News organizations, social media feeds, email newsletters…most of them pass into oblivion like clouds over the Himalayas. The story we tell ourselves is that “we need to be informed,” but in reality, I suspect it’...

Crypto. AI. Quantum. All of these technologies feel like ways of removing friction from the process of delivering value. What’s value? In the marketplace, it’s subjective. But it feels great-at least to me- when more of it is delivered at increasingly lower cost. This means I have more discretion about where to allocate my resources. That feels empowering. Meditation is a technology for unlocking the value in the brain. By becoming aware of how we think and noticing how we feel without reacti...

Crypto. AI. Quantum. All of these technologies feel like ways of removing friction from the process of delivering value. What’s value? In the marketplace, it’s subjective. But it feels great-at least to me- when more of it is delivered at increasingly lower cost. This means I have more discretion about where to allocate my resources. That feels empowering. Meditation is a technology for unlocking the value in the brain. By becoming aware of how we think and noticing how we feel without reacti...

After I publish my blog post every day, I copy the text and put it into an AI, with the following question: Based on the post I've written, any insights you have on my strengths/weaknesses/blindspots/perspective? What would be the best questions now that I've presented this thought starter to ask you so I can gain more insight into myself about what I have written and why? It’s been a slow process of self-discovery and expanding awareness. The strengths, such as pattern-recognition,...

After I publish my blog post every day, I copy the text and put it into an AI, with the following question: Based on the post I've written, any insights you have on my strengths/weaknesses/blindspots/perspective? What would be the best questions now that I've presented this thought starter to ask you so I can gain more insight into myself about what I have written and why? It’s been a slow process of self-discovery and expanding awareness. The strengths, such as pattern-recognition,...

Try moving your money from one bank to another. Or changing an airline reservation from one airline to another. Or porting your cell phone to a different service provider. All of these processes-and many, many more- are full of high friction. Overcoming friction requires energy. Companies and institutions know this so they purposely create high-friction environments to make it difficult for you to escape the system. Our personal lives exist within “high friction” systems as well, mostly out o...

Try moving your money from one bank to another. Or changing an airline reservation from one airline to another. Or porting your cell phone to a different service provider. All of these processes-and many, many more- are full of high friction. Overcoming friction requires energy. Companies and institutions know this so they purposely create high-friction environments to make it difficult for you to escape the system. Our personal lives exist within “high friction” systems as well, mostly out o...

For most of the time during a trek of the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, you have a road or a sidewalk’s worth of width in your path. On one side, you might have a mountain and on the other side, you might have a steep cliff, but your footing (unless you’re totally drunk-not advisable) is relatively secure. Every now and then, you cross a suspension bridge, which is great, unless that kind of experience/fear of heights is a thing for you. BUT…. There was one part during the cold, early morning a...

For most of the time during a trek of the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, you have a road or a sidewalk’s worth of width in your path. On one side, you might have a mountain and on the other side, you might have a steep cliff, but your footing (unless you’re totally drunk-not advisable) is relatively secure. Every now and then, you cross a suspension bridge, which is great, unless that kind of experience/fear of heights is a thing for you. BUT…. There was one part during the cold, early morning a...

Much of our lives are spent wearing masks. Bound by social conventions, there are things we are uncomfortable discussing, particularly with strangers or new acquaintances. But spend 10 days trekking through Nepal’s Annapurna circuit and sharing a squat toilet with people, peeing on the side of the road while others walk by (you need to stay hydrated after all) and pretty soon, you get into the real stuff. The “DMC’s” (Deep Meaningful Conversations), as my kids would say.I joined a group of 10...

Much of our lives are spent wearing masks. Bound by social conventions, there are things we are uncomfortable discussing, particularly with strangers or new acquaintances. But spend 10 days trekking through Nepal’s Annapurna circuit and sharing a squat toilet with people, peeing on the side of the road while others walk by (you need to stay hydrated after all) and pretty soon, you get into the real stuff. The “DMC’s” (Deep Meaningful Conversations), as my kids would say.I joined a group of 10...

You have a tough boss. You have money challenges. Your kids’ future is of concern. Your marriage isn’t out of a Disney film. Your weight is more than it should be. So is your cholesterol. You’re worried about the state of the world. It’s not easy. But it may be easier if you always remember that there is someone-actually, many, many people out there- who have the same problems

You have a tough boss. You have money challenges. Your kids’ future is of concern. Your marriage isn’t out of a Disney film. Your weight is more than it should be. So is your cholesterol. You’re worried about the state of the world. It’s not easy. But it may be easier if you always remember that there is someone-actually, many, many people out there- who have the same problems

They may seem totally opposite. But they have a lot in common. There’s an ethos at the core of both…life can get better and more meaningful with them. Each gives you strength and flexibility. Each can connect you to a community of practitioners. Each can free up your mind to allow for deeper reflection. And if you practice a little bit every day, you will get a lot better over time.

They may seem totally opposite. But they have a lot in common. There’s an ethos at the core of both…life can get better and more meaningful with them. Each gives you strength and flexibility. Each can connect you to a community of practitioners. Each can free up your mind to allow for deeper reflection. And if you practice a little bit every day, you will get a lot better over time.

Letting go of past regrets and emotions is a skill that can be developed. One practice is to find something that you think is sentimental, look at it, savor it, and then recycle it/throw it away. Since life is a big dress rehearsal for the ultimate letting go, this muscle can be developed. But the other side of the present is the future. Instead of focusing on the now, there’s a lot of mind energy that is devoted to the future. Some is good. I mean, I’m a big believer in preparation. But that...

Letting go of past regrets and emotions is a skill that can be developed. One practice is to find something that you think is sentimental, look at it, savor it, and then recycle it/throw it away. Since life is a big dress rehearsal for the ultimate letting go, this muscle can be developed. But the other side of the present is the future. Instead of focusing on the now, there’s a lot of mind energy that is devoted to the future. Some is good. I mean, I’m a big believer in preparation. But that...

What if quantum computing, by virtue of its reliance on probabilities instead of certainties, represents a return to a more harmonious global civilization? What if the industrial era, with its never-ending lust for consumption, turns out to be the blip in the history of mankind? What if AI leads each of us to become more enlightened versions of ourselves? Or worse versions of ourselves? What if? What if? What if? At each moment, thousands, millions, of possibilities lay in front of us and onl...

What if quantum computing, by virtue of its reliance on probabilities instead of certainties, represents a return to a more harmonious global civilization? What if the industrial era, with its never-ending lust for consumption, turns out to be the blip in the history of mankind? What if AI leads each of us to become more enlightened versions of ourselves? Or worse versions of ourselves? What if? What if? What if? At each moment, thousands, millions, of possibilities lay in front of us and onl...

The frog in the boiling water metaphor rings true. People don’t notice small changes over time. But when happens when you’re the frog? And you’re sitting in water that is gradually becoming water, slowly, slowly, slowly. A smart frog knows that, as soon as it finds itself in water, it should do a few thingshang up a thermometerwrite down a self-commitment of “if the temperature ever gets to X degrees, I am jumping, no questions asked, no more debating.”prepare everything s/he needs to jump, b...

The frog in the boiling water metaphor rings true. People don’t notice small changes over time. But when happens when you’re the frog? And you’re sitting in water that is gradually becoming water, slowly, slowly, slowly. A smart frog knows that, as soon as it finds itself in water, it should do a few thingshang up a thermometerwrite down a self-commitment of “if the temperature ever gets to X degrees, I am jumping, no questions asked, no more debating.”prepare everything s/he needs to jump, b...