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Vipassana advice
2024Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
my advice to someone doing their first 10 day vipassana course… there’s the practical: (TODO) but what do i really want to share 10 day vipassanas are Boggarts ⚡️ meaning, the retreat takes the shape of…...
I was living the SaaS dream. Here's why I left
2024BusinessMind, universe and beyond
RightMessage has been a wild ride. What started in 2017 as a passing conversation with a guy from the internet turned into a career pivot and a $75k-revenue SaaS launch and a $700k investment and a...
My Map of Consciousness journey so far
2024Mind, universe and beyond
I’d like to summarise my consciousness journey so far, in the context of David Hawkins’ Map Of Consciousness. I spent most of my life hanging out around 125 (Desire) and 175 (Pride). About four years ago...
Law of attaction
2023Mind, universe and beyond
There’s 👏 nothing 👏 spiritual 👏 about 👏 the 👏 law 👏 of 👏 attraction 👏. Our brains are designed to filter out almost everything around us. There’s way too much stuff in the outside world,...
Continuous releases
2023Mind, universe and beyondSoftware
My dad used to run a software company in the CAD/CAM space. Back then, before internet was widespread, a software update was a momentous occasion. Months and months of updates had to be carefully scrutinised and...
Reflection for MMU students
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
I often facilitate sessions at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Business School. A reflection I wrote for all the students after a two day startup bootcamp back in June 2022: I saw incredible gifts in every single one...
Coincidences
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I’ve experiences so many cool coincidences in the last couple of years. Is this itself just a coincidence? I don’t think so. I think it’s downstream of being more open to following my intuition, being open...
The water hose
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Imagine a water hose with 10 knots in it. No water can flow. When you start undoing knots, there’s still no water, and so it feels like you’ve made no progress. After 6, 7, 8 knots,...
Good
2023Mind, universe and beyond
When something ‘bad’ happens. As early as possible… get into the habit of saying ‘good’. The store was closed when I needed something. Good. She didn’t message me back. Good. I lost the client to a...
Rest and digest
2023Mind, universe and beyond
We don’t spend much time in a rest and digest state in our modern world. Constantly moving from one thing to another at work. Lots of plans. Devices and social media and advertising competing for our...
The journey of 100 things
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I’ve done a couple of “do 100 things” challenges recently. I noticed similar thought patterns arising as I got to various milestones toward the 100 on each challenge. I thought it might just be me but...
Trojan horses
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Meet people where they are, invite them to join you somewhere better Sometimes something is marketed as one thing, to make it seem less novel and intimidating, but turns out to be something deeper once you...
Surprises
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I don’t like surprises. People are often surprised to hear this about me, because I’m a very spontaneous person. I don’t like when things are rigidly planned in advance. I like to take things as they...
70% brakes
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I’ve noticed an interesting thing happen each time I get somewhere around the 70% mark of a “do 100 things” challenge: I feel reluctant to continue. I think I do it in other situations where I...
Control #2
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I don’t create the soy sauce, the microorganisms do. I just create the environment where they can thrive. –Yasuo Yamamoto Most things aren’t in our control. It can feel nice to be able to control a...
What if I were to do all my thinking outside my head?
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Oh, I’m just thinking out loud. We say this all the time. We know that thinking outside our head has benefits. I’m wondering whether thinking is meant to take place much in your head at all....
Want vs want
2023Mind, universe and beyond
We use the word ‘want’ to mean two different things: a comfortable or immediately gratifying ‘want’, and a longer term goal-based ‘want’. And so you can roughly categorise any behaviour on a 2x2 matrix of whether...
Discipline
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A question that has been top of mind for me since exiting RightMessage a few months ago: To what extent do I want my life to involve me doing things that I don’t (in the moment)...
Reframing thoughts
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
Most of your emotions are caused by the thoughts you’re having about the situation you’re in, not by the situation you’re in directly. Want to feel less shitty more often? Reframe the thoughts. How? Next time...
Making friends as an adult
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I’ve heard people say it’s impossible to make friends as an adult. And yet I’m 32 and making more friends than ever. Why the discrepancy? I think it’s yet another example of our beliefs affecting our...
Three circles model
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A really useful model for understanding how we’re feeling at any given time. We operate in one of three basic states at any given time: soothe, drive, or threat. Think of these as different modes our...
Shiva
2023Mind, universe and beyond
There’s a tradition in Judaism called “sitting shiva”. It’s a seven day mourning period after someone dies and is buried. Their immediate family sit on low stools and the door is open for well-wishers to come...
Divorce predictors
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Science still can’t predict with any certainty whether two people will be attracted to each other. But, once two people are together, it can predict with 94% accuracy1 whether they’ll get divorced. How? By putting the...
Release
2023Mind, universe and beyond
No external situation or circumstance or event can make you feel an emotion. It simply triggers an emotion that was already trapped within you. It’s a great opportunity. Because depending on what you do next, you...
White butterflies
2023Mind, universe and beyond
White butterflies bring me into the present moment. It doesn’t matter what else is going on in my mind, or how overwhelmed or anxious I’m feeling. When I see a white butterfly, none of it matters....
Community
2023Mind, universe and beyond
It’s so easy to inherit the ideas and beliefs we’re surrounded by. You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with –Jim Rohn and probably others And then we attract and...
Sad songs
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Woah… what if a sad song doesn’t make you feel sadder after all. It helps you release trapped feelings of sadness. I used to visualise it as sadness entering me. But now I see it the...
Tired
2023Mind, universe and beyond
We use the word ‘tired’ to describe like 100 different internal states. Let’s say, like two of my friends recently, you want to be going out more in the evenings to socialise and meet new people—but...
Needs
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Anytime you feel any negative emotion or low mood it’s because one or more of your needs is not being met. If instead of blunt, vague labelling (like “I’m tired”)—or, worse still, projecting (like “I’m miserable...
Better pregaming
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A few weeks ago I went on a dating / self-improvement course. It was wild, I have so much to share about it another time. One big thing that stood out to me was what our...
Growth
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A reminder for myself, any time I think tremendous growth isn’t possible… A couple of years ago I had frequent doubts about my social life. I’ve always had some friends… but I was pretty insecure about...
Out of your comfort zone, into…
2023Mind, universe and beyond
There are few things that are more ‘easier said than done’ than ‘get out of your comfort zone’. But after years of struggle, I might’ve stumbled into an incredible secret to making it happen? See, the...
The 4 stages of growth
2023Mind, universe and beyond
You typically go through 4 phases on our journey learning or improving at a skill: Unconscious incompetence You’re not good at the thing, and you don’t even realise it’s a thing you’re not good at /...
10% longer
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A great way to get used to getting into your stretch zone (and, so, really growing) is to stay in situations just 10% longer than you feel comfortable. I want to get better at writing these...
Stretch zone
2023Mind, universe and beyond
You have three zones: Inner green area is your comfort zone. When you’re acting within your comfort zone things feel pretty chill. You’re also not growing. Outer red area is your panic zone. This is where...
Lower the bar
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
Something I touched on in the last essay that I want to expand upon… I hold a very high bar of what is considered good enough… and it’s an impediment to my personal and business growth....
Dropping the ball
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I dropped the ball on these daily essays for a long while. Other things came up. Which really means it hadn’t become an ingrained enough habit yet, and so other things were able to supersede. The...
The Angel Frame
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A frame I’m enjoying playing with at the moment: If I were an angel, not a human, would I be saying or doing what I’m about to say or do? I see an angel here as...
Two types of why
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
Common business advice that is pretty sound: know why you’re doing what you do. The famous TED talk about this: Start With Why by Simon Sinek. There are two types of ‘why’ that get conflated, though,...
Empathy affects change
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I often talk about Marshall Rosenberg’s Non-Violent Communication. On the surface it’s just about using different words when we speak, but in reality it’s about a whole different way of thinking. A way that values unconditional...
Change
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A useful concept that my therapist often uses: All personal growth happens in two phases: First-order change: you’re able to adapt your behaviour by intentionally and consciously thinking about doing that new behaviour instead of some...
Natural vs habitual
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Most of the times that I mention that some behaviour is something I do “naturally”, what I really mean is “habitually”. As in, much of our behaviour is learnt, but we’ve got so good at learning...
Problems
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I’m becoming increasingly convinced that we first choose how many problems we want, and then we find them. The specifics of our external circumstances have very impact on our satisfaction. If we’re of a mindset that...
Picking our battles (perfectly)
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I did a Kabbalah course last year. It had some really cool framings that I hadn’t heard before for various spiritual and mystical and personal growth concepts. One was about horoscopes. I’d only ever heard of...
Giving
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Humans are givers. When everything is in balance, when we’re in a good place, we naturally want to give. That’s why kids love feeding ducks. There’s nothing particularly in it for them… except the pure joy...
2 ways to reason
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
One thing I see people do that is often not optimal is that they’ll see someone else doing a thing and say “they’re very successful, so I’m going to do the same thing”. That’s the extreme...
Giraffe ears
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A lot of Non-Violent Communication teaches how to share where you’re at more assertively and effectively. There’s a second part which is talked about less but is at least as powerful: how to hear what someone...
Disparaging comments
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
That person said no-one would ever buy what I’m selling. Now part of me wants to give up Ooft, I get it. Other people putting you and your hard work down is tough. It can be...
Religion, models and lossy compression
2023Mind, universe and beyond
As human beings we have a natural inclination to make sense of the world around us. Whether it’s through science, art, philosophy, or religion, we create models that help us understand the infinitely complex world around...
Action
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I’m becoming increasingly convinced that the optimal strategy is simply to take more action. Whether or not it’s the “right” action— If you’re good at taking the action and it’s an action that ends up moving...
Face to face
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
A thing that’s on my mind a lot and might not be fully coherent yet but let’s take a stab at a first draft The internet is amazing But it’s this huge double-edged sword It gives...
Overoptimising
2023Mind, universe and beyond
On any given spectrum of behaviour: |—————————————————————————| A B If you believe you’re much too far toward A And that it’s better to be in the middle And you identify a strategy for moving closer to...
A new tactic for self-doubt
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I’m trying something new today to combat self-doubt and procrastination. You know that thing parents do where they tell their kids they can’t hear them if they use a whining voice? In a similar vein I’m...
Step by step: figure out your values
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
From business coaches to relationship experts to branding coaches, everyone talks about how important it is to know what your values are. And they have a point. A lot of life is exponentially easier when we’re...
List of values
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
A big list of values. Use with my values exercise. Abundance Acceptance Accountability Achievement Adaptability Advancement Adventure Advocacy Altruism Ambition Appreciation Attractiveness Authenticity Autonomy Balance Beauty Being the best Belonging Boldness Benevolence Brilliance Calmness Caring Challenge...
Sex and needs
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Premise Sex isn’t a core human need. It’s a strategy for meeting many core needs (sexual expression, intimacy, closeness, physical contact, play, pleasure, affection, love, connection, creativity, power…) Sexual expression is a core human need, but...
Needs vs strategies for meeting needs
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Often when we talk about what we need, we’re really talking about a strategy for meeting a need. We all have a bunch of core needs. Physical ones like food and shelter. And others like peace,...
Everything is beautiful
2023Mind, universe and beyond
A lot of people would say that this: Is more beautiful than this: But I think they’re missing out. Yes, it’s easier to appreciate the beauty of things like sunsets and oceans, but we’re often quick...
Why is the mind always talking?
2023Mind, universe and beyond
An interesting framing from Michael Singer’s The Untethered Soul: the reason we have “a voice in our head” (thoughts; ego; whatever you call it) that talks even when we haven’t asked it to is because the...
What's Stopping You - the origin story
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
How Christian and I went from zero to a shipped podcast: 14 December 2022: Christian told me he hoped to launch his new app, The Video Clipper, within a few weeks (but that it had been...
Arguments
2023Mind, universe and beyond
What’s the point of an argument? First let’s define what the starting criteria of an argument looks like: I think one thing. You think a different thing. Cool. What’s next? I used to think the point...
Everything is practice for something else
2023Mind, universe and beyond
What if you treat everything you do as simply practice for something else in future? (This is another one of my “optimal to believe is true even if false”isms) It takes the pressure off. If you’re...
The 2 ways to learn from the actions of others
2023Mind, universe and beyond
When something happens to someone else, we often feel a certain way about it. It can be beneficial to separate out: What is the observable thing that happened What am I feeling about it What meaning...
Validation
2023Mind, universe and beyond
The habitual way I’d handle someone exhibiting negative emotions was to try to reassure / help them. Upset about being turned down for a job? I’d remind them that they’re competent, and there are other jobs,...
Following through on Future Me's tasks
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Now, of course, I said yes [to doing a TED Talk]. It’s always been a dream of mine to have done a TED Talk in the past. –Tim Urban That’s a problem for Future Homer. Man,...
Good enough
2023Mind, universe and beyond
One thing that’s come out of writing these daily atomic essays is that I often struggle to write something ‘good enough’. My inner voice will dismiss various possible topics and, even more frequently, various possible sentences....
Why help founders get unstuck (round 2)
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
At age 28 I got to the point of realising I had emotions (and that this was OK); and started working very intentionally on my personal growth. It quickly became apparent how much our mind creates...
Chanukah
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I always thought the Chanukah story was that the Greeks destroyed all the oil in the Jewish temple, the Jews found one day’s supply left, and there was a miracle where that one pot lasted for...
Playing stupid
2023Mind, universe and beyond
As a child I’d sometimes do this thing that my family would call something like ‘playing stupid’, where I’d stubbornly refuse to admit I was capable of the simplest task. Example: can’t do a challenging homework...
Reflections on my procrastination
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
I sometimes go through very unproductive phases. Phases where I’m procrastinating entire days away. I’m delving into why I do this and what I can do to improve it. First, I’m making a spreadsheet that divides...
Why help founders get unstuck
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
“Why are you transitioning into this mental health ish stuff / helping founders get unstuck, instead of marketing tech?” Firstly can I try to define what this mental health ish stuff is… I became very intentional...
Resisting important tasks
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
Why do we feel more resistance for the most important task than for the others? You might have heard this idea (sometimes called swallowing the frog) of doing the most undesirable task first in your day,...
Praise causes low self-esteem
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Telling a child how wonderful they are has a similar negative impact on their self esteem as telling them how terrible they are. This is mind-blowing to me (and explains why I’ve had to spend the...
Do I move in the world or does the world move around me?
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Let’s say you’re walking to the shop. Is your mental model for what’s happening: A. The world is fixed, and the physical location of your body is moving within the world as you take each step,...
What's Stopping You - intake questions
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
These are the intake questions we send to someone when they apply to be on the What’s Stopping You podcast. (We might move these to a form/doc tool for easier completion, but for now they’re listed...
What's Stopping You - SOP
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
Initial contact Person says they want to be a guest Intake form: send them the intake questions. For now we can do this in whichever medium we’re communicating in already (e.g. Twitter DM) but could formalise...
Todo list resistance
2023Mind, universe and beyond
If you’re feeling resistance to making progress on your todo list, try adding one or more of these extra notes to each item: ”What’s the next step?” Break the task into smaller and smaller pieces until...
Why not just get a high salary dev job—are indie hackers needy?
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
What drives us to entrepreneurship… I definitely think that within the community of developers who are not going and getting a stable dev job, but instead are doing indie hacking or something along those lines, there’ll...
Riding the waves: how wakeboarding helped me navigate the ups and downs of building my SaaS
2023Mind, universe and beyond
One of many great things I’ve learnt from my friend and podcast cohost Christian Genco is this powerful framing: Humans thrive when they have one foot in order and one foot in chaos. A balance between...
My brain told me to
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I used to do stuff for no reason. As a kid, I felt like it, so I did it. I’d be creative in the most weird and wonderful ways. When adults used to ask me why...
Making space for creativity
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Observation: new ideas can only emerge if there’s space for them to emerge into. Implication: if your calendar is full of stuff; if your physical surroundings are full of stuff; if your mind is full of...
Medication
2023Mind, universe and beyond
I’ve been fortunate not to have needed prescription medication many times in my life, and not at all in the last few years, until today. What I found interesting was that the main thing I felt...
Everything is luck. But you can make yourself luckier.
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
If 2020 (and beyond) taught us anything, it’s that we can make all the plans in the world—it doesn’t mean they’ll work out. We don’t choose how our lives go. We have less control than we...
Don't resist last time, grow for next time
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Any time I have a thought of: I should have done X differently I’ve been making an effort to reframe the thought as: If I’m in that situation again, I can do X differently The former...
A hack for eliminating all resentment from your life
2023Mind, universe and beyond
Ever find yourself feeling resentful about having to do something? I love this hack for helping me eliminate feelings of resentment for good: Make a list of some things you “have to” do but don’t want...
Non-Violent Communication
2023Mind, universe and beyond
No matter what words we humans are using, we’re only ever really communicating one thing: what’s alive in us. Either some unpleasant feeling, because needs are unmet, or some pleasant feeling, because needs are met. Yet...
4 ways I slashed my content consumption and 10x’ed taking action
2023BusinessMind, universe and beyond
1. I treat my computer like a penknife. No matter how useful a penknife is, you wouldn’t sit and play with it all day while you decide what to do next. You fetch it when you...
Should
2022Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Today might just be journalling - I’m too tired for anything too coherent. There’s a suitcase there Huh, I would like this space better if I were to tidy it up (I started that sentence as...
Fear of success
2022Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Day 2 and I don’t want to write! But, what if no-one’s watching? What’s on my mind? I could write about the courage vs comfort thing: the fork in the road tally that I’ve added to...
What would I write if no-one were watching?
2022Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
A big self growth thing I’ve been working on a lot over the last couple of years is authenticity. It was really lacking. (Whole other essay to write: my journey around authenticity/honesty, acting how I think...
Books
2022BusinessMind, universe and beyond
Books I’ve read
Books I’m currently reading
Books I want to read next
Encanto
2022Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Themes Authenticity Isabela’s song Being herself instead of doing what’s expected of her / fitting in “I’m so sick of pretty, I want something true, don’t you?” Beauty and joy in everything Isabela’s song - “It’s...
Rebuilding RightMessage
2022Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Really interesting The stuff I’ve been thinking a lot about during the RM downtime (in personal life, other businesses, etc) - Comfort vs courage The 2x2 grid Doing the thing that feels uncomfortable Procrastination Fear Is...
Yes, and
2022Mind, universe and beyond
My friend Christian used to do a lot of improv comedy. He told me that one of the golden rules in improv is to always accept whatever another speaker has said (“yes”) and then expand from...
Difficult decisions
2022BusinessMind, universe and beyond
I was living in Barbados in 2021. My dad went for a scheduled operation back in the UK, which was successful, but in scans they separately found an aggressive cancer on his lung. We were told...
Pleasure vs growth
2022Mind, universe and beyond
The short term vs long term thing is really interesting (Grid: one axis is short-term good vs bad (a.k.a. pleasurable; comfortable), the other is long term good vs bad (a.k.a. true to self; growth; deep want))...
Courage over comfort
2022Mind, universe and beyond
My typical pattern goes something like: have an idea for a next step (could be a major business strategy, or an email to send, or an unpleasant conversation to attempt, or just a mildly unpleasant errand);...
Skipping pronouns
2022Mind, universe and beyond
Curious observation about my own communication: As I become more comfortable being vulnerable, open, courageous as a person, I notice that I’m more likely to include the word ‘I’ in written communication. Even simple things like:...
Responsibility vs fault
2022Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
We conflate ‘responsibility’ and ‘fault’, and it’s harmful. If something is your fault, you are the cause of it having happened If something is your responsibility, you are taking ownership for fixing it Fault = past...
Speed limits
2022Mind, universe and beyond
There is no speed limit. You set the pace. This one lesson has been critical to my success in life and business. It allowed me to graduate high school at 15, drop out of college to...
Belief in God
2022Mind, universe and beyond
Do I believe in God? Totally depends how we’re defining God. A low-level definition for me would be that God is a word we can use to describe any ultimate reality or truth that can’t be...
Important things first
2021Mind, universe and beyond
When you have a checklist of things you want to accomplish each day, get as much of it as possible out the way as early in the day as possible. It’s part of being good to...
Trick questions
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
https://twitter.com/punchlinecopy/status/1474469259183022082 It’s good to say what we mean. Speaking in riddles… expecting mind-reading… quickly becomes toxic. “Do you want to help” is absolutely fine if you’re OK with the answer being “no”. Otherwise, say what you...
Teleology
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Really interesting idea from The Courage To Be Disliked… That we don’t act how we act because of things that happened to us in the past (cause and effect). “aetiology”. Rather we act how we act...
Hobbies
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Some of my hobbies are easy to identify: scuba diving, playing piano… But what else counts as a hobby? According to Wikipedia, a lot of things! Here are the things I sometimes enjoy doing, as a...
Efficiency
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Haha I have so much resistance in me to writing this Not because of this topic in particular. Just my current state of mind thinks any kind of writing is going to be painful I know...
Writing without thinking
2021Mind, universe and beyond
What happens if I just start writing without thinking? It’s hard. The mind really likes to throw thoughts at you. And if you’re not careful, everything is being filtered through those thoughts. But with practice it’s...
Assertiveness - jealousy
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Imagine a situation where people A and B are in a relationship. A is holding feelings of jealousy and upset (and maybe also anger as a secondary / covering emotion) because, let’s say, A believed B...
My values
2021Mind, universe and beyond
I value acceptance and non-judgment. I don’t believe anyone is a bad person at their core. I believe everyone is always doing their personal best at any given moment. That doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be consequences...
Brachot
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
I’m really enjoying the journey of building up my own religious and spiritual beliefs from first principles. example: brachot seemed meaningless to me. just things you had to say that got in the way before you...
The world moving around me
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
ok, let’s go! there was that twitter poll i did. everyone said they imagine themselves moving in the world https://twitter.com/shaisc/status/1311982249215225856 that’s what i expected. that’s how i’d always operated (but thought i’d check!) but a funny...
Personality types
2021Mind, universe and beyondAuto-transcribed
A lot of people aren’t keen on Myers Briggs. But I think it is uncannily accurate for a lot of people. I think the tests are often flawed—they might not give you your correct type. But...
Present-moment pomodoros
2021BusinessMind, universe and beyondEarly draft
https://twitter.com/AnneSelke/status/1427356630010802183 https://twitter.com/shaisc/status/1427394672285175809 Integrating body / present-moment awareness into your pomodoros… Permission to become present At the end of a meditation on the Headspace meditation app they often suggest finding a few times throughout your day where...
Genius
2021Mind, universe and beyond
I just came across Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk, “Your elusive creative genius”, for the first time after hearing about it from Visa Veerasamy. What resonated with me most was her explanation of a genius historically being...
Language and spirituality
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
In Spanish you don’t say you are scared, you say you have fear. A nod to the notion that our emotions are transient, they come and go, not inherent traits of us—we are not our thoughts...
Layers of abstraction
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Shai, you’re a nerd. You’re logical. You write code. I don’t get how you’re so into spirituality and self-transcendence and all that voodoo. Great question! Firstly, my respect for science and logic isn’t because I have...
Steve Jobs
2021BusinessMind, universe and beyondAuto-transcribed
I always felt a sudden affinity for Steve Jobs I never really understood why in particular but never thought it was for the same reasons as other people and now I’m starting to realise it’s because...
The bible
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
in the end it doesn’t matter whether the bible, your notion of god, etc, are objectively true. all models are wrong, some are useful people take the bible too literally even if (indulge me for a...
Present-moment mantras
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Mantras or quotes that help me to remember some essential truths. That the present moment is all there is. That there isn’t “me” and a separate “other”: I am one tiny part of a vast interconnected...
Figuring out what to put on your micro-goal checklist
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Yesterday I wrote about making a daily micro-goal checklist. A few people asked how I figured out what to put on mine, because they’ve wanted to make one too but struggle to figure out what to...
Take back control with a micro-goal checklist
2021Mind, universe and beyond
It's amazing how much of a sense of purpose and satisfaction this simple checklist gives me.
Do we use tools, or do tools use us?
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Coming soon Notes - penknife: pick it up when we have a use for it, then set it down whereas phone: sometimes that’s true. sometimes we find ourselves scrolling ‘mindlessly’ same for laptop and the thinking...
Spiralling
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Everything we do is about intention or action. We intend to walk somewhere or do something. And then (and this isn’t totally in our control but in the simpler cases our intention leads so directly to...
Accepting the day
2021BusinessMind, universe and beyond
If I don’t manage to do what I hoped to by the end of the day, the immediate conclusion is that I failed. It’s easy to beat myself up about it. Reality didn’t match expectation… there’s...
Metaphysical data loss
2021Mind, universe and beyondAuto-transcribed
I’ve tried writing about this a few times. It’s a really difficult one. Words are not the things they represent. So when we talk about anything metaphysical or spiritual, we are trying to find the words...
Religion
2021Mind, universe and beyondAuto-transcribed
I was brought up with the religion without much sense of the meaning behind it. Which I think is common for a lot of people. As a 4 year old you’re told this fact of ‘don’t...
Freedom
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Maybe true freedom isn't a lack of rules. It’s the ability to define the rules yourself.
Biblical metaphors
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Cain and Abel Cain’s sacrifice is rejected. Tried, but the universe may not reward. Things didn’t go his way. Out of his control. You accept, or you fight. He could not accept that which was out...
G-d
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
G-d instead of writing the ‘o’ Because respect (avoid erasing/disrespecting) Capital letter. Respect? Or just proper noun? Research. You-Know-Who in Harry Potter Because fear Names are only crude representations, but our minds create association between name...
Photo filters
2021Mind, universe and beyond
When my mind is quiet, the whole world looks like it’s been through a photo filter / ‘pop’ photo adjustment. I wonder whether the reason I/we like photo filters so much is that they undo the...
Expectation vs expectancy
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Expectation is defined as: the feeling or belief that something will or should happen Expectancy is: hoping that something, especially something pleasant, will happen or be the case For me, a healthy relationship has plenty of...
Anger
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Anger is generally a defensive cover-up emotion that we use until we have the courage to face what we’re really feeling about a situation.
Expressing emotions
2021Mind, universe and beyond
My ex used to get frustrated when I’d say that everything was going pretty well. She thought I was lying about how I was really feeling. She was right… and she was wrong. She was right...
Emotional maturity
2021Mind, universe and beyond
Everyone uses thoughts (thinking) as well as emotions (feeling) when they make decisions. Most people naturally turn to one of these more than the other1, especially when they’re younger, and especially when the decision they’re making...
Multipotentiality
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
I’m interested in everything. I used to think this was a bad thing. Mainstream society lauds specialism as essential to success. That you need to be really good at one thing and go ever deeper into...
Why I deleted Twitter from my phone
2021Mind, universe and beyond
I’ve uninstalled Twitter from my phone. Even with being careful who I follow, and which words I mute, I noticed it impacting my mental wellbeing. How so? Specifically for me it was instilling a “I should...
Treading Water
2021BusinessMind, universe and beyond
I was excited for March. I had planned some great product improvements to work on for RightMessage. And then… “chores” got in the way. By “chores” I mean the kind of work that doesn’t have any...
I-focused communication
2021Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
The conventionalwisdom in marketing is to write you-focused copy. This is generally accurate. It works on the premise that your prospects don’t care about you, the writer, nearly as much as they care about themselves (the...
Meditation for skeptics and science people
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
The Task Positive Network (TPN) and the Default Mode Network (DMN). Generally we’re in the TPN when we’re concentrating on something specific in the present moment, like concentrating on some handiwork or some other activity that...
Intuition, Connections, Patterns, Higher-Order Systems
2020Mind, universe and beyondAuto-transcribed
I’m not certain where I’m going with this, but let’s try it. I’ve always felt the connection between things. I’ve always been interested in how things are connected. How things fit together. In the Myers-Briggs Personality...
Talk Transcript - Manchester Metropolitan University Business School - Winter 2020
2020BusinessMind, universe and beyond
I’ve run a few businesses over the years. They’re generally in technology, because it’s what I know, and what I’m passionate about. But they’ve been across a few industries – my first business was a web...
Life as a video game
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
(Coming soon. tl;dr: you have a surface-level life (your ego’s life) and you have a deeper essence. Most people spend their life totally identified with their ego, and so feeling deeply dissatisfied with whatever problems the...
Life purpose
2020Mind, universe and beyond
What am I optimising my life for? To use my video game analogy, I think most people (myself included, in the past) try to answer that question within the ‘character’ realm. In terms of things their...
How I overcame writer's block
2020BusinessMind, universe and beyond
I struggled with writer’s block for years. Ever since I was at school. It was always that first hurdle—the blank page. I could stare at it for hours without being able to think of a single...
Procrastination
2020Mind, universe and beyond
When I find myself not doing a thing I intended to do, a massive shift for me has been to go deeper into what’s preventing me from Just Fucking Doing It™ right now. If the answer...
Self-doubting questions
2020Mind, universe and beyond
Self-doubting questions (like “what if people don’t like this”, “what if it’s not good enough”) lose all their power as soon as you realise they’re not rhetorical. Answer them. Write down what would happen. And you’ll...
Tangible benefits of meditation
2020Mind, universe and beyondAuto-transcribed
I mentioned my meditation streak on Twitter a few weeks ago, and Claire Suellentrop replied with this great question: What tangible benefit(s) in wellbeing have you noticed from meditation? I'm only 7 days into building a...
Assumptions
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
The mind is, by and large, a prediction engine. This is by design (or evolution), and is essential for survival. If you see the back third of a tiger to the left of a tree, and...
Words
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
It’s like a hashing algorithm. There are a finite number of words1 and an infinite number of things and experiences that we might want to distill into those words. So there will always be some degree...
Positive changes #2
2020Mind, universe and beyond
It’s been a volatile year for most of us. But over the last few months I’ve found that pushing myself into a handful of positive habits & changes has had a huge impact on my sanity,...
Habits of successful people
2020BusinessMind, universe and beyondEarly draft
I see a correlation between running a successful business and maintaining ‘healthy’ habits like daily exercise, meditation, and so on. I’m curious whether there’s causation (and if so in what direction), or whether something else is...
Control
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
(Related to /inputs-vs-results ?) Nervous in the queue for a rollercoaster, but once I was sat down and strapped in and came to terms with the fact that there’s essentially no getting out of the situation, the...
Input-oriented vs result-oriented
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
“It’s important not to be results oriented in business” (https://foreverjobless.com/ev-millionaires-math/) You can control inputs, you can’t control results Trying to/wishing you could control things you can’t control is dysfunctional and a source of great dissatisfaction When...
Now
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
A lot of people use their website’s /now to document the things they’re working on in their business in the coming month, year, etc. I’d like to use mine for something I feel is more important....
It's meant to be
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
I never felt comfortable with the idea of ‘it’s meant to be’ or ‘it’ll all turn out for the best’ in response to sad things happening. While they’re well-intentioned, they imply some kind of divine plan...
Ambulance
2020Mind, universe and beyond
Have you ever looked at the ambulance driver’s face as their ambulance tears through the streets, sirens wailing, blue lights blaring? It’s as calm as anything. They don’t take on the angry blare of the lights...
Imperfection
2020Mind, universe and beyond
Nothing comes into existence fully-formed. The most perfect ideas can only thrive if they’re nurtured in an environment that encourages imperfection. An environment that assigns at least as much value and respect to “I’m curious about...
Identifying with your thoughts
2020Mind, universe and beyond
I recently heard a story about a man who, every morning, would take every book off his bookshelf… only to put them back again. A friend who was present to this story being told immediately responded,...
My current workout routine
2020Mind, universe and beyond
Over the last few years the routine has either been 5-a-side once a week, or for a few months at the end of 2019 there were ~3 runs per week thrown in too (using Couch to...
WTF are mindfulness, meditation and spirituality
2020Mind, universe and beyondEarly draft
Mindfulness. Meditation. Spirituality. If you’re anything like I was a few months ago, you’ve heard of all three of these words. You can just about describe at least parts of one or two of them. And...
Positive changes
2020Mind, universe and beyond
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it means to live “in the moment”. It was a phrase I’d heard of but never really considered what it meant or whether I was doing it. It...