I recently came across a phrase that perfectly captures an approach to life that I’ve long had, but had struggled to explain. The phrase? Preferred indifference. Simply put, we might have a preference for how we want things to turn out. But we can make the best of the situation regardless the outcome. Ryan Holiday …
Author: Brandon
Adding barriers
It’s nearly impossible to text-and-drive in a manual car. Both hands are needed for gear shifts during accelerations. We typically try to solve problems by removing barriers. For example, we introduce hands-free texting in cars. But in addition to the subtraction approach, we can’t overlook the simplicity of making it harder to do bad things. …
One bad actor
It only takes one open mouth to spoil silence. One person has the power to steal the silence from a full room of people who are following the rules. Often times, the bad actor simply doesn’t care. They might know the rules, but they don’t think the rules apply to them. They’re selfish enough to …
Time as a tool
Time can be one of our greatest assets. Rather than firing off an angry response to an email, we’d typically be well-served to cool off first. Give it a few hours, or even a night of sleep, before determining how to respond. Simple practices like this can go a long way in preventing us from …
Reflecting – Manual labor
Imagine a leafblower so advanced that it harnesses the power of your abdomen and biceps, while sucking away your stored fat reserves. Yet it operates nearly silently and costs under 15 bucks. With just a simple wooden handle and a few ounces of sturdy bent plastic or metal prongs, it could be lightweight and quite …
Down 14
When a football team is down 14 points, they should go for two after scoring a touchdown. Statistically speaking, it’s a no-brainer. The upside of making the conversation far outweighs the downside of missing it. They shouldn’t go for it when they’re feeling lucky, or when they have the momentum. They should go for it …
Contradictions
Can two completely opposite answers both be right? If someone who already lifts heavy weights wants to improve their health, the most impactful thing they can do is changing to higher reps and focusing on mobility exercises. On the other hand, if someone has spent the last 10 years focused on high reps and mobility, …
Polishing the rocks
Professional and refinement is important, but there’s a line. If we spend our days worrying about making everything “just right,” we’ll never take action. Eventually, we get to a point where we have to take the leap. To determine that what we have is good enough, and live with the reality that we probably could …
Re-evaluating our lens
One of my favorite quotes comes from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man The part about the river changing is fairly obvious. A river behaves as a living being. New water passes through every second, and …
Reflecting – Marketing
Marketing in five steps The first step is to invent a thing worth making, with a story worth telling, and a contribution worth talking about. The second step is to design and build it in a way that a few people will particularly benefit from and care about. The third step is to tell a …