In addition to what we talked about last week I’m having a hard time thinking about why I have the authority to write on anything you’ve been kind enough to read over the last 3-4 years.
I’ve always done my best to try and offer a small nugget of actionable advice in these newsletters.
I’m reflecting lately on how little responsibility I have in my own success. The resulting authority has made my small soapbox feel empty.
I’ve got nothing to stand on, as the saying goes.
Where’s the value in me, a guy who more or less got handed a 35km head start, telling people how to win marathons?
Feels disingenuous.
At least I know I have enough conscience that I wouldn’t last long as an internet grifter.
I guess that’s why most of what I right about is aggregating advice from others with a small spin. I’m like a middle man of life hacks and slightly useful information.
I work with middlemen and distributors every day for work. I should understand the value of the position I hold writing this newsletter. And yet, I still struggle with being enough of a value add to justify your precious inbox space.
So in an effort to save you some extra time this week while I continue to mull over my role here this one is a micro-newsletter.
Here’s your advice: The thicker the walls of your bubble, the better your life will be. But, you should spend much longer than seems necessary deciding who are, what is and how you spend your time, in that bubble.
Words I Wish I Wrote
“I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try.”
Links & Learnings
A visual explanation of the problem with a kind lie.
If you value keeping your relationship, probably don’t get advice from Reddit, anymore.
"To love someone long-term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be. The people they're too exhausted to be any longer. The people they don't recognize inside themselves anymore. The people they grew out of, the people they never ended up growing into. We so badly want the people we love to get their spark back when it burns out; to become speedily found when they are lost. But it is not our job to hold anyone accountable to the people they used to be. It is our job to travel with them between each version and to honor what emerges along the way." - Heidi Priebe
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