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Let's Talk About Shrinkage
Plus: CEOs, Old Couples and The Bottom Quintile
Blake Bottrill
April 28, 2025
No great revelation this week. Just a small reminder. At a certain point, your world gets smaller.
On purpose.
The number of people or things who can truly ruin your day shrinks.
A handful of family.
A few lifelong friends.
Maybe a dog that stares at you like you hung the moon.
Everything else?
It’s just noise you don’t have to listen to anymore.
Did a customer tell you to go perform autofellatio? Stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic? Lose a few dollars at the casino?
Who cares.
When you know where your heart lives, you stop handing out copies of the keys.
Time Becomes Sacred
The greatest luxury in the world isn’t money or fame.
It’s being able to spend your time exactly how you want. No shoulds. Or, well maybes. Or obligations.
And one day you wake up and realize: That place is a lot closer than you thought.
It’s not hiding on a beach in Bali with some influencers. Or behind the promotion that means working until 7pm every night.
It’s sitting at your kitchen table. It’s chasing your toddler around the backyard. It’s scratching your dog’s ears. It’s hearing your wife laugh at a joke you know isn’t even remotely funny because she loves you (and probably pities you a little). It’s in the life you already have.
Everything Becomes an Easy Game
John Papola put it better than I could on my podcast last year:
“Becoming a father reordered my understanding of what matters in such a way that it turned all of my own pursuits into easy games that I’m not afraid to lose.”
That’s the strange part no one tells you about adulthood: You don’t stop playing the games. You just stop caring so much whether you win.
Career, accolades, reputation — they’re still nice to have. But, they’re now cherry on top of the good life Sunday.
The real stakes are unfolding in your living room, not your LinkedIn notifications.
I’m writing this from Resorts World in Las Vegas.
It’s been a good trip. Great food. Good drinks. A fulfilling trade show with colleagues I genuinely like. By every outside measure, I should be soaking it up.
And yet…
Last night, I texted my wife: “I always feel guilty when I leave. You’re my best friend. I just want to bring you everywhere.”
That’s the funny thing about building a good life. The more you get it right, the less you want to be anywhere else. Almost everything gets easier once you know who and what you’re building your life around and what you’re building it for.
The shrinking of your world isn’t something to fight. It’s something to celebrate.
Words I Wish I Wrote
“We are beautifully designed for a world we no longer live in.”
Links & Learnings
If a competent CEO got to run your life for a day what is the first thing they would eliminate?
“Every time I see old couples, I always wonder how many times they’ve forgiven each other.”
The bottom quintile.
Psst… DSTLLD has a podcast now, too. I know — like the world needs another podcast, right? But here’s the thing: if you can tolerate my written rambles, you’ll probably find my in-person yammering… well, moderately tolerable. It’s basically me and a guest chatting about the same offbeat stuff you read here, except now you get to hear me stumble over big words in real time. I’m not saying it’s the greatest thing in the universe (trust me, I’ve listened to it), but if you like DSTLLD, there’s a good chance you won’t hate it. Win-win! Subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast platform:
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