Every Sunday, I write a quick newsletter to share some thoughts, things I’ve learned, and a few of my favorite things from the week. Enjoy!

Hey friends,

This was obviously a shocking week with the Capitol riots and attacks on our democratic process. I normally avoid commenting too much on politics, but the events of this past week were just too appalling and too un-American and too much of an attack on the principles upon which this country was founded.

The events in Washington illustrated just how much the words of our president matter (and consequently the character of the person we elect into the office) as well as the danger and destructive power of herd mentality. Throughout his speech that day, Trump often disguised his claims of election fraud and his desire to overturn the election, as “saving America” and “protecting our democracy,” and it brings to mind a quote from John Pierpont Morgan: “A man always has two reasons for doing something: a good reason and the real reason.” For Trump, the good reason that he claims is to save our democracy and protect our democratic institutions (even when there has been no evidence of election fraud), while the real reason is likely - to protect his own power. I also think it’s important to stay positive and recognize that those involved in the insurrection at the Capitol represent a small subset of America, and I really do feel that our country is so much better than what we saw from those involved in the events of last week.

Have a great week!
Dan


Things that resonated with me this week

  1. This was a great snippet from the Tim Ferriss podcast. They talk about the distinction between wanting a life to envy, and a life to admire. Abraham Lincoln’s life was not one to envy, but it was certainly one to admire. For others’ lives, the converse is true. I think people often find themselves wanting lives to envy, while maybe we should be focusing on the lives to admire. I think this is an important question to keep in mind when choosing what kind of life we want or person we want to emulate.
  2. On working on big things, taking risks, and being bold, from Elon Musk.
  3. The pilot and the plane - two modes for how we should approach productivity. We should dedicate portions of our day for being in “pilot” mode, where we plan out our steps and generally set the course for the day. Then there is “plane” mode, where we are strictly just carrying out the steps laid out for us by the “pilot”, and so we are not expending any energy on decision-making or figuring out what to do - we are just following the “pilot.” I think this is a useful framework with both of these modes being critical to our overall productivity.

Things I’m trying out

  • As you can tell by the above, I’m starting to use Airr as my podcast player of choice. Airr lets you take notes on podcasts and capture snippets that resonate with you, which I love.

Stuff that’s on my mind

  • Lead with kindness, and don’t worry about the rest.

Quote of the week

“Success at anything will always come down to this: focus and effort. And we control both.” - Dwayne Johnson