Little by Little

"Professional Managers"

There is absolutely NOTHING worse than people who actually WANT to manage other people.  

The bigger the company gets, the more these types of people start showing up. They typically are NOT BUILDERS and they seem to spend more time in meetings, managing up, and sending emails that nobody reads. They don't make build anything... they just... "manage." They share biiiiiiiiiiig visions and spend most their time talking about the vision, presenting the vision, and hiring large teams to execute the vision... but the vision never happens because the vision requires a lot of work and not just a bunch of delegation. The bigger the vision the more work is required. And a lot of work requires people to actually be motivated and inspired to do the work... Very few people are inspired by people who just delegate all day long. People are inspired by leaders who work really, really hard.

David Lynch Visualizes How Transcendental Meditation Works

Taste Matters

"Use data to reinforce decisions. But don’t let data or people tell you what is or isn’t cool. No one actually knows. Make stuff you’re proud of. Stuff that you think is cool. Your taste is entirely unique. Let your taste steer your decisions. You’d be surprised how many people will begin trusting you once you begin making stuff you are proud of."

This is why Nvidia wins

Jensen Huang washed dishes at Denny’s. Bezos worked the grill at McDonald’s. 

Both started working at 15. 

“No task is beneath me.” 

[Update] Country Retro Futurism

Last October, I forecasted a trend that I called COUNTRY RETRO FUTURISM.

I hypothesized that as global chaos continued to rise and people grew weary of curated and filtered social media content, they would increasingly seek authenticity and long for a return to simpler times.

[READ THE FULL REPORT HERE]

Fast forward 11 months, and Zach Bryan's #1 album makes it official: we are OFFICIALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COUNTRY RETRO FUTURISM VORTEX!

This Zach Bryan album is GOOOOOOOOOOD! It feels honest, heartfelt and authentic. The exact opposite of what we are fed every day in our feeds. I think the success of Zach Brown is a reflection of what people crave most in a time of chaos, information overload, and the pervasive completion to meticulously curate the perfect life (neigh, existence! horse!). 

The music feels genuine and provides a relatable escape from the digital noise, providing emotional connection and a return to simpler, heartfelt storytelling. Country music hasn't been historically welcomed by younger people because it has sucked for a really long time – Florida Georgia Line, Dan & Shay (the new Rascal Flatts!), Luke Bryan – it's all been so bad for so long. Zach Bryan is different, and I think people can feel that difference.

🎶 Zach Bryan (feat. Kacy Musgraves) – I Remember Everything

🎶 Zach Bryan (feat. Maggie Rogers) – Dawns

[Earlier this year, he dropped "Dawns," a duet with Maggie Rogers. His latest single with Kacey Musgraves, "I Remember Everything," a classic country ballad, recently debuted at the Billboard 100's top spot]

Also, a quick shout out to the Instagram cult classic, The Man Who Captured Sunshine. His hats/shirts are very cool and are the perfect representation of Country Retro Futurism.

UPDATE

Based on reader interest/feedback, I've added even more artists to the musical quadrant above, as well as some of my favorite songs below (and these aren't deep cuts – these are flagship bangers that should give anyone new to an artist a good sense of their sound):

🎶 Jason Isbell – Cover Me Up

🎶 Sturgill Simpson – Turtles All The Way Down

🎶 Drive-By Truckers – Outfit

🎶 Gillian Welch – Everything is Free

🎶 Highway Women – My Only Child (this one makes me cry every time)

🎶 Waxachtee – Lilacs

🎶 Ryan Bingham – Southside of Heaven

🎶 Ryan Adams – Oh My Sweet Carolina

🎶 Big Thief – Certainty

🎶 Justin Townes Earle (RIP 🙏) – Graceland

📡 Signals: Sagan

“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.” 

Carl Sagan

All Things

“All things are impermanent.”

📡 Signals: Change

Oh, I'm sailin' away, my own true love
I'm sailin' away in the mornin'
Is there something I can send you from across the sea?
From the place that I'll be landing

I've been wanting to write. So much change. I am now in a new role with a new company. I'm waking up suuuuuuper early. Part of this is the time difference. But I think more than anything, it's because of the sheer anxiety of failure. If I can start 4 hours ahead of everyone else, I'll be more prepared. Preparation is separation! Plus, if you look at some of the most successful people, they always wake up earlier than everyone else. Mamba mentality.

I have been going to the gym a lot more. The exercise has really helped me stay balanced through all of the changes. 

I think there is always fear, uncertainty, and doubt when you are making a big life change. It's all part of it. And those feelings continue, even after a decision has been made.

I was very comfortable in my last role. But something was telling me that I needed to move on. It was a feeling more than anything. Or maybe a voice. The voice kept getting louder and louder until I finally decided to listen. The next thing I know, I am in Israel, meeting new people, learning new things, and seeing a completely new part of the world that I never thought I would see. It's wild how quickly your world can change.

Intuition is like our A.I.. It's way smarter than we think. We need to listen to it. Stop thinking and overanalyzing. Just quiet yourself and listen – your intuition will tell you what to do next. 

You can't be afraid of failing. Because doing the scary thing is what allows you to get farther – a lot of people choose to stay comfortable – avoid risk – do what they know. That's fine. They just don't get that far.

I think the universe wants you to succeed. You just need to be aware enough to let it tell you what to do. Listen to your heart. Let intuition guide you. Keep going. You're too young to be comfortable.

"Computers" Update

Update.

I've been working on this "Computers" concept on and off for about 3 years. 

I don't know where it's going, but it feels like whatever I'm making needs to be made. 

Sometimes it feels like it's all just making itself.

I've always liked making stuff. Hats, t-shirts, websites. But I have to be careful because it's a slippery slope. As I make stuff and people respond to it, I tend to put pressure on myself to make more, and then I begin overthinking, and it all becomes really stressful. That's where I am at right now. I am making this stuff, but then don't know how or when or why I would share it. It's sort of this weird cycle of creating and then overthinking what the creation is or isn't. The result is I do nothing. And wait. Also, of course, resulting in anxiety and the feeling of missing an opportunity or losing momentum. 

The only way to move forward is to remove any and all expectations. 

Just keep going.

Burn Yourself Out Completely

When you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You will have something remaining which is not completely burned out. Zen activity is activity which is completely burned out., with nothing remaining but ashes. This is the goal of our practice.

📡 Signals: Pressure

When you are uncomfortable, super self-conscious, and full of doubt... you are growing.

Pressure is good.

Anxiety is good.

It's all part of it.

The dots will connect

People know good work when they see it. Everything takes care of itself when the work is good. You don't have to prove good work. You show it. Good work doesn't require any explanation – you don't have to champion it or defend it. Good work speaks for itself. And when it does speak to people, don't interrupt. You don't need to talk about it much – the work does the work for you.

And if your work is really good, you can spend less time doing all the other stuff — meetings, people, politics, numbers, management — the stuff that actually gets in the way of the work.

But there is a flip side to all of this.

You will never feel all that satisfied.

You will only see imperfections. Things that could have been done better. Details you missed. Changes you want to make.

And even when the work is improving, you will never actually think it's all that good. And this will drive you to feel a certain way. A sort of madness that you can only quiet by working on the next thing and with the idea that you are getting closer to something that will feel fulfilling and final. But it never comes. And so this cycle keeps repeating — over and over — and you have to constantly remind yourself that it is all part of it. That there is no destination.

You have to trust that the dots will connect.

📡 SIGNALS: Stay Interested

Stay interested. The most interesting people are always the most interested. 

Keep looking... for ideas, for inspiration, for things you haven't seen yet. Your job is to collect a lot of dots. The universe's job is to help you connect them. 

For me, staying interested requires time away from your practice. You can't always be in it or you will actually lose interest. Not good! So go outside. Get away from it. Do other things. Sometimes you need to read. Sometimes you need to just wander around on the internet, collecting images. Sometimes it's running. Sometimes it's making art. In some ways, it actually feels more like maintenance. Like you're just doing the things you need to maintain the engine. That's part of it, I think. The maintenance is part of the whole thing running properly. It may feel like you are wasting time but being productive is not always about producing something. Production can only happen in the right conditions and maintenance is a big part of creating the right conditions. You can't force anything. Time is also a big part of it. Sometimes time is the only thing needed for it all to come together – for the dots to connect.

Also, do a lot of things. All at once. That's part of being interested. Have a lot of projects going on. Try a bunch of different stuff. The more stuff you do, the more dots you'll have to connect – you'll be able to draw inspiration, ideas, learnings from all the different projects you've worked on. Do more! All at once! All the time!

📡 Signals

1. Pay attention to the things you find yourself doing when you have free time. Figure out how to make a living doing those things.

2. In business, people don't remember very much... but they always remember how you made them feel. Be nice. Laugh. Don't take yourself too seriously.

3. You generate your own magic.

4. Focus on generating work that you are proud of and trust that the dots will connect. 

5. Be really good at a few things. 

6. Have an opinion. The louder you are with that opinion the bigger the risk. 

7. To be recognizable you have to be different.

8. Don't get bogged down in the past. Who cares? The future is so much more interesting.

9. Show up. He who is absent is always wrong.

10. The universe is not indifferent. It wants you to succeed.

📡 Signals

You are not creative unless you are creating things. You are not a filmmaker if you don't make films. 

You have to believe that the work you are doing is part of something bigger. That it has the power to radically transform the world. Whatever you are making may be more important than what think of it.

Creativity and uncertainty are twins. They go everywhere together.

You have to try, every single day to create something that is worthy of people's time. That's it.

Creativity might be the only thing that cannot be automated.

Be brave enough to be bad at something new.

📡 Signals

Your intuition will tell you where you should be and what you should be doing. 

📡 Signals

Highly adaptable is better than highly educated.

“Business” is not a skill you learn in a book. Do what you love and get really good at it — the business part will take care of itself.

Chaos scales faster than anything. But sometimes chaos creates an environment for good things to grow. Be wary of people who want to plan everything.

Have an opinion, but own the risk associated with that opinion. The louder you are, the greater the risk. The greater the risk the greater the reward.