Curiosity Chronicle

A few years ago, as part of the research for my ​first book​, I asked a group of centenarians for the advice they'd most like to give to their younger selves.

One of them offered this piece of wisdom:

"The most damning lie you can tell is the lie you tell to yourself."
Those lies dilute your attention, pull you toward distractions, and cut into your confidence. They give you an easy out when the truth requires more painful accountability.

Those lies keep you from running at full power. Self-protection that becomes self-rejection.

In the years since that conversation, I've often found myself reflecting on the comment as a thought experiment for my own life:
What are the lies I'm telling myself right now?

Through identifying those lies, I've slowly learned to stopped telling them.

Here are 7 lies I finally stopped telling myself...
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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.

In 2004, a Finnish-American photographer named Arno Minkkinen gave the commencement speech at the New England School of Photography.

In the speech, he offered a powerful thought experiment:

Imagine for a moment that you find yourself at the large bus station in the center of Helsinki.

There are two dozen platforms at the station, each with several different bus lines departing from them bound for a wide array of destinations outside the city.

Each of the different bus lines departing from a given platform follows the same route for a few miles to get out of the city.

Minkkinen likened this experience to the early years of a career:

You pick your platform, which sets your general direction, and then select a bus line to hop on from the platform...

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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.

In 1918, German theoretical physicist Max Planck won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of energy quanta.

After winning the prize, he went on a tour, giving lectures at universities and institutions around the country on his findings.

There’s an apocryphal story from that tour that I first came across while reading the transcript of Charlie Munger’s 2007 commencement speech at USC Law School.

Max Planck’s chauffeur, after having heard Planck practice and deliver the talk so many times, had the entire thing memorized.

He jokingly asked Planck if he could deliver it at the final lecture.

Surprisingly, the physicist agreed...

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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.

"No unforced errors."

At a recent speaking event, I was asked by an audience member to share one piece of advice I wish I could tell my younger self.

Specifically, they asked for the non-obvious advice I've found most difficult to internalize and live by, despite knowing its importance.

My response:

No unforced errors.

Three words. And I've spent years learning why they're so hard to live by...

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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.

Most people end the day exhausted but can't point to a single thing they meaningfully moved forward.
The problem isn't how much you're working -- it's the type of work filling your hours.
In this piece, I break down a simple framework that fundamentally changed how I work: The Four Types of Professional Time...
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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.