Espresso Shots 11-16-25

It's that time again for my weekly update, which includes a short collection of noteworthy finds, posts that inspire, as well as a few reflections from the past week or two. I'll aim to land these in your inbox by the weekend, in time to pair with your morning coffee (or your preferred cup of inspiration).

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• Unconventional Creation. I need to do this: 'Let your inexperience guide you.' I love the idea of just setting aside 20 minutes to create. 'If you've never learned piano, sit at the bench and enjoy making sound until something interesting emerges. Entertain yourself. That is often the first step, and sometimes it’s the entire enterprise. Don’t seek technique or worry if you’re doing it correctly. Seek curiosity. What happens when you approach the medium like a child would—with no preconceptions about how it should be done?'
• You Are Not Late. An excellent post from 2014 that remains as relevant today as it was when first published. It states 'Right now, today, in 2014, is the best time to start something on the internet. There has never been a better time in the whole history of the world to invent something. There has never been a better time, with more opportunities, fewer barriers, higher benefit-to-risk ratios, better returns, greater upside, than now. Right now, this minute.' I'd argue - the same is true for 2025. What's that saying? 'The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best is now.'
• What if You Never Started?. I've been following Quitting Corp since its inception - its mission resonated with me around 'the conviction that we can —and should— continuously reinvent ourselves." While her latest post talks about taking a step back from writing for a bit (something I can relate with), the archive is a treasure trove of great posts to get you rethinking your thinking. Some personal favorites to reflect on: Growth in the Tension of Opposites, Get off the Time Script, and Do Nothing.
• The Pitfalls of Consistency. I've held the belief that consistency is stable, and stability builds velocity, but this one has led me to revisit that. 'Consistency is beautiful when it’s used to build deeper connections, but becomes burdensome when you use it solely for personal gain.'
• Live for Stories, Not Perfection. 'Often now I see chasing perfection in life as shallow, boring and isolating. Making stories, even if they come from mistakes, is far more fun.' This post circles around two thought bombs that have been rattling in my head now for weeks: fullness and fun.
• Disrupt the Flow. If you haven't checked out Dave Gray's beautiful Visual Frameworks - give them a look over (or buy the set here). Described as 'patterns to help you think creatively, reframe challenging situations, and imagine possible strategies and solutions', I often return to them to rethink things. In this post, Disrupt the Flow, he takes you through the exercise of focusing on 'with one clear boundary, energy gathers. You stop optimizing and start inventing. The block isn’t the obstacle. It’s the catalyst.' Also, for further reference: The Obstacle is the Way.
• The Simplest Way To Feel Better In Terrible Times. A simple reminder on how being kind goes a long way. 'Something that every wisdom tradition has taught but we keep forgetting: Do something nice for someone else.'
• Enjoy Life Now, Before Its Too Late. Beautiful interview with Sir Anthony Hopkins with some sound advice: 'Enjoy it now before it's too late. Just enjoy it as much as you can. Life is tough. Stop winging on about it all all the time.'
• Are You Singing Enough? The Benefits of Belting Your Fave Tunes. I was very fortunate to meet James Sills at Do Lectures 2023 and experience just the joy of random people singing together (for us, it was 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'). Check out his book: Do Sing. What I didn't know until this post was that there's research to the psychological benefits of singing: it reduces stress, increases cognitive health, and improves respiratory functions.
• 100 Ways to Use Your Pocket Notebook. I am a total sucker for a good notebook (side note: IA Notebook is almost a piece of art), so I really liked this 2015 post, which offers tons of different ideas on using them.
• The Pad-O-Matic Prints One-Time Pads On Demand. Hat tip to The Hiro Report for pointing me in the direction of this one. 'The Pad-O-Matic turns random bytes from a electric noise source into convenient cryptographic one-time pads for unbreakable pen-and-paper communications.' Super fun for cryptography geeks.
• The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce. Hat tip to Joy & Curiosity for the link to this one. If you have any interest in the advent of the silicon chip, it's a must-read.
• Essentially Contested Concepts. I went down the rabbit hole on this post: 'Even something as inconsequential as the way you do software development is freighted with value. You can see that from the very word Agile: of course my team is Agile. What’s alternative? We're torpid?' The post itself explores the basics of 'what parts of programming are religious, and what parts are open for debate', but the link to Oddly Influenced was handy. The post dives into a 1956 paper, and noodles on the idea around 'contested concepts are tied to value judgments, making them inherently debatable.' Really a solid food for thought post.
• Calendars Are for Commitments. I like to refer to calendars as time banks: you make deposits and withdrawals. As a recent convert to cal.com for scheduling, I need to think more about the idea of only agreeing firmly to a 'committed' calendar and letting a 'tentative' schedule be disrupted. This way, there's always a pre-defined plan for the time. I'm not sure I'd personally adapt it, but it's interesting nonetheless.
• NOT a Self-Made Man. A potent reminder of how learning to ask for (or pay for) help and building the right support system is crucial. 'The self‑made man is a myth made up by a handful of powerful forces: tidy storytelling, survivorship bias, and a culture that rewards visible output while hiding the support that enables it. When you zoom in, the myth falls apart. High performers layer different kinds of help over time: specialists for skills, systems for consistency, and people who hold a mirror up when the pressure bends judgment.'

Amor Fati ✌🏻