Espresso Shots 8-10-25

Here's my weekly update with a few interesting random findings that I came across the last week or two. I am going to try to make sure they're here in time for you to enjoy with your morning coffee (or beverage of choice) every Saturday or Sunday, and include some of my thoughts around them.

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• If I Ran My Life. In my read of the week, an interesting perspective that tickles what I've talked about for years on the importance of focusing on Life 2.0. 'I think there's also value in taking a step back and considering what our lives might look like if we had the luxury of designing them from scratch.'
• The Power of Immediacy. The Imperfectionist by Oliver Burkeman is quickly jumping to the top of my must-read list. In this post, he posits that 'if you're stuck in a rut, and you feel like you've stopped making progress on things that matter, it could be that you need more immediacy in your life.' I love the advice he gives: ' I'm trying to cultivate a strong bias toward either acting on the sense of inspiration and aliveness when it arises, or letting it go, rather than hoarding it for later. My new scrolling rule is that if I encounter an interesting post, I'll either read it there and then, making a note of any thoughts it triggers, or I'll move on.'
• Severance: Music To Refine To. Need an 8-hour stream of background music to refine to? Apple has you covered in this long remix for the workday. (In fact, I am listening to it right now as I refine this newsletter.)
• What if You Knew You Would Fail?. 'I'm starting to realize how freeing, inspiring, and cathartic it is to have experience be what you wanted.'. Inspiring way to think about undertaking any challenge - 'choose to take a shot, have a go, make mistakes and learn.'
• Hoarding-type Scrolling. 'Why do I mindlessly scroll?' - seems like Part Two to the link above from The Imperfectionist. I've talked about before about the habit that I am trying to break - collecting. As I mentioned above, The PKM crazy. 'The hallmark of Hoarding-type scrolling is saving good posts for later instead of reading them now. I suspect that the real solution is to finally figure out exactly what urge I satisfy by finding new content, and why it's so different from actually reading that content. It's probably some combination of a hit of novelty, the happy surprise of finding something worth reading, and my primitive desire to save good things for later.'
• You Still Remember That Song, Don't You?. It's funny what a song can jog in your memory - a particular moment in time, an emotion, or some soundtrack from a lifetime ago. And sometimes, 'its kind of painful but beautiful at the same time.' A lovely ode to how certain songs often soundtrack pivotal life moments.
• 10 Little Treats to Enjoy in the Age of Enshittification. We can't seem to escape the endless enshittification, and it seems every week there's another excellent post on what's going on. This week, Jessica Hagy offers us a few interesting ways to battle it (and enjoy the treats), such as 'Delete at least one app populated by angry turd-people, as a treat.' Much wisdom in here, as she writes, 'Everything costs more while being worth less. Many stupid tasks (that no human with any dignity ought to be doing) take far longer and are far more frustrating than should be possible. As the poles melt, the dimmest among us scream until their diapers fill. Your data is being harvested and your feelings manipulated to froth you into clicking stuff. The next available customer service representative is a bot trained to profitably malfunction by the collected works of Ayn Rand. The worst salad you've ever had now costs $28.'
• When Did You Last Change Your Mind?. A mindful post emphasizing the importance of changing one's mind, especially about significant matters. 'A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. It's easy to fake due diligence with confirmation bias, and lie to ourselves that we've vetted new ideas.' An interesting challenge in there as well, asking us to create a list of our own changed beliefs as an exercise in self-awareness and growth.
• Selective Admiration: Why You Don't Need Perfect Heroes. An interesting post on how we approach role models, and how it's more important to create a patchwork of role models instead of demanding perfection.
• Writing Is Thinking (found via Writing is Thinking). Another series of posts on how important it is to DO a thing, rather than having a thing do it for you (I'm looking at you, vibe coders). On writing - 'writing is not only about reporting results; it also provides a tool to uncover new thoughts and ideas. Writing compels us to think — not in the chaotic, non-linear way our minds typically wander, but in a structured, intentional manner. By writing it down, we can sort years of research, data and analysis into an actual story, thereby identifying our main message and the influence of our work.' I also view that anything you want to get good at, you need to work the muscle daily - writing, making coffee, baking bread, etc.
• Getting Left Behind. 'One of the dominant forces in business decision making is the Fear Of Missing Out. No one wants to be left behind, and often bad decisions are made too quickly based on the fear that everyone else is doing something and you might be left behind. The thing that's much harder to deal with is actually being left behind.' It's important to remember that the only actual failure is by stopping; there's going to be days or weeks of setbacks. Recognize the rhythm.
• How Tiny Vinyl Is Turning Massive Hits Into Pocket-Sized Playable Records. I keep wondering if I should take the plunge and get a vinyl record player. On one hand, it feels like it's just more stuff, but there's something about the sound of real vinyl that's compelling.
• What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones. Yikes! 'Half of the 10-to-12-year-olds said that most or all of their friends use social media.'
• Why I Hate Booking Links. Exactly why I ditched Calendly a year ago; it's useful (IMHO) to add 'friction in scheduling conversations acts as a natural filter for unnecessary meetings.'
• The Data Collection Trap. Ending this week with another Enshittification topic - 'This isn't personalization. It's manipulation.'. A great manifesto on how to make it harder for tech giants to collect all the things about you.- Selective Admiration: Why You Don't Need Perfect Heroes. An interesting post on how we approach role models, and how it's more important to create a patchwork of role models instead of demanding perfection.
• Writing Is Thinking (found via Writing is Thinking). Another series of posts on how important it is to DO a thing, rather than having a thing do it for you (I'm looking at you, vibe coders). On writing - 'writing is not only about reporting results; it also provides a tool to uncover new thoughts and ideas. Writing compels us to think — not in the chaotic, non-linear way our minds typically wander, but in a structured, intentional manner. By writing it down, we can sort years of research, data and analysis into an actual story, thereby identifying our main message and the influence of our work.' I also view that anything you want to get good at, you need to work the muscle daily - writing, making coffee, baking bread, etc.

Amor Fati ✌🏻