May 26, 2024 | #578 | read on the web | Free Version

Welcome to Sunday Brain Food, a weekly newsletter full of timeless ideas and actionable insights you can use in life and work.

FS

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way."

— Bertrand Russell: On Avoiding Foolish Opinions

Insights

"Asking for help is a superpower anyone can have but only some people use. It is brave to ask for help. Asking for help is the first step toward finding a mentor. Mentors can help us change our lives if we let them."

— Alexi Pappas, Bravey

**

“Trust your obsessions. This is one I learned more or less accidentally. People sometimes ask whether the research or the idea for the story comes first for me. And I tell them, normally the first thing that turns up is the obsession: for example, all of a sudden I notice that I’m reading nothing but English 17th century metaphysical verse. And I know it’ll show up somewhere—whether I’ll name a character after one of those poets, or use that time period, or use the poetry, I have no idea. But I know one day it’ll be there waiting for me. You don’t always use your obsessions. Sometimes you stick them onto the compost heap in the back of your head, where the rot down, and attach to other things, and get half-forgotten, and will, one day, turn into something completely usable. Go where your obsessions take you. ... Your obsessions may not always take you to commercial places, or apparently commercial places. But trust them.”

— Neil Gaiman

Source: 1997 PRO/con speech.

***

“Debt defines your future, and when your future is defined, hope begins to die. You have committed your life to making money to pay for your past.”

— Kent Nerburn, Simple Truths: Clear & Gentle Guidance on the Big Issues in Life

Tiny Thoughts

Reputation is a form of wealth.

**

The best returns come from your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.

***

There are different types of hard work:

1. Outthinking (a better strategy, a shortcut)
2. Pure Effort (working longer, intensity)
3. Opportunistic (positioning yourself to take advantage of change)
4. Consistency (doing average things for longer)
5. Focus (saying no to distractions)

Each of these requires a different type of hard work.

TKP Podcast

In a popular episode of The Knowledge Project Podcast, Markel CEO Tom Gayner and I speak about the value of positioning yourself so all of your options are good:

"Shane Parrish: One of the differences between people who consistently get better results than other people is that they’re rarely in a position where circumstances are thinking for them. They’re able to master their circumstances. They’re always in a position where they have good options. They’re always in a position where almost any choice is a net positive. Whereas the inverse of that, when your circumstances force your decision, you’re forced to sell your house because you can’t afford the interest rates or you’re forced into doing something, all your options are bad. I’m wondering how you think about positioning and how you design it within Markel so that you always have optionality to the upside and rarely to the downside.

Thomas Gayner: You’re making a spectacular point here. So by every single daily decision, I’m always trying to avoid exactly what you spoke of where you’re in such a limited set of options that the circumstances make the decision for you. So what that means is low leverage, and what that means is not being at a point where you’re faced with a very difficult decision and you really don’t have many options or hole cards to go to. So everything is designed not to have to be in that circumstance, both for Markel and me personally."

— Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch on YouTube.

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Thanks for reading,

— Shane

P.S. Induction heating visualized.

P.P.S. I've been reading a few Kent Nerburn short books, such as Small Graces and Simple Truths. Supporting Members can access all my highlights in the learning community.

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