Hi friend,

What's on your Spotify Wrapped this year?

(Mine has been appropriated by tweens so a lot of Sabrina Carpenter.)

The end of the year is a time of many big decisions.

Do you stay after missing that promotion? Are the trade-offs worth it? Is there a risk you should be taking?

My friend and frequent podcast collaborator Joe Hudson just opened the wait list for his Great Decisions Course.

The course is offered once a year and will help you overturn old myths and lead your life with clarity and conviction.

Join the wait list and get $300 off with the code RADREADS.

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Here are this week's top reads:

// one

How to calm the anxious brain

25 minutes | More To That

What if I told you your brain was wired to make you anxious? Your rational mind can plan a mission to Mars, but your primitive brain still freaks out over a poorly worded work email. The good news: we can rewire these ancient circuits, teaching our overprotective brain that most catastrophes only exist in our imagination.

→ Read the article​

// two

Breaking free from a life that doesn’t fit

11 minutes | Rick Foerster

What happens when we mistake someone else's legacy for our own purpose? For Jordan Grumet, becoming a doctor like his late father felt like pre-determined calling. But his journey from burnt-out physician to hospice doctor (and writer/podcaster) reveals that true purpose is found in life’s micro-moments.

→ Read the post​

// three

If my dying daughter could face her mortality, why couldn’t the rest of us?

20 minutes | New York Times

Why are we so afraid to talk about children dying? Through her daughter Orli's final year with cancer, the author discovered how medical teams and society avoid these difficult conversations. In shielding ourselves from death, we create a culture of denial that paradoxically robs dying children and their families of the chance to truly live their remaining time together.

→ Read the article​

Stories from my life

This is the coolest trick ever. Paste this image (5th grade math) into ChatGPT or Claude and type, "Solve."

(Just don't let your kids see this.)

And thank you Lexi O. for sharing your Spotify Wrapped. We're in good company!

This Week on The Examined Life Podcast

​

This week's episode: Why are teens so stressed?​

Below the Fold
​

LAST WEEK'S MOST READ

• ​Why is everyone ‘sober-ish’ all of a sudden? (Wall Street Journal, 1,181 clicks)
• ​The challenges of retiring from a high-powered job (Harvard Business Review, 426 clicks)

​

And finally, why I can’t stand LinkedIn.​

With gratitude,

Khe

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