Hi friend,

Happy New Year!!! I'm grateful to each and every one of you for your support on this journey.

2025 will mark the "decade" mark from my pivot away from Wall Street - that's wild!

Before we jump in, I collected some of my favorite posts and podcasts below:

My favorite essays of 2024

• ​Are you a post-achievement professional​
• ​45 lessons at 45 years old​
• ​The "messy middle" of quitting​

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My favorite podcast episodes of 2024

• ​How do you survive working at a hedge fund?​
• ​How do you retire early?​
• ​I bought an NYC apartment (and regret it)

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Here are this week's top reads:

// one

‘New Year, New You’ doesn’t work. Here’s how you can actually improve your life.

5 minutes | The Wall Street Journal

"New Year, New You?" What if that mantra’s actually holding you back? We chase sweeping transformations and perfect systems, believing that “getting it right” lies just around the corner. But what if real change comes from embracing "radical doability" – taking small, imperfect actions RIGHT NOW.

→ Read the article​

// two

Jimmy Carter was right about materialism but, alas, wrong about us

6 minutes | New York Times

In 1979, Jimmy Carter warned against materialism and excessive consumption — a speech that contributed to his political downfall. But with social media and the advertising complex amplifying an ethos of “buy, buy, buy,” maybe Carter was quite prescient.

→ Read the article​

// three

Why New Year’s resolutions fail

4 minutes | New Yorker

Why do our New Year's resolutions almost always crash and burn? Research shows that arbitrary temporal boundaries like January 1st trigger a surge of fresh-start optimism. But the real culprit isn't lack of willpower but our tendency to overestimate abilities while underestimating effort, aka false-hope syndrome.

→ Read the article​

Stories from my life

Pants, they be changing.

When I was in high school it was a mix of JNCO cargo pants and ultra baggy Karl Kani jeans.

In the 2000s, we wore tight black Banana Republic pants as we desperately tried to get into clubs in the Meatpacking district.

The pivot towards skinny jeans started around 2005 and continued (for me) for a solid 18 years. Over that period I refined my fit and constantly got my jeans tailored to get that perfect taper and ankle reveal.

And now, we're back to baggy?!?! Goddamn I'm almost 46 years old.

Anyways, I bit the bullet and bought my first (ahem, first three) pairs of baggy jeans.

How do they look?

(orSlow Brand from Standard and Strange in Santa Fe)

This Week on The Examined Life Podcast

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This week's episode: 50 insights that will change your life ​

Below the Fold
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LAST WEEK'S MOST READ

• ​52 things I learned this year (Tom Whitwell, 1,814 clicks)
• ​Just enough to walk away (Rick Foerster, 888 clicks)

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And finally, this level of dedication is inspiring as hell.

With gratitude,

Khe

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