Good morning, friends!

Happiness hides in the details.

If you've been with The Profile for a while, you know how much I obsess over nuance, precision, and detail. That’s because I believe in the power of specificity.

I’ve noticed that whenever a decision feels overwhelming or a bad mood feels eternal, the tool of specificity often solves the problem. After studying so many different types of people, I’ve noted all the ways in which they employ specificity in their lives.

So let’s look at specificity in practice.

Let’s start with your personal and professional relationships. You’ll find that they begin to suffer when you introduce absolute statements into your language. Psychotherapist Esther Perel says the phrases “you always” or “you never” should be eliminated from your vocabulary. Why? Because this general, all-or-nothing thinking puts your partner on the defensive, and it only escalates the conflict. “It leaves the other person with no option but to refute what you just said about him, to stonewall you, or to attack you for your offenses,” she says.

Perel recommends substituting, “You never do the dishes,” with “I’d love help with the dishes during X, Y, and Z times.” The specificity in this situation is instrumental in replacing pure emotion with a rational ask.

You can even make better career decisions with the tool of specificity. Take Boston Beer Company co-founder Jim Koch, for instance. In 1984, Koch had a cushy $250,000-a-year consulting job at Boston Consulting Group, but he couldn’t stop thinking about starting a brewery. He had a difficult choice to make: Does he stay in his safe role at BCG or does he start a beer company with no money or experience?

He couldn’t shake this feeling of general anxiety until he asked himself about the exact cause of his fear. He began thinking about two words: "scary" and "dangerous." Leaving BCG would be the scariest decision of his life, but staying would be dangerous because he wasn't happy and he would live a life of regrets. There are plenty of things in life that are scary but not dangerous and vice versa.

If you’re nervous about leaving a job, ask yourself: What exactly am I nervous about? Am I scared to tell my boss, disappoint my parents, or leave a sure thing? Once you pin down the exact source of your general “I feel uncertain” feeling, then things get less overwhelming and more obvious.

As James Clear recently wrote: “The more precisely you define the problem, the more easily you can find a solution. ‘I feel bad’ can have a million causes. ‘I didn’t sleep much last night, and I haven’t exercised in a week’ has a very straightforward answer.”

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THE PROFILE DOSSIER: On Wednesday, premium members received The Profile Dossier,  a comprehensive deep-dive on a prominent individual. It featured Diana Chapman, the leadership coach focused on eliminating drama. Become a premium member, and read it below.

The Profile

The Profile Dossier: Diana Chapman, the Leadership Coach Focused on Eliminating Drama

Diana Chapman defines a leader as “anyone who wants to take responsibility for their influence in the world.” As an adviser to founders, CEOs, and venture capitalists, she specializes in the realm of “conscious leadership,” which allows leaders to be fully present and operate in “a non-trigged, non-reactive state…

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4 days ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Polina Pompliano

PROFILES.

— The snowboarder who built a prosthetic limb [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The human behind a fatal self-driving car accident
— The pop star who holds nothing back
— Hollywood’s favorite gangster
— Wall Street’s high roller
— The media company that wants us to read in bullet points

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The snowboarder who built a prosthetic limb: After a horrific accident took his leg, Mike Schultz invented a high-tech artificial limb that action sport athletes quickly adopted. And now, to win gold at the Beijing Paralympics, he’ll have to beat them. (GQ)

“If you’re busy doing something, you’re not worried about doing nothing.”

The human behind a fatal self-driving car accident: In 2018, an Uber autonomous vehicle fatally struck a pedestrian. The human operator behind the wheel had never publicly spoken about the accident before — until now. In this story, Rafaela Vasquez recounts the traumatic event that raised urgent questions about the human’s role in a world of self-driving vehicles. This is a stunning piece. (WIRED; reply to this email if you don’t have access to the article)

“It was a nightmare. I was just devastated, beyond devastated by it.”

The pop star who holds nothing back: Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, has had to learn to make peace with much of the world erasing her identity as one of the past decade’s most fearless, adventurous solo artists and coming to know her, first and foremost, as Elon Musk’s girlfriend. In this profile, Grimes doesn’t hold back — she talks about futurism, life on Mars, and oh, her secret new baby with Elon Musk. (Vanity Fair)

“Bro might say a lot of stupid shit, but he does the right thing.”

Hollywood’s favorite gangster: “The Godfather” premiered in New York on March 15, 1972, and 50 years later, it still dominates Al Pacino’s résumé. In this longform Q&A, the legendary actor reflects on his career-defining role as Michael Corleone and shares the moment he knew the film would be a success. (For more, read Al Pacino’s full Dossier here.)

“I’m here because I did ‘The Godfather.’ For an actor, that’s like winning the lottery.”

COMPANIES TO KNOW.

Wall Street’s high roller: Goldman Sachs struggles with a conundrum: Its investment bank is too damn profitable. In fact, it’s doing so well that investors are skeptical of chairman and CEO David Solomon’s efforts to transform the legendary Wall Street firm into a wealth manager catering to both the ultra-rich and the merely affluent. Here’s how Solomon is trying to change Goldman’s image as a Wall Street high roller. (Institutional Investor)

The media company that wants us to read in bullet points: With much of the digital media world combining forces to survive, the founders of five-year-old Axios think they have the right recipe for success on their own. The company’s executives think its short-format writing will build back trust in the media among busy audiences and can teach corporate America to quit its long-winded jargon. Here’s how it’s forging a new path for news organizations. (The New York Times)

“America is screwed if we don’t restore fast a common connection, a common truth and a common reality.”

✨ This installment of The Profile is free for everyone. If you would like to get full access to all of the recommendations, including today’s audio and video sections, sign up below.

AUDIO TO HEAR.

Natalie Portman on the danger of sexualizing young girls: In this podcast, actress Natalie Portman explains how being sexualized as a child star — she started acting at age 12— affected her career and personal development. "Being sexualized as a child, I think, took away from my own sexuality, because it made me afraid," she says. As a result, she developed defenses against unwanted attention by choosing more serious, darker roles. (Link available to premium members.)

Ron Finley on the true meaning of wealth: Urban farmer Ron Finley tells a story of a time when he was speaking at a high school in LA when a student asked him if he was rich. Finley responded with, “Yes I am, but so are you.” He then asks him a series of questions to teach him a lesson: “Nothing you can buy gives you value. Nothing you can buy is more special than you. You have an intrinsic value just being here on this planet. Money is not the thing that makes you rich.” (Link available to premium members.)

VIDEOS TO SEE.

Doug Leone on building meaningful companies: How should a founder think about his job? Doug Leone, legendary venture capitalist and founder of Sequoia, offers this framework: “The founder’s job is to make the receptionist rich. If the founder makes the receptionist rich, I guarantee you everybody wins.” This is a masterclass on timeless lessons in entrepreneurship. (Link available to premium members.)

Howard Marks on developing his investing style: Howard Marks is the co-founder of Oaktree Capital Group and a legendary distressed-debt buyer. This mini-documentary shows how Marks became a pioneer of high yield bond investing, a tool he developed more than 30 years ago. (Link available to premium members.)