💖 July Favourites 2023
Hanging Swords, Good Problems, Awe Susceptibility, and Unsuitable Nicknames
🍿 My Favourite Movies of the Month
King Richard
Life
On the Line
📺 My Favourite Shows of the Month
Young Justice
Survival of the Thickest
Fate: The Winx Saga
📚 My Favourite Read of the Month
Giving Back 🔗 / Relentless Curiosity Substack /
Outside of charity, think about the group MADD (mothers against drunk driving), and all the time and money that was spent. If instead of lecturing children that time and energy went into starting a ride-sharing company, drunk driving deaths could have plummeted decades sooner.
What matters most is optimizing systems to have the right incentives and processes to let innovation, creativity, art, love, and life flourish.
🛠️ My Favourite Tool of the Month
Pick Up Limes App 🔗 / link /
It’s a plant-based meal planning app and it’s the most beautifully made app I’ve ever used, both functionally and aesthetically.
💪🏽 My Favourite Exercise of the Month
The Twisted Cliche 🔗 / Todd Brison Post /
I call it “The Twisted Cliche.”
The Twisted Cliche is a device that takes a well-known cliche and swaps out one word. This minor “twist” on a trite phrase can land an emotional punch far more effectively than the cliche itself.
…
“Literally, look up a list of cliches, and then start swapping words out.”
💬 My Favourite Words of Wisdom of the Month
Education vs Learning
Don’t let your education get in the way of your learning.
Sword of Damocles
The Sword of Damocles is a tale from ancient Greek lore about a courtier named Damocles. He envied the tyrant Dionysius and praised his luxurious lifestyle, leading Dionysius to offer Damocles a chance to experience his position. Seated on a golden throne, Damocles noticed a sharpened sword suspended above him by a single horsehair, symbolizing the constant danger faced by rulers. Fearful, he quickly realized the burden and vulnerability of power. The story warns against the perils of envy and reminds us that with great authority comes great risk and anxiety. Thus, the phrase "Sword of Damocles" is used to signify an impending and ever-present peril.
Good Problems 🔗 / Tintin Smith Video /
Next time you have a not too serious problem, try shifting your mindset to “this is a good problem to have”.
Why, Not What
Anchor yourself to why you do what you do, rather than what you do.
🤔 My Favourite Realizations of the Month
Susceptibility to Awe
I’ve been thinking about why I love the topics I do and I realized that at some point for most of them I felt a sense of awe. I wonder if uncovering where we’re most susceptible to awe could be a good north star for figuring out what we should focus on in life.
💭 My Favourite Reflection of the Month
Nicknames
I once signed up for a high intensity training bootcamp. I was the youngest person in the class and the instructor bestowed upon me the nickname, Playstation. I’ve never really played many video games, nor owned a Playstation, so the title didn’t resonate.
Remembering that got me wondering: what nickname would you want to get upon a first impression? What’s the one most obvious trait that you want people to know you for?