3 MINUTE MONDAY

Hi friend,

So true.

So much of life and enjoyment is about the anticipation of things coming.

In fact, the anticipation is often actually more enjoyable than the experience itself.

Tim Ferriss used to book week-long holidays years and years in advance so he could get as much enjoyment out of the anticipation as possible.

This puts a new perspective on “it’s not the journey it’s the destination”.

There actually is no destination.

Each arrival at a destination simply marks the beginning of another journey toward the next destination.

Morgan Housel told me that when he went on holiday recently, after months of planning and organising to get there, he finally arrived, and one of his first thoughts was “wow, we should totally come back here next year. It would be great if we could come back next year”.

So literally DURING the supposed enjoyment of “the destination”, Morgan was captured by the allure of the next “journey”.

How absolutely tragic, and hilarious.

The dangerous thing about anticipation is it can cause us to look over the shoulder of the present moment, to always see what’s coming next so we never actually experience what is happening right now.

This anticipation and dissatisfaction will drive you to do many amazing things.

But they’re things which you’re risking never be present for and essentially forgetting about them during the experience of them.

One potential solution is to make sure you find ways to enjoy your pursuit.

Micro-celebrations, miniature wins, lots of little victories along the way.

Create as many destinations to enjoy the anticipation of as possible.

MODERN WISDOM

I do a podcast where I pretend to have a British accent. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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This week’s upcoming episodes:

Monday.
Rory Sutherland - one of the most reliable guests returns for his 7th episode. Psychology, Jaguar, Trump, consumer behaviour, advertising secrets. So so good.

Thursday.
William von Hippel - a fascinating psychological history of human connection. Why is there a tension between independence and friendship? What are the role of social ties and how can they throw us into conflict?

Saturday.
Erwin McManus - how to overcome your fears. Why are we so uncertain and filled with self-doubt? What can we do to have more self-belief? How can we be more courageous in life?

THINGS I'VE LEARNED

1.
​Perfectionism is killing your happiness.

“It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life … perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping stone just right, you won’t have to die.

The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.” — Anne Lamott

2.
​Open plan offices suck.

“Open plan office noise increased negative mood by 25 percent and sweat response by 34%.

Compared with workers in cubicles, workers in open-plan offices had 62% more days of sickness absence” — Rob Henderson

3.
​Peace is a performance enhancer.

“Be quiet, work hard, and stay healthy.

It’s not ambition or skill that is going to set you apart but sanity.” — Ryan Holiday

LIFE HACK

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​

Big love,
Chris x

Try my productivity drink Neutonic.
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PS
Back in Austin after a long week of health treatments in Mexico. Thank you for the good vibes.