3 MINUTE MONDAY

Hi friend,

This was one of the biggest realisations of my 20’s.

The advantage of doing this is that no criticism will ever fully land because you’re one degree removed from the person who’s being criticised.

The disadvantage is that you’re removed from the person who’s being complimented too.

If you’re only playing a role, you will never feel connected to the successes of your life.

Any accolades or warmth you receive won’t resonate properly in your heart because it’s not YOU who is receiving it, it’s the character you’re pretending to be.

This is how you can feel alone in a crowd and hollow in victory.

If you haven’t shown your true self to the people around you, you are inevitably going to feel disconnected from them.

And the people who would have fallen in love with the true you will pass you by because that person is never presented.

The persona subsumes the person.

This isn’t the people around you’s fault.

Take responsibility.

There are reasons to fear truly showing up, but they pale in insignificance compared to the reasons to hide away.

Even if all you want is success, your highest point of unique contribution is you fully embracing you.

The absolute best you can hope for if you’re playing a role is to be the 2nd best in the world at being someone else.

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MODERN WISDOM

I do a podcast which has had 480 million+ downloads. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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This week’s upcoming episodes:

Monday.
Destiny - one of the biggest streamers on the planet breaks down adult ADHD, the death of the red pill, why the modern world seems so fractured and stupid and more.

Thursday.
James Sexton - a divorce attorney gives his perspective on marriage. A unique insight into the end of relationships, prenups and healthy disagreements. Awesome.

Saturday.
Orion Taraban - a psychologist’s perspective on resilience and building a less fragile mind. Some great applicable strategies here.

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THINGS I'VE LEARNED

1.
​Illinois schools are not good.

“A study of Illinois public schools in 2022 found that ZERO students passed the state math proficiency test at 53 Illinois public schools (almost all of whom are majority-black).

For reading, it’s 30 schools.

At one such school — a "prep school" designed to prepare students for medical careers — the per student spending is $47,000.

And only 1 out of 10 kids or less can do math at grade level in 930 schools… that’s more than a quarter of all schools in the state.” — h/t EricsElectrons

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2.
​Segal’s Law.

“A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with 2 watches is never sure.”

Ancient societies followed a single narrative. Modern societies are cacophonies of competing narratives. Without trust, more data doesn’t make us more informed but more confused. — Gurwinder Bhogal

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3.
​Da Vinci can also paint.

“At one point he’s writing a job application letter, right, when he’s reaching that very scary milestone of turning 30.

He writes a job application letter to the Duke of Milan, it’s 11 paragraphs.

The first 10 are all he can do in engineering, in invention.

Says, ‘I can invent portable bridges, I can make great public buildings, I can divert water, I can make military weapons.’

Only in the very last paragraph he says, ‘I can also paint.’” — Walter Isaacson

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LIFE HACK

Tell the truth.

The more I focus on this, the better my life gets.

The more truth I tell, the less afraid I am, and the more my life improves.

Tell the truth.
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Big love,
Chris x

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