Curiosity Chronicle

In 2002, Harvard psychologists Daniel Gilbert and Jane Ebert designed a series of studies to test the role of optionality on happiness and human satisfaction.

In the first study, the students in a Harvard photography class were asked to make prints of their two favorite photos from the semester.

After creating the two prints, they were told to select one that they would get to keep, while the other would be filed in the department archives.

But at this stage, the students were split into two groups:
The first group was told that the decision was final. Whichever print they selected was their print and they couldn’t change their mind.
The second group was told that the decision was reversible. They could change their mind and swap prints in the next few days.
In the days that followed, the two groups of students were asked how satisfied they were with their selection, both during the swap window and after it had passed.

The findings were counterintuitive...

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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.

A razor is a rule of thumb that simplifies decision making.

The term comes from philosophy. A principle that let you quickly cut away unlikely explanations or unnecessary steps was called a razor.

Razors aren't perfect. They're shortcuts. But used well, they can be the highest-leverage tools you carry through life. In an age of infinite 
information, razors can help you stop overthinking and start moving.

Here are the most powerful razors I've found...

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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.

In 1902, a 19-year-old cadet in an Austrian military academy was silently becoming a bystander in his own life.

Franz Xaver Kappus felt trapped. On the track for a life as a military officer, but unsure if he wanted it in the first place. His heart felt pulled in a very different direction.

To poetry.

When Kappus learned that one of his teachers had taught the famed poet Rainer Maria Rilke when he was a young man attending the same academy, he decided to act. Kappus sent a set of his poems to Rilke, asking for an honest assessment and guidance on his life ahead...

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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.

My son turns four years old this week.

And if I'm being honest, I don't know where the time went.

Everyone says this, and I spent most of my life rolling my eyes at it, but my goodness, it goes by fast. With parenting, perhaps more so than most things in life, the days are very long but the years are painfully short.

Last year, I started a practice of writing him a letter each year on his birthday.

He can't read them (yet), but my hope is that they serve as something of a compass for his journey. Whether I'm here or gone, I hope that they guide him in the direction of a fulfilling life.

I know I can't walk the path for him, but maybe I can shine a bit of light to give him confidence along the way.

Here is my open letter to my son on his 4th birthday...

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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.

Last weekend, I had the joy of catching up for a quiet dinner in Omaha with a mentor and friend, Apple CEO Tim Cook.

He recently announced that he would be transitioning out of the CEO role at the company after a 15 year tenure.

When the news first broke of his announcement, several people asked me how I thought he would handle the major life change and identity shift.

My answer was a story from a dinner we shared several years ago—one specific interaction that I'll never forget...

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This episode brought to you by:
DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. 
Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending, investments, and net worth—all in one place.
Innerbody Labs - A Higher Standard. After reviewing thousands of health products, we built formulas we wished existed.
Lemon - The Al agent that turns your voice instructions into finished tasks.