My daughter had me search high and low for the second book in a series.

We had to scour multiple public libraries until we found an available copy.

“Do you want another book?”

“No, I want that one!”

In a sea of children’s books across multiple large libraries, only that one would do. I’d say that’s a pretty specific need!

But the first book? The first book was a random library find she picked up, skimming through hundreds of titles.

So many things are like this.

Our spouse just happened to be at the same college we attended. Our favorite taco truck just happened to be next door…

And now? We can’t imagine being happy without our spouse or without that damn taco truck, no matter how many thousands of miles away we may live.

Nothing is worse than handing over a pitch deck you worked hard on, or concept drawings, and being ghosted by the other party.

This is a hard lesson I’ve had to learn over the years. Prospects are quick to ask for a pitch deck, because it's easy and takes all the burden off of them.

Whether prospects read these decks or not, service providers are asked to waste a ton of time on something that may never be glanced at—or worse, something that’s used as an A/B comparison to justify going with a lower-priced competitor.

Tip: Don’t send decks or PDFs or concept pitches via email any more. If a prospect wants your pitch, they should schedule a call. Go over the deck together. That way you'll know they at least heard your ideas the way they were meant to be heard.

Buyer’s remorse sets in almost immediately after we buy something new.

When the initial joy wears off, we realize our bank account has shrunk and our responsibilities have grown (along with our carbon footprint).

To truly get the sense of the burden of stuff, watch the documentary The Queen of Versailles. It’s one of the clearest examples of the trappings of wealth.

But deleting an item from our lives has the opposite effect. We feel good donating to someone in need. Our space grows—and so does our peace of mind.

Getting rid of something old can give us more lasting happiness than buying something new.

The news makes it so easy to hate our fellow humans. To see them as “other”, “not like us”, “idiots”, or less than.

But the vast majority of people are good in their own way.

Often it’s not that we even disagree, but that we just choose to focus on different parts of the same river.

The person in the rapids wants the river to slow down.

And the person at the delta sees all the accumulated trash.

Fundamentally people aren’t that different. They’re just responding to a different angle of reality.

Most of our time on social media is spent asking others for favors, or to buy our crap.

It’s a rare gift to be able to meaningfully help anyone, but often we see it as an imposition.

The greatest people I know feel much happier doing a favor for someone else than having one done for them.