Curiosity Chronicle

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response." - Viktor Frankl This piece shares a monthly space-creating ritual that changed my life (and may change yours): The Think Day. The Think Day is a single day each month where you disconnect from your day-to-day professional responsibilities and spend a few hours thinking on bigger picture topics and...

Question: Are you aware of the finite, impermanent nature of your time? Framework: The Donkey Mindset

I just turned 34. Every year, I use my birthday as a moment for reflection, an opportunity to zoom out and consider what I've learned along the way. I hope you see yourself in one or more of these lessons, that they connect and spark a positive ripple in your life. This piece shares 34 life lessons from my 34 years. We're less than a month away from the launch of my first book, The 5 Types of Weal...

Question: Are you afraid of your own light? Framework: The Starfish Rule We're just over a month away from the launch of my first book, The 5 Types of Wealth. Order today to Unlock Exclusive Bonuses The 5 Types of Wealth provides the actionable tools to define, measure, and design your life around the pillars that truly create lasting happiness and fulfillment. Order now and you'll unlock several...

I've never been a fan of New Year's resolutions: They're too rigid and require a belief that you can choose the perfect set of resolutions that will be relevant throughout the entire year. I prefer to set New Year's intentions: Big picture, open-ended ideas and mindsets that I want to focus on for the year ahead. The 5 intentions I'm setting for 2025: (1) Recognize time as the most valuable asset,...

Question: Are you allowing your head to outsmart your gut? Framework: The 4-7-8 Breathing Method

Welcome to the final Wednesday issue of 2024. For the third year in a row, I sent out over 100 newsletters to my subscribers—two per week, every single week. In fact, I haven't missed an issue since I started this newsletter in May 2021. This newsletter is all about ideas —actionable ideas to help you build a high-performing, healthy, wealthy life. I shared thousands of ideas here this year. Here...

Framework: The Grow30 Challenge Question: What answers are hidden in the actions you avoid?

The Annual Planning Guide includes: (1) my simple goal-setting framework, (2) three system-building mental models, and (3) a strategy for tracking and adjusting throughout the year. This annual planning process has been an immensely helpful exercise to which I would credit many of my greatest achievements. I hope that it will spark you to conduct your own annual planning process for 2025. You can...

Question: What are you doing to reveal the invisible opportunities? Framework: The Four Quarters Technique

The end of the calendar year presents us with a unique and valuable opportunity: To reflect on the year that was and plan for the year that will be . I started conducting a Personal Annual Review over ten years ago. It has been a transformative exercise—one that has had an outsized impact on my personal progress and growth. The Personal Annual Review is 7 simple questions that may change your life...

Question: Who are your Darkest Hour Friends? Framework: The Nova Effect

I see a lot of bad advice out there when it comes to how to do that—most of it trying to sell you on the easy way to make money. This piece is my attempt to offer some good in a sea of bad: My honest advice to someone who wants to make a lot of money. A sampling of the advice: The only way to make a lot of money is to create a lot of value, there's no such thing as making it , "doing your own thin...

Every month, I receive hundreds of messages, emails, and questions from people all around the world. The single most common question that comes up: "I feel lost. What should I do?" Here's an open letter to my lost younger self—with the five things I'd like to tell that version of me that would have accelerated his path to the other side. (1) Reclaim your power; (2) Remember that the answer is foun...

Question: Do you want to be liked or loved? Framework: Amor Fati

One year ago, my family came together to mourn the loss of my grandmother. Reflecting on the experience later, I was struck by one thing: The card for the memorial had her date of birth and date of death, with a simple dash in between. That dash holds everything. Every ounce of a person's life captured in that single, small, insignificant line. The experience sparked one idea I can't stop thinking...

One of the greatest joys of my life is that I often get to spend time in rooms surrounded by big thinkers. Rooms with an extraordinary idea density . There are certain times when, even long after leaving the room, the ideas linger in my mind. I wrestle with them to develop my only lens for each. This piece shares 24 short ideas I can't stop thinking about.

Question: Are you embracing your Pattern Interrupts? Framework: Zeigarnik Effect

Success isn't what you think. You're sold a glossy, filtered version of success. The reality looks different. In today's piece, I want to share the harsh truths about success—the reality that no one sells you (because it wouldn't sell very well). 13 harsh truths about success nobody told you: (1) You will have to endure long seasons of loneliness; (2) Your anxiety will scale proportionally to your...

Question: Does your situation need to change, or just your outlook on it? Framework: The Cobra Effect

“Hard times create strong men, strong men create easy times, easy times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” - G. Michael Hopf We live in an ease-obsessed world. To build the life you want, to earn the things you want, your resistance is the cost of entry. Remember: Nothing worth having in life should be easy. The things that matter in life are hard to build.

Question: Are you allowing self-protection to become self-rejection? Framework: Hedgehogs vs. Foxes

It's easy to allow your weeks to spiral out of control as you try to navigate your personal and professional responsibilities. Fortunately, I developed some tricks that helped me fight back. 4 tiny habits that dramatically improved my weeks: (1) Defining what a "win" looks like, (2) Creating an awareness of my energy, (3) Executing a daily management sprint, and (4) Investing 30 minutes in a visio...

Question: How can you decide to be happy today? Framework: The Ludic Fallacy

More intensity is not the answer. To achieve the things you want in life, you must pursue them with balance . Unfortunately, in the modern era, to pursue things with balance is almost indistinguishable from laziness. The single greatest challenge for any ambitious person is reframing slowing down as an essential part of your performance, not a reward for your effort. When you're constantly moving...