Hello beautiful readers š
Itās time for your injection! š§
Something to make you (not) think š¤
Your bluntest thoughts in their rawest form
The biggest difficulty I have in leadership positions is the temptation to think.
Not my own temptation.
But the temptation of those I am trying to help.
Yesterday I was teaching my little sister Meenington Peroxide how to play Pickleball (like tennis, but significantly more fun).
She had previously taken ~10 hours of tennis classes but was absolutely terrible.
Before serving, she would think about the angle of her elbow and the trajectory of her swing. She would ask at exactly what vertical height she should hit the ball for optimal serving speed. And other irritating questions such as this.
As a result, instead of hitting the ball, she would spend all her time thinking about how to hit the ball, but never actually hit it.
For the first 30 minutes, she couldnāt return a single serve nor rally beyond a couple shots (despite my efforts to softly hit the ball to her).
And then I told her to stop.
To stop thinking.
This was impossible for her, because she is addicted to thinking. She believes she needs to rationally understand everything: the biomechanics of Pickleball, the chemical constitution of the racquet, the philosophy behind the sport.
So I started distracting her. Making fun of her, saying ridiculous things, talking about my plans to buy a castleā¦anything to shut her thinking up.
And suddenly she was hitting the ball. Almost effortlessly.
Instead of theorising about the precise physics required to maximise angular velocity when serving, I told her to imagine she was smashing the head of her Taliban oppressors (her parents were refugees from Afghanistan). Suddenly she was serving so hard that I couldnāt return her serves.
And then on our way back home, we started talking about buying a small country or redeveloping a village in Italy as a settlement for our friends and family.
Once again, the thinking virus attacked.
"But how will I get clients in Italy? How will I find cute guys to date? How do you have all these crazy ideas? Where will I put my parents?ā
Blablablablablablablablablabla.
And once again, instead of dreaming for a bit, she fell into the thinking trap.
Obviously thinking is important.
But it can very often kill brilliant ideas and meaningful dreams, because you get wrapped up in boring logistics and yawnful pragmatism.
Logistics, practicalities & operations are necessary. But should come second.
I have recently started asking everyone for
Your bluntest thoughts in their rawest form
Do not filter what youāre trying to say. Do not try to sound smart. Do not pussyfoot around a hard truth.
Just say the f*cking thing. Get it out. We can work out exactly what youāre trying to say together. I wonāt judge you as racist, sexist, stupid, ideological, etc.
Just say the thing. Get the intelligence of your subconscious mind out there in its rawest, bluntest forms.
No thinking, just thoughts.
So much genius is hidden away by creative minds who suppress their ideas because theyāre not quite there.
But to get there, i.e. to fully develop your idea into a coherent vision/strategy/plan, you need to get it out in the first place!
There is tremendous value in just saying whatās on your mind or scribbling it down somewhere. It might feel totally irrelevant, but there is likely a very good reason your subconscious mind is bringing it up.
So, to free your mind:
Step 1 = Subconscious. Get out your bluntest thoughts in their rawest form
Step 2 = Conscious. Think about them, rationally evaluate them, do all the boring practicality checks
Do not confuse this order. It is what makes us human.
Extremely Interesting Career
š§ Wanna learn TONNES and earn Ā£Ā£Ā£? š¤
Iām hiring an Executive Operator (feel free to come up with a better job title) to help me run my life, creative projects and startups!
Expect an extremely varied workload, including:Ā
Finding / renovating a castle into a safe home for creative geniuses around the world
Organising insane events like the worldās biggest water fight & real-life video games series
Mastering and exploring new AI tools to stay at the cutting edge of reality
Launching new ventures like Infinity Scholarships, Socraticas & Infinity Health Ā
Trolling scammers / fake gurus + fundraising / grant-finding for charities
And eventually stepping up as interim CEO for some of my companies when Iām busy.
My hope is over a few years working together, you will have downloaded everything I know into your brain and will go on to do extraordinary things and hire your own Executive Operator to help you run your own life, creative projects and startups!
Expect 15-25 hours per week of intellectually stimulating work, lots of feedback to skill you up ASAP, unlimited learning budget, and questions from friends like:
āWait - this is a real job!?ā
I donāt think much can compare with the learning reward on offer but thereās also Ā£1000pcm + a small equity % in my full portfolio of startups.Ā
Also, if you come up with any cool ideas yourself, I will support you on them (financially or in kind) - esp. if they raise Ā£Ā£Ā£ for charity š
(And naturally, if this goes well, would love to bring you on full-time!)Ā
To apply, just reply with a short video telling me who you are, your dreams and why this role excites you. This āapplication processā is intentionally open-ended to see what you come up with.Ā
You do not need any stupid qualifications or prior experience.Ā
And thereās also a Ā£1000 reward for any successful referrals so tag anyone you think could smash this job :)
Deadline = July 24th, 2023, 11:59pm
PS: you will also help me get my newsletter out on time! Sorry I missed yesterday, moving house and two lawsuits this week (I do love taking down a good scammer!)Ā
Ask Me Anything š
What are your struggles/goals? Whatās holding you back? Any questions - let me know and Iāll answer personally.
Andrew āļø