What Makes You Feel the Most Alive?
This was originally published in my free weekly newsletter, How It Actually Works.
I tweeted this question a few weeks ago, here are some of my favorite replies:
“Giving a eulogy at my grandfather’s funeral when I was 15” - Ryan Herr
“Kayaking the Salmon river in Idaho - navigating the unknown, placing your paddle strategically while making decisions in real time that require grace under pressure” - Catherine Coley
“I live for in-person teaching. There’s nothing like leaning into your preparation, reading the room, speeding up, slowing down, running the show, then watching students’ faces light up when the previously unknown or impossible come into focus.” - Caleb Hicks
“Speaking Italian with a small hotel owner in Bologna, making that connection and feeling the appreciation that she didn’t need to translate in English. She offered us a private bathroom next time we visited. :)” - Jessica DiCerbo
“Berkner High School battle of the bands.” - Allen Walton
“Definitely the points when I was closest to death. Car crash, engine dying mid-flight in a Cessna 172, post-surgery” - Dan Loewenherz
“Taking my daughter to her first big league baseball game. I remember thinking at the time ‘how could life possibly get better than this?’” - Ryan Holdaway
“Eating breakfast and reading a book at a cafe in Paris. It felt like I beat the game” - Al Doan
“Being super nervous before giving my brother's best man speech, completely calming down as soon as I started, and getting a lot of laughs and compliments afterward.” - Bob Lauer
“Pushing my second child out, without an epidural (start to finish in just under 2 hours)” - Bonnie Wong
“My 1-year old boy pumped out of his mind when I come home.” - Adam Chavez
“When the result of your actions makes someone else succeed. Something simple as opening a door or giving thanks and appreciation for someone’s existence.” - Jake Blas
Of eulogies & campfires
My moment was probably when I performed in musical theatre in front of 1,000+ people in high school. Hearing that many people laugh at your jokes is a power trip in the best way possible.
Brian Regan made a great point in his Comedians in Cars episode w/ Jerry Seinfeld: the moments in life you remember best usually come right after you feel “the butterflies.”
That nervous excitement of “maybe this’ll work & sure I could fail, but I’m gonna do it anyway.”
The things we nervously want to try and then end up succeeding… that’s the stuff of eulogies & campfire stories.
The moments you’ll remember while you’re dying, and for which you’ll feel grateful to have existed.
You can read all the answers (and follow me on Twitter) here
The Links
The epic saga of Target trying and failing to enter Canada
One of the greatest business failure stories of all time. This found me again this week after I read it when it came out a few years ago.
It’s hard to imagine an easier slam dunk than Target Expanding to Canada. And yet…
Ira Glass interviewed by Alex Blumberg
Alex interviewing his old boss who taught him everything.
My favorite part was how even though Ira worked in public radio and was making “art”, he was proud of how he focused on the business side.
It’s easy to see how a better show but one with less emphasis on distribution and making money could now be lost to history.
How to choose what to work on
Has a different clickbaity headline but makes you realize: we’re taught to focus on the task given to us, but we’re not taught how to choose the right task.
Whether the timeframe is today or the next 10 years choosing what to work on is arguably more important than being able to do the work itself.
“Since reading this 6 months ago, I've come to think it's half a dozen of the best paragraphs I've ever read on how to get much, much better at anything”
"The way to extraordinary growth and changes often involves a fundamental ontological or ‘lens’ shift in how you see the world... Meeting magicians is the first step to becoming one”
“If you ask anybody who their best teacher was in their entire experience from a little kid to university, everybody chooses that teacher that pushed them the hardest.”
Meaning comes from trying.
This was originally published in my weekly newsletter, How It Actually Works.