You're Not Lazy

This was originally published in my free weekly newsletter, How It Actually Works.

My life habits changed dramatically 2 months ago when I got my first job working for someone else in over 5 years.

When I was on my own I could take whatever time I wanted to work on a project, could go to bed and wake up whenever I liked, traveled whenever, etc.

To be honest it was often hard to get more than a few solid days of productivity in a row.

But June 12 came around, I’m in a new job, and almost instantly I’m working 10-12 hour days, responding to emails around the clock, and generally getting stuff done.

What happened?

It’s silly how much power we often think we have over ourselves. Or how far willpower can go.

Environments and systems beat individuals every time.

This is why it’s so important to hang out with people that you want to be like. This is why people end up so similar to their parents. Why we’re similar to our friends.

Your environment molds you in ways you don’t consciously recognize. Cities can tell us how to be.

When you’re thrust into a new environment suddenly you do things differently, often with little additional effort on your part.

When you’re around people who identify as “healthy” it’s like Taco Bell all-of-a-sudden doesn’t exist. It’s not even a temptation for you to eat there with friends because it’s not even part of the conversation to begin with.

It’s just not who those friends are. And if you hang out with them enough, soon it won’t be who you are, either.

The curse of course is that it’s painful to change environments. No one wants to uproot & leave their current friends or family. Or go start yet another job, or find brand new friends.

The default is comfortable because it’s already defined. In the same way that we long towards the past because we know what happened, we stay in our current environment because we’re afraid of the unknown.

The lesson is this: don’t be hard on yourself for not exercising every day. Be hard on yourself for not being in a place where you wouldn’t have to make the decision to begin with.

The Links

My Life as a Psychopath (thecut.com, article)

Anonymous interview with a psychopathic woman:

“Q: Do you ever feel afraid?”

“A: We don’t feel fear. We get adrenal responses. When you have adrenaline responses to a car accident, or bungee jumping, or what have you, we’ll still get that, but for us, we don’t feel the fear, which can be obviously dangerous if you’re a little kid, and you don’t know you’re supposed to be afraid of stuff. We don’t process the emotion of fear. It doesn’t occur to us. And we can’t understand it, either. I mean, we get that you feel something, but we don’t get it.”

Bill Gates: Not Enough People Are Paying Attention to this Economic Trend (gatesnotes.com, article)

Software is a fundamentally different good than we’re historically used to (e.g. vs. physical objects), and it’s becoming more and more part of the economy.

Bill goes into what’s different about software, why it matters, and what we collectively should be doing about it going forward.

Why HBO Needs to Grow. Part 1 of 2 (redef.com, article)

HBO’s bread and butter has always been premium content for costal elites. That has to change because Netflix is trying to be TV.

Related to Bill’s post: Internet delivery of video changes the entire industry. Selling into, say, Germany is fundamentally different when you can go directly yourself.

You don’t need legal or compliance partners in the area. You don’t need geographic licensing deals. Content you make for Germany can be enjoyed by anyone else in the world (and vice versa).

(The author (Matthew Ball) is my favorite source on understanding the future of video and TV.)

A Six Point Plan for HBO (The Future of HBO) Part 2 of 2 (redef.com, article)

Netflix has the biggest lead but all is not lost for HBO. What should they do to stay relevant?

Hint: See Part 1. They need to get big.

Unintended Consequences: Philadelphians drink more alcohol since a soda tax was imposed (politicalcalculations.blogspot.com, article)

“What might prompt already heavy-drinking Philadelphians to boost their alcohol consumption to even higher levels? … The city's controversial tax on soft drinks would appear to be behind the city's recent surge in alcohol sales”

Strike When the Iron is Hot (avc.com, article)

Quick post about taking immediate action on whatever opportunity is in front of you.

The End of the Tour (Netflix, movie)

Fictional portrayal of David Foster Wallace and his Rolling Stone interviewer, David Lipsky.

I loved this and thought the actor did a fantastic job of being DFW, though it turns out many of Wallace’s friends were apparently unhappy that the movie even got made.

This was originally published in my weekly newsletter, How It Actually Works.