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Finished reading: Sea Stories by Admiral William H. McRaven 📚
If a nation is to survive and thrive it must pass on the ideals that made it great and imbue in its citizens an indomitable spirit, a will to continue on regardless of how difficult the path, how long the journey, or how uncertain the outcome. People must have a true belief that tomorrow will be a better day — if only they fight for it and never give up.
[…] life is actually pretty simple. Help as many people as you can. Make as many friends as you can. Work as hard as you can. And, no matter what happens, never quit!
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Believe in yourself at least as much as the person who gave you the gig. And make them look smart for giving it to you.
Gabe the Bass Player, Gig Notes
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Finished reading: The Art of War (Translated by Lionel Giles) by Sun TzÇ” 📚 Wonderful read, and I enjoyed the approach to translation. This is the first Chinese book I’ve read and it’s interesting to see the difference in underlying historic and cultural references compared to ‘the Western tradition.’
As far as the text itself: I was intrigued by the evaluation between direct and indirect action (as well as the appearance of each). A second idea that especially resonated: “what the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.”
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when you remove the self-correcting mechanism of a market but leave human beings inside the system, they don’t just sit there. They adapt. They innovate. But they innovate around the constraints rather than toward the mission. In healthcare’s broken non-market, innovation means gamesmanship.
One more from Dr. Sobol, via Substack
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My mother once shared a framework I’ve never forgotten. She said roughly a third of people are naturally hard workers — put them anywhere and they’ll do their best. Another third are driven by incentives — the more they’re rewarded, the more they produce. And the final third will do the minimum regardless.
Ilya Sobol, MD, ‘Who’s in the Room’ via Substack
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No one would ever turn this feature on, but I’d like my productivity system to automatically delete — without warning — to-dos that are older than 30 days, have no status updates, and have no due date.
Every morning, every task is passed through my is this important to complete filter. If there are tasks where I am stuck, my half-move is to spend 30 seconds editing or rewriting the task.
It’s not the tool or tool features (or the fish). It’s entirely me and my ability to have the stamina to follow a reasonable set of habits. Stop blaming your tools for the fact that you’re lazy.
I Hate Fish, Rands in Repose
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Ilya Sobol, MD on practical considerations for AI
[…] the act of engaging with difficult, long-form thought literally restructures the architecture of your mind. It teaches you to hold complexity, to tolerate ambiguity, to follow an argument across many pages and evaluate it honestly. These are the capacities that make you a powerful thinker, and powerful thinking is the raw material that AI multiplies.
We are organisms. We are not disembodied intellects floating in digital space. We are creatures of flesh and bone and breath, and we require movement to survive—not just mental movement, but physical movement. You must move your mind and move your body. You must do both, because we are built to do both, and when either one stops, something essential begins to die.
That we will allow the tools to do our thinking and our striving for us, and in doing so, remove the very resistance that makes us capable of growth. The seedling that never feels the wind does not become a tree. It becomes kindling.
Worth reading in its entirety. Reflects so many of my thoughts about the application of AI and how to think about the developing ecosystem. I have more thoughts around the fundamental purpose of our existence in relation to technology, evolution of technologist profiles over time, and how our selection of tools is an opportunity to select the stewards of these technologies and their externalities…
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F1, 2025 - ★★★½
Good movie! Enjoyed watching it, was really impressed by how they filmed it to use real footage — which included both 'live' incorporation of the characters but also creative cuts and clips. Maybe a touch long in my continued theme of 'movies trying to close every open loop.'
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Finished reading: Your Music and People by Derek Sivers 📚
Many premises from a music industry perspective that read (maybe surprisingly) accurately against the venture / startup world as well. Great tips around mindset and marketing — a business tactics book for builders, in a way.
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Finished reading: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 📚
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No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man - Heraclitus
First book of the year down! A tradition I’ve greatly enjoyed.
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