Shower thought:
Normal behavior is forgotten. Only weird behavior survives.
Nobody tells stories of when you did the expected — they only tell stories when you did the unexpected.
Normal behavior costs nothing in the short term — but it disappears into the abyss.
Unconventional behavior costs a social price in the short term — but the actions live on as story assets in the future.
1. If you pay for the bill at everyone in the table - the short-term reaction is shock and confusion. But in the long term, it’s everyone’s favorite memory of you.
2. If you travel across the world for a friend's birthday, the friend’s initial reaction is: “You don’t have to do that” — but it’s the story they tell at your funeral.
3. If you’re 100% honest with your feedback on people’s business ideas, the short-term reaction is anger — but in the long term, you become one of the few people they trust.
If you study the biographies of the greats or attend the funerals of people you care about — the normal rational behavior is never mentioned.
It’s filled with stories that make the individual unique. It’s all the times they broke out of the median distribution of human behavior.
If you want to create behavioral assets that tell stories for you in the future, you have to pay the price of appearing weird in the present moment.
Your personal brand is defined by your weirdness, eccentricities, and irrational behavior.
If you remove them in order to fit in with the tribe, you remove all future stories and memories that tribe will tell about you.
People who are exceptionally good at talking are usually less skilled in execution.
And those who are exceptionally good at execution are usually less good at talking.
We compensate outwardly with our strengths to distract from our weaknesses.
A message for friends of entrepreneurs:
Don’t buy them a present.
Buy their product and leave a nice review or tell them why it wasn’t good enough to deserve it (an even better gift).
No one needs more stuff.
Everyone could use more support.
Many of the native fish species found in Oklahoma's waters have long lifespans. In fact, in late May 2019, an Oklahoma angler caught a 66lb female smallmouth buffalo fish that was estimated to be 62 years old. That's a whole 37 years past being eligible to date Leonardo DiCaprio.
“This one is somber, so it’s alright to cry. It’s called ‘He Layeth on High’ and it’s about a big baby duck who gets his head caught in a stewed tomato, so hold onto your hats. Two three four—”
“It is fatal to know too much at the outset. Boredom comes as quickly to the traveler who knows his route as the novelist who is over certain of his plot.” — Paul Theroux