How to stay excited in a world that is falling apart
summary
Recounts built an online training system that saved an airline and a personal method for deliberately changing luck through small, repeatable habits; reports a failed seed-fund search that becomes a weekly meetup averaging ~50 one‑on‑one life‑changing conversations per year; demonstrates concrete rituals (wheelchair empathy, writing exercises, boutonnieres) and hard lessons (tried making YouTube, failed; failure framed as practice). Argues for functional decomposition and focusing on assisting existing helpers rather than inventing vague apps.
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chapters (39)
- 0:00Intro
- 1:54It's called skilled labor. Look into it.
- 2:35There's more to this story
- 3:12I changed my luck (and so can you)
- 5:17Amor Fati
- 8:50Positive memories
- 9:40Staircase
- 10:17Climbing the wall
- 11:03Hitting the wall
- 12:09Leaving the wall
- 12:49Appsterdam Business Chat
- 13:26Giving back
- 14:15Looking back
- 15:09(Attempt to) achieve your dreams
- 16:42Don't fear failure
- 17:14The one thing you absolutely need to be a programmer
- 18:10Life too is an iterative process
- 19:45Enjoy their laughter
- 20:43Do something about it
- 21:09Functional decomposition
- 21:52Every little bit helps
- 22:33Does it make a difference?
- 23:58What people get wrong about business
- 24:402. Software
- 25:16How cells work
- 25:55Look for the helpers, then help them!
- 26:35Finding the opportunities in the bad
- 29:19Changing your luck
- 31:09Recommendations
- 31:28Parable of the Sower Octavia E. Butler
- 32:03The Artist's Way Julia Cameron
- 32:50A Return To Love Marianne Williamson
- 34:29The Anthropocine Reviewed John Green
- 34:53Horse proverb
- 36:36What's the best thing about the world ending?
- 37:30What really matters?
- 38:06What really matters to you?
- 39:06Suits, Boots, and Boutennieres
- 39:32Thank You
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