Principles

Why collecting wisdom is easier than applying it I’ve been noticing something uncomfortable about my own thinking lately. I collect principles like they’re going to save me. Framework after framework, insight after insight, all carefully documented with proper attribution and cross-references. Ray Dalio on historical cycles. Charlie Munger on market selection. Larry Page on 10x thinking. Jimmy Carr on boredom and insight. The collection grows. The application lags. This isn’t writer’s block or procrastination in the traditional sense. It’s something more insidious: epistemic displacement. I’m replacing the hard work of doing with the comfortable work of knowing. ...

Why “we’ve seen this before” is the laziest thing you can say History doesn’t repeat itself. It rhymes. That’s not a cute saying. It’s the difference between someone who files a situation under “seen it” and moves on, versus someone who does the actual work of figuring out what’s the same, what’s different, and why it matters this time. Most people stop at the first version. It feels smart. It’s not. ...

Building better markets instead of chasing perfect prices Let’s talk about something every auctioneer thinks about: Are we actually finding true market value? I had an interesting conversation recently with a colleague about whether auctions reveal what something’s really worth. Sure, they can. But here’s what bothers me. We’re calling it “true market value” when maybe 5–10% of potential buyers ever see our marketing. How’s that the true value? This isn’t just theory. It creates real problems. ...

Boredom is an insight creator. The magic you’re looking for is in the work you’re avoiding. The answers you’re looking for are in the silence you’re avoiding. You need fewer inputs, not more. Source: Jimmy Carr in conversation with Chris Williamson on the Modern Wisdom podcast. What am I avoiding? Silence, work, something else? Or do I need to seek rather than avoid, and does seeking actually enable me to avoid? ...

If people made a movie about your life, what would be the key scenes? Whenever you get cancelled. Dissed. Attacked. If my life was a movie, this would be the best episode of a 10-part series. Source: Jimmy Carr in conversation with Chris Williamson on the Modern Wisdom podcast. You truly need the downs. They create the full story. Which makes me think… If you’re happy with you today, you’ve got to be happy with everything that’s happened to this point. Because this is what makes me today, me. ...

Laziness is a deep indicator from within you that you’re not doing something right with your own life. Source: Jeremy Giffon on the Invest Like the Best podcast. This one cuts. Because it reframes laziness from a character flaw into a diagnostic tool. If you can’t get yourself to do the work, maybe the work is wrong. Not “wrong” as in unimportant, but wrong for you, wrong for this season, or wrong in a way you haven’t been honest about yet. ...

When making a decision, project yourself into the future: 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months. If you made a decision or choice, how would you feel or think about that decision at that time? Use that to help guide no-regret decision making. I think I first heard this from Dad and have since heard it repeated in various forms throughout my life. It’s a simple framework, but it cuts through the noise fast. Most bad decisions feel obvious in hindsight because we didn’t bother to simulate the hindsight before we acted. The regret was predictable. We just didn’t slow down enough to predict it. ...