The “yes and” technique is a favorite technique people use in improv. The idea is that you never stop the momentum. No matter what anyone says - you just say “yes and” and then keep the train going - accepting the premise the other person put forward - no matter how ridiculous it is The popularity has spilled over into business, brainstorming and other communication classes, but it works well with hard things with yourself as well. When shit sucks ...
Archives for 2023
Optimized for What?
In defense of suboptimal execution. There’s a lot of talk in the biohacking space about optimizing. People like Bryan Johnson have come out with the blueprint - spending $2 million to optimize his entire body worshipping at the altar of data. His stated goal: “don’t die.” This isn’t new - Dave Asprey did the first crack at this in the 2010s with Bulletproof and there’s been entire trends around “quantified self” I think it’s na interesting ...
Bombing Kill Tony At The Mothership
Anddddd we’re back with another installment of Joel knocking things off his impossible list. Usually this involves me doing something cool and having a great montage video to show you guys and looking cool (these are pretty fun to do). Sometimes, it involves me falling flat on my face (these aren’t as much fun). Well, you’re in luck - today we have a big serving of option #2. This was supposed to be “Joel does well at the Mothership” - Joe ...
Building Calluses
When you start working out with a barbell, your hands get raw. You tear skin, get cuts, but eventually calluses begin to form. When they do, the everyday movement doesn’t bother you so much and over time, you might even forget they’re there. But calluses only develop in places you consistently test. Calluses on your hands won’t help your feet if you start walking barefoot. It’s a whole new world. You have to start from scratch. And doesn’t ...
New IMPOSSIBLE Gear is Here (End of Winter Drop)
New Impossible Gear is here. Our product schedule is ramping up as we start scaling up this year. I'll have more and more announcements about what's dropping in our apparel lineup and in our custom formulas (new announcements coming soon). It's been fun seeing our gear pop up in different corners of the internet. A few of the ones I've noticed recently (as always - when you rock Impossible gear while doing something impossible - send it in). If ...
The Tao of the Gym Bro
The gym bro is always right. It’s fun to make fun of the gym bro. They can’t math. They spend too much time on creatine. And they love the gym selfie after a good pump. But like it or not - the gym bro is always right. This is the tao of the gym bro. Tao is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom You may not like it but this is how the world ...
If you’re lacking vision, try asking this question…
If you’re lacking vision, try asking this question... I was talking with a friend about a pretty big business decision several months back. There were several directions they could go and while we were talking, I asked a question in the flow of the conversation: What’s the right way to do this? The answer was super clear to both of us. Of course there were obstacles and issues (some pretty substantial), but they seemed pretty trivial in ...
Creative Debt
On Clearing Creative Debt In computer programming - the term “technical debt” is used quite a bit. The idea is that over time as you build something, you slowly accumulate technical debt. The idea is that you start by building something. Then you add something else on top of of it. Then you build something else on top of that. Over time, if your’e not particular about paying down your technical debt, you end up with a little bit of a ...
Type 2 Fun
I’m not much for video games, but I think I still have quite a bit of “fun” - it’s just a different type of fun. It’s called type 2 fun. You might be familiar - you might not. Here’s what I mean. Type 1 vs Type 2 Fun In the endurance and outdoor world, people often use the phrase “type II” fun to distinguish between “fun” and “fun.” Type I Fun Type I fun is what you think of with fun. Easygoing, laughs, relatively care-free “fun.” Some of ...
Sunday Sermon 1/52: Life is Short
“Stop saying, I’d like to be this. I’d like to be that. Grab your f—king nuts and be it” I didn’t do an annual review this year. I had plans for one, but it seemed life had other plans for me this last month (more on that in a future newsletter). One thing that’s gotten really clear - life is short. So short. This year especially - it seems like things go by fast. 2020 was both months and 4 years ago somehow. Wow. Sometimes the ...
