Juan David's Newsletter - November 21, 2021
What do you want? And, why aren’t you doing that?”
😮 Note: I just realized I never sent this so here it goes. I’ll send this week’s issue tomorrow night.
Since 2020, I’ve written almost sixty essays about many different topics from economics and math to college and CAD advice.
Most of them revolve around one question:
What do you want? And, why aren’t you doing that?”
This two-part question has been jumping around my mind for the past two years.
Let’s start with the first part of the question: What do you want?
It’s harder to pursue our true obsessions in a globalized homogenous world. Those activities, books, or projects, we would engage in simply because they look interesting, take more effort because we second-guess ourselves whether we’re working or doing the right thing.
“Am I studying the right thing? Am I with the right people? etc”
Believe it or not: the repetitive thought of opportunity cost is itself an opportunity cost.
I’d estimate before the pandemic, the number of people second-guessing themselves was not as high. Optionality combined with an increased sense of urgency is making people literally LOSE their minds.
AN UNHOLY MESS!
If we couldn’t commit to one thing due to the thousands of options, when you add an increased sense of urgency. You end up getting with millions of people wanting instant results and instant validation.
Are people getting lazier? Are people less willing to do the hard thing?
No and no.
Few people ask themselves what they want. They end up sourcing their thoughts and judgment.
Let me give you an example. How many of you know someone who before watching a movie or eating at a restaurant check out Rotten Tomatoes or Yelp?
It’s ok if you use these apps. The problem is that every time you use it, you lose the ability to think for yourself and sharpen your judgment.
Algorithms determine what we read, listen, think about, and…wait for it, what we do. This isn’t necessarily bad as you can get a better sense of what to work on, or what movie to watch. It becomes problematic when we never decide for ourselves, NOT ONCE!
Imagine someone who has relied on the algorithms, apps, and parents to make decisions for them. Then, imagine when that same person needs to decide what to do with their life.
(This is such a huge issue that the next billion-dollar app will be an app that tells you what to do with your life. Similar to Westworld’s Rehoboam.)
Start by making little decisions by yourself by picking the movie you watch or the restaurant you eat at.
Having a good judgment is important to know what you want. Because half of knowing what you want is being able to know what you actually want and doubling down on your decision.
What are you thankful for this year?
Have a great Thanksgiving,
Juan David Campolargo