Hello Reader, A few weeks ago, I was about to simplify an onboarding step in my app that felt clunky—an extra screen no one needed. I was ready to cut it to speed things up. But before I scrapped it, I paused. Why was it there in the first place? Turns out that step wasn’t just friction. It included an authentication check that helped prevent drop-off and improved conversions. Removing it would have quietly broken the system. That’s Chesterton’s Fence in action: don’t remove a fence until you...
29 days ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Earlier this year, I launched an ad campaign and watched clickthrough rates rise—but conversions didn’t budge. My gut said it was working. The data said otherwise. That tension between intuition and analysis? That’s the heart of fast and slow thinking. Fast and Slow Thinking is the dual-system model of decision-making introduced by Daniel Kahneman. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and automatic. It helps us recognize faces, finish sentences, and react to threats. System 2 is slow,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, After wrapping up the Kickstarter campaign for Re:Mind, I met with my personal board of directors to discuss what should come next. We’re moving into production for the deck and planning updates to the app, but the path beyond that was foggy. I had been focused on funnels, lead magnets, and tactical marketing—but they gently redirected me to the harder truth. The signals were promising, they said, but it was time to ask the deeper question: who is this really for? Defining my...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, I used to block off time every morning to map my daily priorities—carefully listing, sizing, and prioritizing. But after a few weeks, I stopped thinking about it. The process ran itself. I’d open my laptop, coffee in hand, and start without hesitation. That’s automaticity at work: when behavior becomes so embedded, your brain no longer “decides” to do it—it just does. Automaticity is what happens when effortful repetition transforms into unconscious execution. It’s not just...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, A few months ago, I switched to more efficient AI models for my internal tools—faster inferences, cheaper compute, cleaner code. The result? I ran more prompts than ever. What had been a thoughtful resource turned into a background utility. That’s Jevons Paradox: when something gets cheaper to use, we tend to use more of it—not less. This idea dates back to 1865 when economist William Stanley Jevons noticed that more efficient coal-powered engines didn’t reduce coal usage—they...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Last week I found myself fire-hosing a room full of stakeholders with diagrams of our new AI-powered intake platform. Five minutes in, eyes glazed; ten minutes, phones were out. The picture in my head? Crystal. To them? A jumble of jargon. That communication tangle points straight to the Minto Pyramid—a framework that stacks your thoughts into a clear top-down pyramid: headline answer first, supporting arguments next, evidence at the base. When explanations ramble and attention...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Ever wondered why fitness trackers lead to more daily steps? Or why sales teams hit quotas more consistently when progress is displayed publicly? They’re applying Pearson’s Law—a powerful principle stating that what gets measured improves, and what gets measured and reported improves dramatically. When we quantify our goals and make them visible, everything changes. Numbers create accountability, visibility drives motivation, and public reporting adds social pressure that often...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, Ever wondered why high achievers often feel emptier after major wins? Or why that motivational poster about “unlocking your full potential” leaves you feeling inadequate instead of inspired? You’re experiencing the Personal Potential Trap—the paradoxical phenomenon where pursuing your best self sabotages your actual well-being. When self-improvement becomes a religion, rest feels like blasphemy, and accomplishments never quite satisfy, growth has crossed the line into...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, Ever wondered why some people leave secure jobs to start risky ventures? Or why do those deathbed regrets rarely include "I wish I'd spent more time at the office"? They're applying the Regret Minimization Framework—a powerful decision-making approach that projects you into the future to evaluate choices based on potential regrets. When facing life's crossroads, we often fixate on immediate outcomes and rational analyses. But this framework flips the script, asking instead: "At...
3 months ago • 3 min read