We constantly question ourselves when attempting anything new for the first time, which is daunting. And what’s worse, it prevents us from doing anything new, so we can’t change who we are. If you’ve always been terrible at sports and want to start working out, the natural reaction after a few attempts is to stop and return to your old habits. At the end of the day, you’re not an athlete....

In the summer of 2019, I started to build Planleave, a SaaS product to manage time off days in an organization. I did it as a side project while working full-time as a software engineer at Buffer. Three years later, in 2022, I sold it. I’ve never worked harder on any side project than on Planleave. When I start any project, I usually go through the first honeymoon phase of absolutely loving the idea, but that fades away quickly, and I usually stop at that point....

Your car is perfect until you see your neighbor’s. Everything seems good enough, but then you see an ad or your Instagram feed and wish you had that beautiful desk instead of the perfectly fine one you’re using. “If only I had that new thing.” “If only I could go to that beautiful place.” “If only I could get that new laptop, car, or watch. My life would be much better”, we might think, but we’re wrong....

We’re losing our capacity to focus. When Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, little we knew how much that would change the world, it was the first step towards the ubiquity of smartphones. There was a premonitory phrase from Steve Jobs: “iPhone is like having your life in your pocket”.[1] iPhone presentation in 2007 And we loved it. We’ve embraced smartphones to the point where it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t own one, but we have yet to consider the consequences....

Once you’ve learned something, it’s not interesting anymore. What was surprising once now feels dull and obvious. Have you ever chatted with an adult friend about how rivers form? How does the water evaporate in the sea, forming clouds, and then the rain creates snow in the mountains? How is that snow melted and rivers are born, bringing that water down to the seas again? I bet you haven’t because it’s obvious to you....