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A weekly trends and research newsletter exploring ideas and companies that are likely to leave a legacy.

1 Long-Form Lesson

For 95% of my adult life, I’ve avoided hard.

Hard convos. Hard activities. Hard work.

I mean, hard sucks after all.

I still did things and worked, but I always optimized for what came “easy.” I downplayed high-pressure presentations and meetings because I didn’t want to admit that something was on the line. I often feigned nonchalantness in a feeble attempt to look unbothered.

The 5% of my life that I’ve not avoided the hard has been the last 4 years. I guess it’s more like 12%, but whatever.

Everything I’ve truly wanted—money, health, depth, love—was on the other side of hard.

I’m in the best shape of my life – this only happened after hard workouts and harder diets.

I’m making more money than ever – this only happened through hard interviews and hundreds of rejections.

My friendships feel stronger than ever – this only happened through hard conversations and uncomfortable moments.

Everything is on the other side of hard.

Even though I know this to be true, my old ways lurk in the shadows.

I can feel the resistance creeping up. I want to avoid the hard things. And the truth is that the only way to beat the hard is through it.

I’ve been talking about and working on an idea I’ve had for the last three or four years. It’s a fitness app. I’ve told folks about it. I’ve gotten it designed. I even started hiring developers for it.

The hard thing I was avoiding was getting into the confusing and scary technical side of things. I’ve always told myself that I’m not good at math. I’m not technical. I can’t do that.

It’s the hard thing I’ve always avoided. But after interviewing devs and talking with friends like Daniel H (shoutout to you, bro), I’ve realized I can no longer avoid the hard.

So what am I doing now? Well, I’m making my way through the obstacle.

I had to revisit my time and calendar and begin learning a platform called Flutterflow, which is a no-code/low-code dev tool. It’s the lowest possible barrier to entry, lol.

I started today and connected my Firebase backend. I guess that’s something!

What’s the hard thing you’re avoiding?

So many of the trends I notice circle around a couple of core tensions: loneliness, digital disconnection, and community.

People want to get off the phones and into deeper relationships.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever read was, “If you want to get invited to more parties, start hosting them.”

I am starting to see a lot more people get into this practice and hone this skill. (And yes, hosting is 100% a skill.)

This article from Vogue, which documents some hosting tips from 1930, is Chef’s Kiss. I loved this tip:

Protein is everywhere, and that includes… water. I love it when beverage companies find a singular ingredient and make it their entire identity (actually, I really don’t, but it’s hard to stand out these days).

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