Mastering a skill
changes who you are.
Music, business, software engineering, languages. The domain matters less than the depth. Going deep on something rewires how you think, how you see, and how you relate to the world. That's self-actualization.
I want to make those paths more accessible and help more people walk them.
Values
The default mode. If I'm not making something, something's off.
Everything I care about gets better when it's shared.
The engine behind every project I've ever started.
Curiosity gets you in the door. Discipline is what keeps you there.
The long game. Getting genuinely good at something is one of the most rewarding things a person can do.
The ability to spend my time on things that matter. Everything else is in service of this.
If it stops being fun, I'm doing it wrong.
Do what you said you'd do. Say what you actually think.
The point of all of it.
Knowing which things matter and which things don't. Slowly getting better at this.
Things I believe, in no particular order
Keep things simple. If it feels complicated, you're probably doing it wrong. This applies to software, music, business, relationships, pretty much everything.
Build things you'd use yourself.
We are the authors of our own reality. If I feel stuck, it's almost always my own doing. If I decide to thrive, that's generally what happens.
Self-actualization isn't abstract. It happens when you commit to getting genuinely good at something that matters to you.
Go where the music is. The real version of anything lives in the place it comes from.
Breadth compounds. Every new domain makes the others more valuable.
Failure is the best teacher for the important stuff. There's only so much you can learn from a book or from other people's advice.
Teach what you're learning, not just what you've mastered.
The best learning happens in community, not in isolation.
Creativity, service, connection, and exploration are the four main ways I find joy. If I'm not happy, I seek out one of them.
Be an energy giver. Surround yourself with energy givers. Take responsibility for your own happiness and share it generously.
Hire for character. Skills are trainable. Integrity isn't.
Ship the smallest useful version. Iterate from reality, not from theory.
Just love on people. Tell them what you like about them. Express gratitude. Build people up. Celebrate their wins.
Travel changes how you think, not just what you know.
The people you surround yourself with will shape your life more than any decision you make alone.
Speak positively about yourself and others. There's real power in the words we use.
Design for durability. If it requires your constant presence to function, it's fragile.
If it's not a fuck yes, it's a no. (Derek Sivers)
The best meetings are meals.
The world needs more well-carved mastery paths for embodied skills. That's what I'm trying to build.
Self-actualized people create a world worth living in. The more of them, the better everything gets.
Stay a student. The moment you stop learning, you start repeating yourself.
Money is infrastructure for freedom, not a scoreboard.
Make things that would still be good if nobody was watching.