I’m driven by proving the perpetual big brother voice wrong. Being doubted, disbelieved, and disrespected drives me. Fighting to survive and surprise as an underdog. Then one day you land a blow. You win a game of one on one. After years of trash talk and dismissal, you do it. And guess what? You get no credit. No acknowledgement. It’s downplayed. Forgotten by everyone but you. You’re still the little brother.
Author: Isaac Morehouse
Isaac Morehouse is the founder and CEO of Praxis, an awesome startup apprenticeship program. He is dedicated to the relentless pursuit of freedom. He’s written some books, done some podcasting, and is always experimenting with self-directed living and learning. When he’s not with his wife and kids or building his company, he can be found smoking cigars, playing guitars, singing, reading, writing, getting angry watching sports teams from his home state of Michigan, or enjoying the beach.
What Do You Know That You Don’t Know?
There’s a lot of knowledge inside a human. Most of it isn’t readily accessible with the conscious mind. It takes some work to access.
The Medical Industry Sucks
It doesn’t have to suck. There’s nothing about medicines and treatments and diagnosis and surgery that needs to suck by nature. It’s pretty awesome stuff. But the quality of the experience is almost always awful.
If Dogs Did Data
“Look Fido, everyone knows food is caused by the ringing of bells. This chart shows the instance of bell ringing and the instance of dinner. It’s definitive proof that if you want to obtain food for yourself as you go out into the world, you need to learn to ring bells.”
The Small Death in First Steps
Take the smallest possible step. Get it right. Take the next. Do this as fast as possible as many times as possible adjusting to bad steps as ruthlessly as possible. That’s the way. There’s no cheating the small steps.
I Wish My Work Was More Like Hip Hop
Rappers deal with beefs and frustrations through their art. The product they make is also their therapy. This is an amazing thing. I want to find out how to do this in other kinds of work.
Operant Conditioning for Everything
The dog and cheese stuff of classical conditioning is about creating involuntary biological responses. Hear a bell and the body produces saliva. Operant conditioning has to do with voluntary behavior and consequences more directly related to action. For example, getting a cookie when you sing a song may make you choose to sing more songs or feel positive about singing, but it doesn’t make your body involuntarily sing in the presence of cookies.
Make Something Crappy Today
One of my lofty goals is to make the world a freer place. How’s that supposed to guide daily action? Some days I begin by writing down the phrase, “Today I will live free.” That’s it. Just try to live as free as I can today.
What Does it Mean to Live Free?
Humans are good at adding layers of justification and passive aggression to our words and actions. Pretty soon, it’s impossible to identify our own desires. Denying yourself the use of manipulative tactics forces you to come to terms with your thoughts and feelings. Why do I want her to go on a walk with me? How much do I value it? Why might she value it? What could make it more valuable than her alternatives?
Beware ‘It’s Getting Worse’ Narratives
I’m skeptical of any argument that says X or Y are worse than they used to be. Not because things can’t get worse. I don’t hold to the Whig theory of history. I’m skeptical because the ‘things are getting’ worse framework is always accepted and no one demands evidence.