FS | BRAIN FOOD
May 10th, 2026 - #680 - read online - Free Version
Welcome to Brain Food, your weekly signal in a world full of noise.
+ Happy Mother's Day to all the incredible Moms out there. We don't always have the words, but you are always appreciated.
Tiny Thoughts
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When someone's habits don't match their ambitions, trust the habits.
The corollary: Do your habits match your ambitions?
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Most success comes from 50 small things moving in the same direction, not one big thing.
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Most beliefs are soft until challenged. When you tell someone they're wrong, the belief hardens.
Instead of trying to convince someone they're wrong, assume they know something you don't and figure out what it is.
I've found that saying, "Seems like you have a reason for saying that ..." helps them explain instead of defend. Half the time, they'll find gaps in their own reasoning before you have time to point them out. The other half, you'll learn something and change your own mind.
Insights
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Author Aldous Huxley on having fun:
"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age."
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Coach Bill Walsh on big ambitions:
“If you aim for perfection and miss, you're still pretty good, but if you aim for mediocre and miss?”
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Legendary founder Harrison McCain on the characteristics of an entrepreneur:
"The entrepreneur keeps himself operating on the threshold of excellence because he fears mediocrity. The entrepreneur has learned to dig for facts. The first explanation given does not include all the facts. Once the facts are found, the necessary action is clear. The entrepreneur has a sixth sense of what will work and what will not work – by adjusting experience and knowledge. The entrepreneur tenaciously grasps every opportunity to meet goals using the art of human relations (some say it is a science), the laws of the marketplace, and excellent management of manpower, money, and machines or resources. The entrepreneur knows that he must delegate responsibility, but he never sacrifices his knowledge of the details. The main difference between the entrepreneur and the manager is attitude!"
The Knowledge Project
Some updates:
- If you're a geek for uncommon details, I'm posting interesting things I come across while researching episodes of Outliers on this substack.
- Now that the podcast edits are tighter, members will start receiving extended versions soon. (They already get hand-edited transcripts, no ads, and early release.) Learn more or join right now.
- TKP's interview schedule is bi-weekly; however, I sometimes release versions off-schedule to work around constraints. For example, the episode with OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman needed to come out before the trial started. That's why there seems to be a longer break than normal.
- The next episode drops on Tuesday (Members already have access). What surprised me most about this person is that he runs one of the fastest-growing companies in history (and his entire life) from a Google Doc.
SPONSOR
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Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week.
— Shane Parrish
P.S. How does the chair illusion work?
P.P.S. The Great Mental Models Boxed Set makes a great gift for your recent or upcoming grad. Also, Clear Thinking is on an outrageous sale at Amazon. I've never seen it so cheap (Amazon controls pricing, not me!)
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