Loud Money Buys Applause. Quiet Money Buys Years.

There is a road bike in my hallway. It is made of Italian aluminium, painted the aggressive, vibrant colour of a wasp, and it cost £1,200. I have ridden it exactly four times. Two of those excursions were simply to the end of the road and back to check if the brakes were rubbing.

… Read the rest “Loud Money Buys Applause. Quiet Money Buys Years.”

The Real Test of Love Isn’t a Crisis. It’s Good News.

I Stopped Renting My Own Mind (a Dead Emperor Fixed It for Free)

A rented mind never really rests. The going rate for calm is $200 an hour. Marcus Aurelius wrote the manual in a tent, on campaign, and never charged a soul. Some debts never show up on a statement. This is one of them.

A shorter version of this ran on Medium, and there’s a video walkthrough on YouTube if you’d rather watch it than read it.… Read the rest “I Stopped Renting My Own Mind (a Dead Emperor Fixed It for Free)”

I Built the “Perfect” Website and Heard Crickets: Why the Open Web is a Ghost Town

Borrowed gravity is the reason almost nobody read this page. I spent six weeks agonizing over a domain name.

I am not exaggerating for the sake of a relatable opening hook. I built a shortlist. I cross-referenced a spreadsheet of available top-level domains. I applied a weighted scoring system based on memorability, brevity, brand potential, and lack of hyphenation.… Read the rest “I Built the “Perfect” Website and Heard Crickets: Why the Open Web is a Ghost Town”

I Quit the 5 AM Club and My Career Moved Faster (Seneca Saw This Coming)

Watch the short companion video on YouTube, or read on for the full essay. This piece also lives on Medium.

I used to be a proud member of the 5 AM club. At 11:43 PM on a Tuesday, I was answering emails that could have waited until Thursday.… Read the rest “I Quit the 5 AM Club and My Career Moved Faster (Seneca Saw This Coming)”