a life with teeth

2600 years ago, Aesop wrote a fable called The Ant & the Grasshopper.

it’s about an ant who saved up food in the summer & survived the winter, while a grasshopper starved because he didn’t play it safe.

the Bible tells a similar story about the Hebrews, who made it through bad harvests because they saved grain from the good ones.

the Brits have a similar mantra, ‘make hay while the sun shines.’

& even today, dipshits like me talk about finding the right balance between living in the moment & building for the future — ‘being & becoming.’

it’s an idea as old as man:

‘play it safe now so you don’t suffer later.’

& it stood the test of time for a reason — it’s great advice!

except for when it’s not.

see, the whole idea relies on 1 thing being true:

playing it safe = avoiding suffering

when it comes to things like having food to eat during the winter — yeah, it’s true. you should probably play it safe like the ant did.

but some games operate under different rules.

sometimes, the biggest risk you can take is never taking a risk in the first place.

let’s play a game.

imagine if i handed you $1000 & gave you 1 rule to follow:

you must lose the least amount of money possible.

do you think it’s safer to (a) invest it in the stock market, or (b) keep it in your piggy bank?

common sense would tell you to put it in your piggy bank.

but reality would beg to differ.

see, you can earn or lose money in the stock market.

but the only guaranteed way to lose money is to never invest in the first place.

(inflation eats 3% of it every year)

this is true of so many things in life.

i waited 3 years to start my youtube channel, because i was scared of working hard on a video, only for it to be ignored.

but waiting guaranteed i would be ignored.

i waited 2 years to start a business, because i was scared of failing & getting stuck in a shitty job.

but waiting guaranteed i would stay stuck in my shitty job.

i waited 6 months to ask Emma out, because i was scared she didn’t want to come.

but waiting guaranteed we wouldn’t go out.

i could list examples like that all day, but my point is this:

everything i’ve ever accomplished in my life has been a direct result of me getting over my bullshit fears & just rolling the dice with reality.

because nobody is gonna take the chance for you.

it’s easy to ask ‘what if it goes wrong?’ & talk yourself into never trying.

but sometimes, it’s worth asking, ‘what if it goes right?’

don’t spend your life waiting for permission from the universe to start.

because it’s never gonna come.

live a life with teeth.

some things i learned

1. anxiety feeds on importance

   

2. the sandwich is named after a gambling addict named Lord Sandwich
   this is one of those facts that sounds like bullshit, but is actually true.
   
   Lord Sandwich, aka the Earl of Sandwich (a town in the UK), wanted a way to eat with 1 hand so he didn’t have to stop playing cards. he asked his servants to bring him cold beef in between 2 slices of bread — & it worked!
   
   since he was a well-known guy, people started asking for ‘the same as Sandwich’ & eventually just ‘a Sandwich.’ the rest is history.

3. the downstream effects of Ozempic
   it’s still too early to be sure, but there are signs that GLP-1’s like Ozempic are impacting other industries.
   
   some stats i found interesting:
   - almost 1 in 8 Americans are on Ozempic or similar drugs (>30M people!)
   - fast food visits have been falling for 6 straight months now
   - lingerie companies like Victoria’s Secret have seen a spike in sales
   
   worth keeping an eye on to see if the trends hold up!

cool stuff i found

1. just gonna leave this here
   i’ve come full circle.

   

2. a cool wallet
   i’m a big fan of the company Craighill & pretty much everything they make. this wallet is my favourite product of theirs (not sponsored):

   

3. a street performance that’s better than the original song
   i love the electric blues + soul, so this video has been on replay for me lol. you’ll understand why when you hear it:

anyways, that’s all for this week!

i’m travelling to Ireland, Spain, & Portugal for the next few weeks, so if you have any recommendations for foods to try or places to go in each of those countries, please let me know (:

if you were wondering, the big secret project i’ve been working on will be made public as soon as i’m back.

but until then, newsletters are still coming every Monday…ish.

go make yourself proud this week!

~ liam (:

PS - my inbox is FULL after i logged out for a bit, but i’m working through it now. please don’t think i’ve been ignoring you! i respond to every message.