be your own hero

question for you:

what do Donald Trump, Albert Einstein, Taylor Swift, the Buddha, Lebron James, Mother Teresa, Chief Keef, & Queen Elizabeth II all have in common?

i’ll give you a second to think…

ready?

at some point in their lives, every single one of them has been hunched over a toilet, ass-naked, taking a flamethrower shit that would make angels weep.

i know that’s a crazy way to start a newsletter, but i said it for 2 good reasons:

1. i think it’s funny

2. to prove a point

& the point is, there are no superheroes in this world.

we’re all just dumb little monkeys walking around in fancy clothes, pretending to be adults.

& yeah, it’s a funny way of looking at things.

but when you think about it, a world without any true heroes is a scary idea.

we love the feeling of having a leader to follow.

think about the little kid who cheers for his favourite athlete.

he’s cheering for the good guy to prove that if you want something badly enough & work hard, you can do anything.

we never really outgrow that feeling.

we just find older, fancier versions of the same thing that are easier to justify than paying $120 for a shirt with another man’s name on the back.

& in some ways, it’s fine — inspiration drives progress.

but the idea that people ‘at the top’ are any different from you is complete BS.

we’re all going through life for the first time.

nobody has a map.

the gap between you & the person you look up to is much smaller than you think — it’s mostly just reps.

they say that everybody has two lives, & the second one begins when you realize you only have one.

don’t spend that life waiting for a hero to show up & save the day.

trust me, you will be sorely disappointed.

i say this as someone who would directly benefit from you seeing me as a wise mentor with all the answers — my whole business relies on people paying me to help them figure things out.

& i know it helps.

but if i do my job right, the whole point is for you to not need me anymore.

if your life was a movie, & you were the hero, what would the audience be screaming at you to do right now?

do that thing.

be your own hero.

some things i learned

1. my favourite definition of my favourite character trait
   the trait is ‘agency.’

   

2. some perspective from 95y/o investor, Warren Buffett
   ‘the bottom 2% in terms of income in the U.S. live better than John D. Rockefeller was living when i was 6y/o.
   
   he was the richest man in the world, & today, you can get better medicine, better education, better entertainment, better transportation. you can do everything better than he could.
   
   when i was born, dentists didn’t use novocaine.’
   
   this is the best time ever to be alive. don’t take it for granted!

3. Finland is covering kids in mud on purpose
   a study in Finland took 75 kids aged 3-5 & literally trucked in soil & grass from forests to lay over the gravel at their daycares.

   
   after 1 month, the kids’ skin had more ‘good’ bacteria, inflammation dropped, & we’re almost certain it reduces allergies to harmless stuff like peanuts & pollen.

   
   now the government is paying daycares across the country to make the same changes. pretty cool eh?

cool stuff i found

1. a basketball court inside a cave
   imagine getting your ankles broken in a place this cool:

   

2. a story that made me smile
   a golden retriever named Maru followed the street-view photographer around a tiny Korean island all day to keep him company. he ended up appearing in 1000+ images that are still live to this day.

   

3. a podcast i’ve been loving recently
   if you’re interested in history, listen to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast. each episode takes him several months of research to make, but you can see why. it’s comprehensive & seems about as unbiased as 1 man’s recap of historic events can get.
   
   i’m only 2 episodes deep, but it’s already earned an A+ from me.

anyways, that’s all for this week!

on top of the workload i’ve put on myself recently, i’ve also had more surprises added to my plate that are out of my control.

truthfully, idk if my past self would be able to walk in my shoes today — but that’s a good thing. it means i’ve grown.

so as a reminder to you (& to myself): we’re all doing this for the first time.

give other people grace, & give yourself some grace too.

go make yourself proud this week.

~ liam (:

PS - i promise i’ll tell you what i’ve been building VERY soon