There’s nothing really funny or entertaining in here today but several pieces that are longer and make you think. I hope everyone is having a great week!
What is the Sixth Day Six? Click here to learn what it’s about.
Why Success Can Feel So Bitter | The Atlantic
If you hit a big goal you’ve been working and sacrificing for…wouldn’t you be happy? Arthur Brooks says “not necessarily.” It’s the anticipation of the goal that gives us that dopamine hit, not the accomplishment itself. Happiness is more found in the pursuit than the arrival.
But have you ever anchored your happiness in some way to a far-off goal that you could attain only at significant personal cost, that you thought would deliver to you the satisfaction you seek or the success you crave? Maybe it’s finishing a degree, publishing a book, or making a certain amount of money. Nothing is wrong with these goals per se, but if you place your happiness in their attainment, you are setting yourself up for your own version of these bitter Olympic moments. Even if you achieve your goal, you are very unlikely to achieve the happiness you’re after. And you just might find yourself less happy than you were before you reached the mountaintop.
Volodymyr Zelensky Is Not a Meme | Wired
Ukrainian President Zelensky is truly having a Churchill-like moment. I keep reading about his unlikely rise into the leadership role he’s set and see so many parallels to the version of Churchills’ story in the book The Splendid and the Vile. While we can admire a politician like Zelensky, the author of this article from Wired says we shouldn’t idolize them. In fact, that’s exactly what Zelensky would say.
What’s the harm, one might ask, in viewing Ukraine as the Rebel Alliance and Russian president Vladimir Putin as Emperor Palpatine? Well, for starters, Zelensky is a person, not a Jedi. He doesn’t have magical powers. Thrusting an actual person into the role of Cinematic Savior is wildly unfair. Plus, Putin rules a country filled with actual human beings, many who are putting themselves at risk to protest this invasion. It also reduces Ukraine’s plight to something for people in NATO nations to pause over while looking at their phones, sighing sadly, maybe wiping away a few tears like they did at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Maybe, as Zelensky warned them not to do, they’ll admire his portrait. And then they’ll keep scrolling.
Click here to read the full article
The "misinformation problem" seems like misinformation | Slow Boring
This was an really interesting article from Matthew Yglesias’s Slow Boring newsletter. I’m still chewing on it a bit to be honest. I would have told you yesterday that, clearly, we have a misinformation problem on the internet. He takes this idea and flips it on its head. Yglesias has some decent arguments to back up his thesis. I don’t know if I’m 100% on board but I like at least looking at misinformation from a unique lens that does not skew into conspiracy world.
I tend to think that a lot of what is going on is that people see the internet increasing polarization — more people are fighting about politics and saying things they think are really dumb — and confusing that with people being misinformed.
Click here to read the full article.
How Will You Measure Your Life? | Harvard Business Review
This is a long read but full of wisdom on trying to approach “success” in a healthier way, how it’s easier to do the right thing 100% of the time rather than 98% of the time and why it’s so easy to let life catch up to us being more focused on tasks that grant us quicker results.
Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people. This is my final recommendation: Think about the metric by which your life will be judged, and make a resolution to live every day so that in the end, your life will be judged a success.
Life Is Up To You: 8 Choices That Will Make Your Life Better | Ryan Holiday
I really enjoy what Ryan Holiday writes. The idea of being focused on what you can control helps create a lot of freedom. This article reinforces that, leaning heavily on wisdom from ancient stoics.
These choices are all very minor, I get that. But that’s the point. These little choices we make–the choice to direct our attention, to grab the right handle, to not get upset–this adds up.
Click here to read the full article.
No man's land: Womble Bond Dickinson bridges the gap between digital marketing and business development | ClickZ
Not to toot my own horn but…toot toot. I sat down with ClickZ a while back to talk about all of the digital change I’ve been working to implement at Womble Bond Dickinson and how it runs contrary to a lot of what you see in legal marketing at-large. I’m proud of what our team has been able to do in the last year or so….winning some awards in the process.
There will be ideas and structures internally that have been around for ages, and Hawkins cautioned against being quick to dismiss them. “You have to keep an open mind–don’t tear down a wall until you know why it was built there in the first place. Your idea might be the best one, but there might be some legacy things you need to keep in place for a reason.” Ultimately, when implementing changes, he says, “check your ego at the door.”
Click here to read the full interview.
What book am I currently reading?
I’m wrapping up A Way With Words by Dan Darling. It’s been a great primer on how to use social media conversations more productively without totally abstaining (which I am currently doing but..). He also has a great primer on how to better read the news at the end of the book. I had the opportunity to briefly meet Dan during my time at DeMoss and he seemed like a genuinely good dude. His book very much reflects that.
Find any of the above interesting? Any of the above spark a conversation? Feel free to reach out to me here. If you think someone may want to check this out, feel free to share.
Great post! Keep ‘em coming, I enjoy seeing what you're reading 👍