Happy New Year, friends!

I recently read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, and I highly recommend it especially as you begin the new year. It’s a short quick read, but one that will give you a necessary kick in the butt to pursue the dream you’ve been putting off.

Here’s one quote that hit me like a thunderbolt: “Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.” That ‘resistance,’ as Pressfield calls it refers to that force of self-sabotage that prevents you from achieving your highest potential.

I had resisted writing a book for years. I had always wanted to, but it was never the right time. It wasn’t until I sat my butt in the chair every single night regardless of whether I felt ‘inspired’ or not that I finished it in a matter of months.

Anyway, there could’ve just as easily been a world where I didn’t write a book last year, right? What would my life look like now? Would I feel fulfilled? Depressed? Regretful?

It’s fun to go down this rabbit hole, but we can get ourselves into trouble when we begin to dwell on the possibility of our alternate reality if only we had made a different decision.

We let our imaginations run wild with endless possibilities, some of which keep us prisoners of the past and others that allow us to be thankful for our lives today.

All we have is this present moment. Physicist Stephen Hawking once reminded us, “The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities.”

And here’s the mind-blowing revelation I had: No matter your situation at this present moment, you can choose to see it in a new light.

Robert Hoge was born with a tumor in the middle of his face and two severely mangled legs. Doctors suspected an anti-depressant his mother took when she was pregnant might have caused Hoge’s birth defects. When a reporter asked him if he could go back in time and tell his mother not to take the anti-depressants, would he do it?

His answer is a resounding no. “I have a good life. I’m happy, I’m healthy. I’ve got a wonderful wife, two wonderful daughters. And the other life I would have had might have been wonderful in many different ways, but it would not have been this life, and I’m pretty happy with this life,” he says. Hoge has made peace with the choices of the past, and he doesn’t waste time playing the anxiety-inducing game of “what if.”

When you fall into such a spiral, remind yourself of this Wait But Why graphic, and focus on the green lines rather than the black:

Polina M. Pompliano @polina_marinova

This @waitbutwhy graphic is absolutely mesmerizing.

3:04 PM ∙ Apr 26, 2021

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So in 2023, I urge you to get rid of the resistance standing in the way of your unled life — the one you really yearn for. Pressfield writes, “Look in your own heart. Right now, a still, small voice is piping up, telling you, as it has 10,000 times before, the calling that is yours and yours alone. You know it. No one has to tell you. And unless I’m crazy, you’re no closer to taking action on it than you were yesterday or will be tomorrow—because of Resistance.”

Stop playing the “what if” game, procrastinating, and waiting for the perfect moment. Defeat ‘the resistance’ by starting today — Day 1 of 365.

PROFILES.

— The podcaster who turned sex advice into big business [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— Hollywood’s ‘nepo babies‘
— The TikTok creator who doesn’t really exist
— The newsletter for America’s ‘most influential people’
— The companies racing to develop the quantum computer

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The podcaster who turned sex advice into big business: Alex Cooper, the 28-year-old host of podcast Call Her Daddy, signed a blockbuster three-year contract with Spotify worth $60 million. The podcast falls somewhere in the category between raunchy sex talk and female empowerment. Unlike some celebrities who covertly strive for a cultish fandom that blindly follows whatever they do, Alex has managed to create a real community—one where she and her listeners exchange stories, advice, and ideas. Here’s how she did it. (ELLE)

“I don’t pay attention to what other people are doing and I don’t consume other people’s content so I can maintain an original voice.”

Hollywood’s ‘nepo babies:’ Hollywood has always been obsessed with the children of famous people. In 2022, the internet reduced them to two little words: “Nepo Baby” (short for ‘nepotism baby). Maude Apatow (daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann) told Porter magazine the term made her “sad.” It filled Zoë Kravitz (daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet) with “deep insecurity.” Gwyneth Paltrow (daughter of Blythe Danner and Bruce Paltrow) commiserated about it with Hailey Bieber (daughter of Stephen Baldwin and niece of Alec) on the latter’s YouTube channel: “People are ready to pull you down and say, ‘You don’t belong there.'” (New York Magazine)

“A baby is a bundle of joy; a nepo baby is physical proof that meritocracy is a lie.”

The TikTok creator who doesn’t really exist: Carrie Jade Williams said she was sued by Airbnb guests who claimed they were triggered by her disability aids. But the incident wasn’t real, and neither was she. This feature delves into one TikTok scammer’s weird web of lies. (VICE)

“It made my blood run cold.”

COMPANIES TO WATCH.

The newsletter for America’s ‘most influential people:’ When the digital-media company Puck launched last September, it promised insider access from “elite, genre-defining journalists” to America’s centers of power—Hollywood, Wall Street, Washington, and Silicon Valley. Jen Psaki, Hank Paulson, Kara Swisher, and Sheryl Sandberg are all readers. Here’s how the site captures the “insider’s perspective” and brings it to its readers. (The New Yorker)

“People are anxiety-ridden. They want to read about what’s going on.”

The companies racing to develop the quantum computer: The race to build quantum computers has attracted as dense a concentration of genius as any scientific problem on the planet. Intel, I.B.M., Microsoft, and Amazon are also building quantum computers. So is the Chinese government. The winner of the race will produce the successor to the silicon microchip, the device that enabled the information revolution. (The New Yorker)

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