I'm Interested [07] - Pain.land, The Air You Breathe, Remote Work, Don't Follow Your Passions
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[7.1] Product: Painland
Start with the why.
Start with the problem.
Go where the pain is.
If you’ve ever explored entrepreneurship, you’ve probably seen these kinds of statements plastered on sites and thought-pieces everywhere you look.
Good products solve hairy problems.
Enter, Pain.land
A community where members share what frustrates or annoys them in their lives. I'm talking about all those bottlenecks, slow processes or things that make them waste money or prevent them from achieving their goals in a fluent and fast way.
With this kind of community, not only are you fed real customer problems, but you have access to those people who could be an entrepreneur’s early adopters for early feedback and solution shaping.
Oftentimes, the best performing products are not entirely new & novel, they solve the most important pain points of the existing solution. Painland helps address the constant challenge of finding those opportunities. How meta.
[7.2] Things You Don’t Always Feel Like Doing, But Never Regret.
This is one of those tweets that perfectly explains something that you’ve always known but never understood enough to articulate clearly.
I feel like every good day should include at least 2-3 of these kinds of things, right? These are the things that make you sit back at the end of a day and feel satisfied.
What other things come to mind that are worth doing, but usually don’t catapult you into action?
Going to bed early
Going for a long walk
Cooking a healthy meal (or a few)
FaceTiming a friend
Doing a deep clean or sorting & purging belongings
Packing everything up and driving out for a night of camping
Sitting with your thoughts and no distractions for an extended period of time
[7.3] Better Air: The Easiest Way Not to Die
What do you worry about more: Getting exercise, eating vegetables, or the air you breathe?
While most things that provably improve health are well known, one is insanely underrated: Fixing your air. I suspect this is often the most effective health intervention, period.
Nothing else is so important while also being so easy to address.
Disclaimer: This is from a very long and thorough article about the air we breathe. It’s not peer-reviewed, and no—I have not had the time to fact-check this stuff. He created a way to calculate life-cost for different activities that might be a stretch, but you can examine his methodology. He had enough computation and due diligence in here to convince me of its merit. If you have 20 minutes and want to get in the weeds with this guy, I highly recommend it. If nothing else, you should probably extinguish all your candles with their lid from now on.
It’s hard to prioritize health advice. I’m told I should limit salt and eat cruciferous vegetables and do cardio and sleep well and limit alcohol and reduce stress and go for regular checkups. But how much do each of these matter? If you’re a fallible hairless ape, what should you do first?
If you don’t want to read this long, looooooong article (I’m sorry) just do these things in this order:
If you have an ultrasonic humidifier, kill it.
Monitor local air quality like the weather.
No incense.
Extinguish candles with a lid.
Be careful about smoke when cooking.
Get a particle counter.
Use an air purifier at home all the time. (Move this to #1 if the outdoor air has high particulate levels where you live.)
Install a HEPA cabin air filter in your car (super easy).
Avoid aerosols.
Use a mask very carefully when in dirty air.
[7.4] Remote work: Kevin Moved to Idaho
In the last issue, I started to discuss the impending employer v. employee turmoil over remote flexibility, performance management, presenteeism, etc.
This is already starting to play out in the hiring process…
Applicant: “What is the status of remote work/in-office going forward?”
HR: “Oh, we are remote-first for most of 2021, but then will slowly transition back into the office by the end of the year. We will have a hybrid model where folks spend a few days each week in person at the HQ in Philadelphia and with our clients.”
Applicant: Alright, I guess that makes sense. What about Kevin (the guy that just interviewed me)? He and his family just moved to Boise, Idaho?
(Boise—everyone is doing it!)
HR: “We’re…figuring that stuff out.”
Applicant: “Ok” (Cool, I’m going to move wherever TF I want)
Read more on the Remote Work Revolution. I’m going to keep this thread going as the world of work changes. Reach out to me or leave a comment if you’d like to talk about this!
[7.5] Don’t Follow Your Passions
What?
Honestly, I love this discussion on seeking a feeling of contribution > passion in our career. Passion is fiery but can wane just as quickly as it can be ignited. Further, finding your passion is an abstract, moving target that can leave us distraught and feeling unfulfilled.
A sustainable, fulfilling career is best found where we are an impactful contributor. We are at our best when we feel like we’re at the confluence of a skill and some interest, where we are valued, where we are essential to progress.
Don’t take it from me, take it from NYT bestselling author Dan Pink—sometimes avoiding passion is critical to career happiness.
“What’s your passion?”
Seriously, I hate that question. It makes me flinch and tighten and stammer. What’s more, I think it’s not an especially useful question for finding one’s path.
Maybe you’ll agree. Maybe you won’t. Just don’t get all passionate on me.
Closing with the Vibes
The right combo of brass, chill beats, and vocals that make it feel like it’s from another era. A Happy Song. That’s for sure.
Thanks for reading and thank you for your support. Enjoy the rest of your week and stay curious!
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Editor’s Note: I made another giant batch of spicy dill pickles this week—powered by the almost-not-believable herb production volume of the Aerogarden. Why am I bringing this up?