Arman's Antics (#031)
The latest from professional pruner Arman Khodadoost
Hey everyone!
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas. Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics. Some things I’ve been exploring that’ll either make you think, laugh, cry (or a nasty combination of the three🤔🤣😭).
Welcome to the seven new subscribers receiving this for the first time (239 total). I don’t take your attention lightly.
Essay I wrote last week
When we try to be for everybody, we end up being for nobody. There’s no point in casting a wide net if the holes are too broad to catch anything. We need a niched net to make it easy to catch the fish we’re looking for. It’s the same with art.
Proudly exclude 99.99% of people so the remaining .01% know you’re exactly who they’ve been looking for.
Podcast I listened to that made me laugh, think, and cry
Two of my intellectual heroes — Tim Ferriss + Derek Sivers (I’ve got their photos on my wall to prove it), met up in New Zealand for an unfiltered three hour conversation about tech independence, living abroad, and being a dad. The last five minutes brought a tear to my eye when Derek mentioned the importance of fatherhood. Have a listen here.
Isn’t it amazing that some of the most interesting people in the world create all this great content for us completely free? We are living in an information golden age. But it’s up to us to determine what’s worth consuming. It’s like if Plato and Socrates sat down to have a chat over gyros and baklava and we got to listen. Tim and Derek are my Plato and Socrates.
New email provider that changed my life
I did something I never thought I’d do. I officially retired my first email address (RIP yahoo).
I created my account 17 years ago because I needed one to create a myspace profile. But much like my first bank account with the criminal organization that calls itself a bank (shoutout bank of america), it’s hard to let go even though we know there’s a better way.
So I set up a new email with fastmail.com. I’ve been blown away by how much better my experience has been. In fact, I actually look forward to checking it now. Crazy, right?
No more ads begging to “help” me meet local singles when I’m just trying to pay my rent. Fastmail even let me connect my old accounts so I get forwarded all emails that are still sent to them. So I didn’t have to go through the hassle of updating anything. Their tagline should be “More hustle, less hassle.”
And yes, fastmail costs a few dollars a month, which if you know me at all you know frugal is my middle name, but this is an expense that is absolutely worth it.
And no, I’m not a paid spokesperson for fastmail so I’m not getting any affiliate money if you sign up. But maybe I should look into that.
Send me an electronic mail to armankho@fastmail.com and say hello👋.
Income and expectations
I was watching an interview on youtube (because that’s what I do in my free time) and one of the guys said something that stopped me in my tracks. “If your income doubles but your expectations triple you’re still worse off.” Damn.
That got me thinking about how this applies to sports. The tiny sliver of people who are good enough to play professional athletics should be set for life, right? Then why do we hear story after story of athletes going broke just a few years after their playing days are over? Their expectations soar with their incomes.
Here’s the MINIMUM starting annual salary for the five major professional sports leagues in America:
Major League Soccer ⚽️ (MLS): $65,500
Major League Baseball ⚾️ (MLB): $700,000
National Hockey League 🏒 (NHL): $750,000
National Football League 🏈 (NFL): $750,000
National Basketball Association 🏀 (NBA): $953,000
Sheesh. I used to think it was ridiculous that these guys could burn through this. Until I realized that these rookies are surrounded by teammates who are making 50x as much as them. The top NBA superstars can earn $40m a year.
So they probably still feel broke in comparison to their peers. It’s the old keeping up with the Joneses effect. Their incomes take a big step but their expectations take a stratospheric leap at the same time.
Random thought
My life motto: Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.
That’s it for the 31st edition of Arman’s Antics. Thank you for reading this while sipping your cup of coffee when you know you should be knocking out your other emails. Is that a tear I see streaming down your cheek? Or is that a grin I see? Or is that a thought bubble rising above your head? Xena and Brooke say hi.
Have a terrific Tuesday!
Cheers,
Arman
The only way I know you read this is by clicking the heart or leaving an insightful comment. So you know what to do.
Tangential question - Do you use your phone’s native email app or the email company’s app?
Hi Xena and Brooke!!!!