Arman's Antics (#047)
The latest from curious contrarian Arman Khodadoost
Hey everyone!
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas. Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics. A glimpse at what I’ve been exploring and pondering that will either make you think, laugh, cry (or a nasty combination of the three).
Welcome to the four new subscribers receiving this for the first time (291 total). I don’t take your time or attention lightly.
Essay I wrote last week
Are you struggling to find purpose in this strange existence we call a human life? You’re not alone.
We get seduced and convinced that we need to be a special snowflake unlike anyone else who has ever walked this Earth. That’s ridiculous.
There’s a group of people we ought to pay special attention to because:
Your heroes show who you are
People with tons of interests often struggle to select their optimal life path. A year ago, I felt I was just a salesman and a washed-up athlete. Sure, I write little essays exploring exciting ideas on the serious business of living (with a pinch of humor)
Signs of ageing
A whole host of strange things have reminded me that my youth is over.
It felt like my left calf had an ice pick being repeatedly stabbed into it with each lunge I did in the gym. But I quickly got over that.
There was an incident a few days later that I haven’t been able to shake.
I messaged my childhood friend to see if he could make it to my wedding. Normal enough, right?
But I didn’t text him, didn’t even give him a call, I messaged him on Linkedin. The saddest part?
He responded immediately like it was totally normal for us to be communicating there.
RIP to my youth.
Sorry for being a bad subscriber
There’s a handful of you that I know read every single word I write. I can see it in the stats and you also never fail to click the heart button and leave insightful comments. I appreciate you more than you know.
Why can’t I do the same?
I used to pride myself on maintaining inbox zero, but things have fallen apart. I’ve got 200+ unread emails as I’m writing this and many of them are from my fellow writers who I’ve asked to show up in my inbox.
Where’s the disconnect?
I feel guilty when I don’t have dedicated time to sit down and closely read each email that I’ve asked to receive. So I’ve stopped doing it at all and the unread emails are piling up like my unread books.
So this is for you — my fellow writer — who I know is fighting the good fight just like me. I’m sorry for being a bad subscriber.
Go first
I believe I first heard this tip from Ali Abdaal but I’m sure it’s been said by plenty of people:
Go first.
If you see someone who looks cool, go up to them and say something.
If you see someone rocking your favorite sports team’s apparel, let them know you’re also a fan.
Basically, make the first move.
I’ve flown on dozens, probably hundreds of flights in my life. But how many of them were memorable?
Just two.
The first was because the lady sitting next to me would not shut up, but I enjoyed it.
The second was this past weekend when I decided to go first.
I was sitting in the opposite of first class (literally the last row of the plane) and noticed the guy next to me was reading a book I had read before. So I just turned to him and said, “That’s a great book. What do you think so far?”
I would typically never do this because I fall into this camp while on flights: don’t acknowledge my existence and I promise to return the favor. It works quite well especially when I wear a hoodie, hat, and airpods just in case there was any doubt from my fellow passengers.
But next thing I knew this stranger and I had exchanged numbers, and he texted me a list of bachelor trip recommendations in Chicago because he had been on one himself a few years ago.
I also found out he lives fifteen minutes away from me in Austin. And he and I might even be able to referral some business to each other.
All from a caffeine fueled spark to go first.
Random thought
Give me OI (organic intelligence) over AI (artificial intelligence) any day of the week.
That’s it for the 47th edition of Arman’s Antics. Thank you for spending a portion of your limited time and attention with me. Now back to your regularly scheduled nonstop scrolling.
Have a terrific Tuesday!
Cheers,
Arman
Click that heart button so I know you have a heart.
Have you ever had any memorably negative flight experiences? I certainly have.