Happy Friday — I hope it’s a joyful one!
Status Quo Buster Trivia: On Sunday, April 7th, someone tore the status quo asunder by logging an incredible human achievement in the history books. Running 16,294 kilometers in 352 days. Who is it? 👀 Scroll down to find the answer.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter which has a peculiar amount of decisions for you to make.
Curious
An insight from Epictetus about curiosity:
“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
Epictetus, Discourses, 2.17.1
I previously quoted, “Certainty crushes curiosity” in the context of how boring everything would be if we knew what would happen in the future — but that’s not all it does.
This lesson from the Stoics is a reminder that certainty not only robs you of curiosity for the future but also from today.
I’ve been humbled more times than I’d like to admit when I lead with a hard-headed approach.
Of course, there’s a desire and need to be competent, but blind attachment to learned concepts, which at their core are simply thoughts — will hamper your ability to:
Learn
Grow
Connect with people
The ego craves “knowing” as it wants to feel assured. That’s why people typically avoid those who challenge their beliefs.
You can never live free if you are a prisoner to your thoughts.
Curiosity chips away at the shell of the ego. When you break through, you discover the freedom that comes from not knowing.
You can choose not to know. Uncertainty creates curiosity.
LVN Apparel
When I launched the LVN website, I was surprised that many people were interested in the LVN T-shirts. At the time, it was simply a creative project, but as I’ve clarified the mission — I want to provide quality apparel to create another touchpoint with the Live Free newsletter community.
I would start with black and opt for a slightly more relaxed, oversized fit.
Bringing this to life would begin with a limited supply, so before I dive in — I want to know if you’d be interested in going on a waitlist for some LVN apparel.
Votes are only open for a week.
(feel free to share this post with a friend who would like to join in)
Conscious
Writer, on intentionally controlling the pace of life by prioritizing what matters to you:
“Having a moment to breathe during the day is the bare minimum if you want to survive in this fast-paced world. If you feel guilty for starting your day slow or taking a break in the middle of the day to just BE, rethink what you truly seek in life.”
Source: UNWIND
Change
A framework shared by Stephen Bartlett for making decisions:
In last week’s letter, Reframe The Game, I shared how reframing failure as feedback will be the difference between making progress or staying stuck.
That said, changing your perception alone is only the starting point.
If you read last week’s letter, you’re at step 2 of the change process. You understand that failure is feedback, but you need clarity on what’s worth failing fast on and what actions you should deliberate over. After this post, you’ll be equipped with a framework to move to step 4.
The framework Steven Bartlett shared at his speaking tour in Dublin uses two core guides:
Irreversibility
Consequentiality
What word stands out to you?
3 of the 4 scenarios recommend making fast decisions. What does this tell you?
Most doors don’t shut once you walk through them.
Fear makes us deliberate for far longer than we need to on most decisions. We crave certainty over outcomes — but those are not inside our control.
That time and energy are better used creating, reflecting, and repeating.
I started this publication as soon as I arrived home from a walk where the idea arose. Still, when I recently wanted to change the title to fit the mission more appropriately — I stalled and stuttered until I realized they were the exact same type of decision. Only this time I let fear cloud my clarity.
That’s why the use of frameworks like these is so valuable.
Whether it’s publicly sharing creative work, writing online, or turning your passion into a side hustle — decide fast.
Live Free,
Niall
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Status Quo Buster Trivia Answer
Russ Cook, aka the “Hardest Geezer”, became the first person ever to run the entire length of Africa. Completing over 385 marathons in 352 days.
The epitome of living free.
If you enjoy reading my work, feel free to share it with friends! Or click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack 🙏
of course
Thank you for the mention Niall!✨
I LOVED reading this piece. My favourite quote has to be, “You can choose not to know. Uncertainty creates curiosity.”
It’s so easy for us to try to control every single minute of our lives. I love that these words serve as an invitation to embrace the unknown.
This was so calming to read