Merlin Mann

This is SO different from the way I first see Jim Ray's crack in my dreams.

Great work, Albert.

Amy & Jonas win, but Sandwich gets the assist. Gold.

Sorry, guys. Cutting over to friends-only comments. Spammers found me (no, not Gias, he's just filing a bug report). My apologies.

Sorry, guys. Cutting over to friends-only comments. Spammers found me. My apologies.

Dude, relax. I love feedback; I dislike careless, rote feedback in the service of personal brand-building. I found your feedback passionate, insightful, and well-considered, and I thank you for it.

Here's my feedback to your feedback:

Unfortunately, what you describe is not possible for most people without eventually becoming an unemployed psychopath.

We can *DECIDE* who we are (in the sense I'd described), but we're also necessarily connected to lots of other people and expectations. THAT is the complicated part and it's why, in my opinion, most of the people who crave a new "system" need a new system like a hole in the head.

Viz: if you do nothing but listen to other people, you become a human xerox machine; if you listen to no one but yourself, you become an island.

The tricky part, as I should get better at saying, is that this is a never-ending process that gets tweaked in real time. Like the "wicked problem" ( bit.ly/2QA2jP ) these are challenges that we can't always understand until they're behind us.

My big point is the most obvious one in the world. We need to stay aware. And we need the lightest framework we can tolerate for reminding us to be aware. And for a lot of folks I know, that may mean discarding the comforts of systems, "tricks," and "tips" that produce a false sense of accomplishment and control. I believe that for everyone this means "deciding" = iterating that mix of open attention and inward consideration. Attention and time.

Anyway. Blah blah. Book chapter.

Thanks, Daniel. I appreciate the remarks.