How to Have an Adventure

Hi Zenith Catcher,

Tim Ferriss has this great filter:

“The good shit sticks.”

You read a book, hear a podcast, and boom, one line grabs you. It won’t leave. That’s how I felt when I heard this from Dr. Jordan Peterson on the Huberman Podcast. It stayed with me for more or less the past 5 months:

“Truth is an adventure because if you vow to follow the path of the truth, you have to let go of the predictability of the outcome.

Right now if I wanted to manipulate you in some way, I would craft my strategy for this podcast a priori and then I would tilt the podcast toward that end. And I could be more or less sophisticated at that.

Or I could just say, we’re going to follow the thread wherever it goes, and I’m going to accept the outcome. And I’m going to presume that the outcome is the best outcome that could possibly have been — even if I don’t see why.

Okay, why is that an adventure?

Because if I let go of my predetermined goal, I don’t know what’s going to happen.

And that’s exciting — because you don’t know.

That’s the essence of adventure. It’s like you’re bounding over the uncharted sea and you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

Why would you exchange that for a kind of banal predictability?

Well, to build your career, just. I mean, I understand why.

But you’re foregoing what’s truly valuable for something that’s second rate.

For something that’s secure.

That’s what Abraham did. It’s like — yeah — it’s better to have the adventure.

Why the hell wouldn’t you want that?”

I kept coming back to that idea:

Telling the truth or what you think to be true is an adventure.

Because you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

And that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to do in my podcast, to ask questions I’m actually genuinely interested in. Not what I think people want to hear or in what they might be interested.

It’s uncomfortable. People might disagree. But it feels right.

Because at least it’s what I really think. And I think that’s what makes someone authentic.

I’m still not there yet — I don’t always say what I think (because sometimes it’s damn scary). But I know what the aim is. And to avoid committing sin — which literally means missing the mark — I try to keep moving closer to it.

Much love,

Nicola

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Catch The Zenith Podcast

I do a podcast where I pretend to have a Swiss accent (wink). 200+ episodes online about high performance and business. You can subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

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This week’s episode:

Episode 209: After ending a 7.5-year relationship, I now find myself in the position of trying to find the wife I want to spend the rest of my life with. In this episode, I share how I’m attempting to do that — systematically. Plus, a few other reflections from the week, including lessons from my new job in sales. Watch or listen here.​

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Next week’s episode:

Episode 210: I sat down for round two with my mentor Silvan Krähenbühl — founder, investor, and someone I’ve worked closely with at Swisspreneur. We talked about money in relationships, marriage, kids, birth rates, and the tension between men and women. We also got into SaaS startups in the AI age, bootstrapping vs. fundraising, and Silvan gave some straight-up podcasting advice. A wide-ranging convo. Goes live on Monday here. ​

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Things I’ve Learned This Week:

1. This week I learned that in cold calling, people can be rude — fast.

But if you stay calm, don’t push, and ask real questions, something shifts.

They realize there’s a human being on the other end.

And if you do it right, they’ll actually feel bad for being mean — and change their tone.

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2. Another reminder this week: Parkinson’s Law is real.

If you give yourself 30 days to finish something, it’ll take 30 days.

But if you aim to do it in 6, it might take 6.

As Elon Musk says:

“If you give yourself 30 days to clean your home, it will take 30 days.

But if you give yourself 3 hours, it will take 3 hours.”

Time expands to fill the container. Shrink the container.

Quote of the Week:

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