29 Lessons On My 29th Birthday

Hello!

George Mack here.

I took a long break from writing for the last 2 years.

Including this newsletter.

I took a holiday in the Maldives recently and realised the following:

Writing and idea creation is an infinite game I want to play until my 90 year old hands stop working.

With that in mind, it’s my 29th Birthday today.

Here’s 29 non-obvious lessons I’d give my younger self:

1. The Western Blindspot:

Amazon has thousands of books on how to be a good parent.

There's almost 0 books on how to be a good son or daughter.

This represents a selfish blindspot in Western society.

You have to correct it for yourself before it's too late.

2. Be Like Japan:

When I ask people where they want to travel to: 90% say Japan

Japan practiced an isolationist policy called Sakoku for 265 years. They largely cut off the outside world resulting in a unique culture.

Once per quarter, practice Sakoku for a week.

3. Get Better At Giving Gifts:

If you have creative or entrepreneurial friends, you can get them close to tears on a tiny budget:

1. Google "Wayback machine"

2. Find their first website or creation

3. Get it framed

It will mean more to them than any expensive cliche gift.

4. 10% or 20%:

10% of my time should've been spent thinking about where my time was going.

When I was too busy to allocate 10%, I should've allocated 20% of my time to fix this problem.

5. How To Time Travel

If you go from doing a task once per week to once per day, you achieve 7 years of output in 1 year.

If you apply a 1% compound interest each time, you achieve 54 years of output in 1 year.

6. Anti-Signalling is Signalling: 

I thought fashion was for shallow people

So I wore the same black T-shirt and jeans every day

I took mushrooms and saw my reflection: I realized I was trying to signal I was above signaling

I didn't escape the game - I just looked terrible 😂

7. How To Be More Creative:

Collect the best questions you hear

Add them to a spinning wheel app

Spin the wheel before bed

Leave the question with your subconscious overnight

Brainstorm on the question first thing in the morning before any inputs

8. Become Your Own IRS:

I could've been smarter and happier by creating my own taxes:

1. Education tax - A % of my income goes toward education and tutors

2. Gifting tax - A % of my income goes towards gifts for other people

Even if it's $10 per month, it's miles better than $0.

9. Every Thought Has Opportunity Cost:

I spent too much thinking bandwidth on:

1. Ego

2. Insecurity

3. Emotion

This time had a huge opportunity cost. I could've used that cognitive horsepower on:

1. Inputs

2. Outputs

3. Feedback loops.

10. Service Worker MDMA:

If you interact with a service worker who’s constantly giving positive energy — randomly give them an uncomfortable amount as a tip one day.

It will be the best money you’ve ever spent. (It's pure MDMA -- without touching drugs)

11. The Salary Trap

The biggest mistake I made in my 20s was accepting a job purely because it increased my salary

I should've ranked opportunities on...

• Learning potential > Earning potential

Ironically, skill acquisition usually makes more money in the long term too.

12. The 2023 University Playbook:

• If I was to go back to University, here's what I'd do differently:

1. Drop out in the first week (Minimise debt)

2. Stay around campus (Maximise social skills)

3. Learn skills online + get apprenticeships (Maximise free time)

13. The 3 F's:  

1. Friends

2. Freedom

3. Flow State

This accounted for 90% of my happiness:

And if I don't have them, 90% of my misery.

14. How To Be A Good Writer:

1. Realise it's an infinite game: I want to do it until my 90-year-old hands stop working

2. Post and ghost. Don't wait to see people's reactions.

3. Commit to writing like an athlete. Get up early to do it. (Or just move to a time zone ahead)

15. Consume Niche Content:

I found Chris Williamson and Harry Dry on their first podcast + blog. (Both became great friends)

Watched a Steven Bartlett vlog that had a few thousand views (Got a job at his company)

Allocate a % of time to niche content the algo isn't serving you

16. Hardware > Software:

Rule of thumb: Fix hardware (physiology) before software (psychology).

1. 95% of software problems seem to get fixed when you take care of the hardware.

2. The remaining 5% is easier to debug once you've fixed the hardware.

17. Depressing Shower Thought:

• Driving is the last time most adults learn a new skill.

Positive reframe: If you're open to learning new skills in adulthood, you have an extreme competitive advantage.

18. Create Your Own News + Think From First Principles:

1. If you wait for the news to inform you - you'll either be wrong or too late.

2. If it's a talking point on Reddit, you're probably early.

3. If it's a talking point on LinkedIn, you're definitely late.

19. Friendship Rule Of Thumb:

Out of 5, how much energy do you feel after spending time with someone?

If 4-5 - break down walls to see them.

If 1-2 - fade away.

Energy is the best gauge. You don’t need anything more complex.

20. Avoid The Simmering 6:

I wasted so much time in the simmering 6. I wasn't fully switched on or fully switched off.

In hindsight, I'm much better when I operate in intense focus (9/10) -- or intense relaxation (1/10).

Most Type-A personalities do not know how to relax.

21. Learn To Sell:

The best thing I did was cold sales in my early 20s.

Cold selling is like muscle building:

Stack it whilst you're young because it gets a lot more difficult to do later on in life.

22. How To Think For Yourself: 

Have a decentralized friend group so you avoid mimetic forces.

• Want to laugh all night? Call your fun friends.

• Want to settle down? Call your serious friends.

• Want to start a business? Call your ambitious friends.

23. Outsource Your Weaknesses:

I thought doing things I was bad at was a sign of willpower and strength.

In hindsight, it was a sign of ego and stupidity.

If you're optimizing for value creation, only do things you can be the best in the world at.

24. Charlie Munger's Favourite Ad:

"The company that needs a new machine tool, and hasn't bought it, is already paying for it."

A beautiful ad -- and a beautiful reframe.

25. How To Make Instagram Useful:

Follow this policy:

1. Do I want to see this person in the next 6 months?

2. Did this educate me?

3. Did this make me laugh?

If you answer no to all 3 questions, mute the account.

After 1 week of pruning, your feed is incredible.

26. The Best Marketing Skill:

I've worked in marketing for 10+ years -- including some of the best marketers in the world.

The only thing the best people all share:

Insatiable curiosity.

27. Track Your Time:

Once per quarter, track your time for a whole week:

1. Compare this with your priorities

2. It never matches

3. Review and adjust your schedule moving forward.

PS. It only takes 10 minutes per day (That's the benefit of tracking time - you see this data)

28. 95% Of Marketing Problems:

1. There's no such thing as a marketing problem - it's a traffic or conversion problem

2. The best marketing and sales never look like marketing and sales.

3. Marketing is a multiplier of product. If you multiply 0 by a trillion, you are left with 0.

29. The Career Cheat Code:

Technology is the only area of life your parents ask you for advice.

If you want to get ahead of the older generation, you have 2 choices:

1. Wait for them to retire (20-30 years)

2. Get good at technology (2-3 years)

If you liked this, check it on Twitter. I’ve added some images there too:

Thank you for reading.