No. 706 – November 8, 2026
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Tiny Thoughts
If you commit to nothing, everything looks worth doing.
Accepting help is an act of trust. For some people, that’s the hard part.
Loyalty that protects your ego is not the same as loyalty that protects your interests.
Don’t punish honesty because flattery feels better.
Insights
Epicurus
“It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.”
Basketball coach Bob Knight on preparation/positioning:
“The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win. Everyone wants to win, but not everyone wants to prepare to win.”
NFL MVP Steve Young on fear:
“Fear-based thinking is a liar. I was afraid of failure, so much so that I paid this price so that I could have success. I learned as an older person, that’s a fallacy. That’s fraudulent. … I’m not going to pay for success with my worry and fretting. Man, fame is a thief. Fear-based thinking is a thief. There’s a lot of thieves in life.”
Outliers
Each episode of Outliers explores one of history’s greatest people. I’m trying to answer: What made them great, and what can we learn?
In this episode, you’ll learn what K.C. Irving did in his life—from a small store in a rural town to over 300 companies—his personality, and, of course, his battles with competitors and government.
This is the story of K.C. Irving.
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Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next week.
— Shane Parrish
P.S. The honey water of agave plants.