What Are You Going To Do About It?
The last time I wrote to you in these pages, OSV was in its infancy. We had launched only a few months prior and, like a toddler taking its first steps, were approaching the world with wide-eyed wonder.
I focused on a question that any parent or grandparent will be all too familiar with: “Why?” My thesis was simple: the ideas that change the future will come from those who challenge the prevailing wisdom.
OSV aims to unleash the potential of those willing to embrace the “Why?” mindset. That simple, one-word question inspired me to get out of bed in the morning at age 23, still does at age 63, and will continue to do so at age 103.
But, like any question, “Why?” is not the end. It is the beginning. Challenging the status quo is all well and good, but changing it is something else entirely.
Somewhere along the way, those of us seeking to change anything – our humanOS, our future, our world – must temper our dewy-eyed optimism with the cool detachment of execution.
We have, in other words, to make shit happen.
The bridge from “Why?” to “How?” is built by good habits and maintained by discipline. Good habits compound into good results. Bad habits… Well, look at the poor guy with a cigarette in his mouth spluttering outside an office while shivering from the cold.
If you’ve asked the world “Why?” and haven’t received a satisfactory answer, if you’ve committed to taking action that upsets the apple cart, the next step is to start habituating your new approach, whatever that may be. Fail to do so, and before long, you’ll find yourself defaulting to the warm, comfortable glow of consensus.
If you’re doing something unusual, every ounce of your being will try to revert to the norm. We’ve all woken up one morning thinking we will start Doing Things Differently, only to find ourselves back in the same way of thinking and acting by the time we get back into bed.
So, how can we change our habits? Repetition, repetition, repetition.
The more you habituate something, however weird it feels at first, the easier it becomes to do it again. By repetitively engaging in the same way of thinking or doing something, you reinforce your neural pathways, which then grow into neural networks.
Your new habits will feel incredibly awkward at first because those neural networks your old habits built up won’t like the new way of doing things. Remember how weird everything felt when you first learned how to drive? The same will hold true here: your conscious mind needs to be involved in the beginning, and it will only be through constant repetition that the new habit will take hold.
At OSV, we’ve habituated several behaviours which together help us embody the values we aim to live by. Asking whether ANY potential partnership is “win-win.” Only seeking opportunities whose ethos aligns with ours, regardless of the financial upside. Hiring and working with global talent, unlimited by geographic restrictions. Acting from first principles rather than trying to copy what others are doing.
We will make mistakes, but we will learn from them and hopefully keep making better and more novel mistakes over time!
Your habits don’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. Just remember, if you find yourself defaulting to a certain worldview or behaviour that keeps getting in your way, changing it requires you to question your priors, establish which ones led you to a disappointing outcome, implement alternatives, and then work on those—over and over again.
This won’t always be easy. That’s where discipline comes in…Being highly disciplined is extremely difficult. It goes against almost every impulse we have baked into our genes.
Sure, it’s easy when things go your way. Real discipline kicks in when things are going against you. When your shiny new habits hit the daily grind of reality. When every week seems like a month. When you are filled with self-doubt. When you are constantly questioning every single part of your process. When others express scepticism about your core beliefs and even friends and colleagues begin to doubt you. When you suddenly really understand the opening of Shakespeare’s 29th sonnet:
“When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, and look upon myself and curse my fate…”
The moment you most need discipline is precisely the moment when it tries to abandon you.
Everything you read or hear people say reminds you that you’re mistaken and must abandon your silly persistence. Not only will you have to cope with your interior fears and doubts, but you will also often be derided, mocked, and ridiculed by many other people who think you’re simply a fool.
The only thing you can do is hang on to the idea that “this, too, shall pass.” Not much of a lifeline, is it?
The question you must honestly answer is—in the throes of adversity, do you have the discipline to remain unemotional and stick to your habits?
You must be brutally honest with yourself. Adversity can ignite our reptile brain and can elicit a pure emotional response. Stay strong, stay true. This is the gauntlet through which you must run to achieve real change.
OSV is growing up.
We’re no longer the teetering, tottering toddler trying to find its place in the world. “Why?” is no longer sufficient. Having asked the question, we are now seeking to answer it.
Take our publishing imprint, Infinite Books. It’s abundantly clear that the traditional publishing industry has no good answer to the “Why?” question: Why are the financial terms so ludicrously unfavourable to authors? Why must you already have a huge online following before you are even considered for a book? Why must every decision undergo months of painstaking bureaucratic minutiae over which you have no control?
Infinite Books is our solution. We are reimagining publishing from the ground up. In doing so, we are habituating a set of author-friendly terms unheard of in the traditional industry (more on that in the coming weeks).
Disrupting such a behemothic industry takes work. Big publishing companies continue to hold great influence. In the face of such a challenge, we are maintaining our discipline. Traditional publishing too, shall pass.
This installment of OSV Quarterly is all about all the other ways we are executing on our “Whys?” The expansion of our fellowships program. Our ever-growing portfolio of companies. Our emerging online community.
If you find yourself reading these pages and thinking differently about the world, I have one question for you. What are you going to do about it?
Thanks for reading OSV Quarterly. I’ll see you here next time.
Let’s make a habit of it.
What Are You Going To Do About It?
The last time I wrote to you in these pages, OSV was in its infancy. We had launched only a few months prior and, like a toddler taking its first steps, were approaching the world with wide-eyed wonder.
I focused on a question that any parent or grandparent will be all too familiar with: “Why?” My thesis was simple: the ideas that change the future will come from those who challenge the prevailing wisdom.
OSV aims to unleash the potential of those willing to embrace the “Why?” mindset. That simple, one-word question inspired me to get out of bed in the morning at age 23, still does at age 63, and will continue to do so at age 103.
But, like any question, “Why?” is not the end. It is the beginning. Challenging the status quo is all well and good, but changing it is something else entirely.
Somewhere along the way, those of us seeking to change anything – our humanOS, our future, our world – must temper our dewy-eyed optimism with the cool detachment of execution.
We have, in other words, to make shit happen.
The bridge from “Why?” to “How?” is built by good habits and maintained by discipline. Good habits compound into good results. Bad habits… Well, look at the poor guy with a cigarette in his mouth spluttering outside an office while shivering from the cold.
If you’ve asked the world “Why?” and haven’t received a satisfactory answer, if you’ve committed to taking action that upsets the apple cart, the next step is to start habituating your new approach, whatever that may be. Fail to do so, and before long, you’ll find yourself defaulting to the warm, comfortable glow of consensus.
If you’re doing something unusual, every ounce of your being will try to revert to the norm. We’ve all woken up one morning thinking we will start Doing Things Differently, only to find ourselves back in the same way of thinking and acting by the time we get back into bed.
So, how can we change our habits? Repetition, repetition, repetition.
The more you habituate something, however weird it feels at first, the easier it becomes to do it again. By repetitively engaging in the same way of thinking or doing something, you reinforce your neural pathways, which then grow into neural networks.
Your new habits will feel incredibly awkward at first because those neural networks your old habits built up won’t like the new way of doing things. Remember how weird everything felt when you first learned how to drive? The same will hold true here: your conscious mind needs to be involved in the beginning, and it will only be through constant repetition that the new habit will take hold.
At OSV, we’ve habituated several behaviours which together help us embody the values we aim to live by. Asking whether ANY potential partnership is “win-win.” Only seeking opportunities whose ethos aligns with ours, regardless of the financial upside. Hiring and working with global talent, unlimited by geographic restrictions. Acting from first principles rather than trying to copy what others are doing.
We will make mistakes, but we will learn from them and hopefully keep making better and more novel mistakes over time!
Your habits don’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. Just remember, if you find yourself defaulting to a certain worldview or behaviour that keeps getting in your way, changing it requires you to question your priors, establish which ones led you to a disappointing outcome, implement alternatives, and then work on those—over and over again.
This won’t always be easy. That’s where discipline comes in…Being highly disciplined is extremely difficult. It goes against almost every impulse we have baked into our genes.
Sure, it’s easy when things go your way. Real discipline kicks in when things are going against you. When your shiny new habits hit the daily grind of reality. When every week seems like a month. When you are filled with self-doubt. When you are constantly questioning every single part of your process. When others express scepticism about your core beliefs and even friends and colleagues begin to doubt you. When you suddenly really understand the opening of Shakespeare’s 29th sonnet:
“When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, and look upon myself and curse my fate…”
The moment you most need discipline is precisely the moment when it tries to abandon you.
Everything you read or hear people say reminds you that you’re mistaken and must abandon your silly persistence. Not only will you have to cope with your interior fears and doubts, but you will also often be derided, mocked, and ridiculed by many other people who think you’re simply a fool.
The only thing you can do is hang on to the idea that “this, too, shall pass.” Not much of a lifeline, is it?
The question you must honestly answer is—in the throes of adversity, do you have the discipline to remain unemotional and stick to your habits?
You must be brutally honest with yourself. Adversity can ignite our reptile brain and can elicit a pure emotional response. Stay strong, stay true. This is the gauntlet through which you must run to achieve real change.
OSV is growing up.
We’re no longer the teetering, tottering toddler trying to find its place in the world. “Why?” is no longer sufficient. Having asked the question, we are now seeking to answer it.
Take our publishing imprint, Infinite Books. It’s abundantly clear that the traditional publishing industry has no good answer to the “Why?” question: Why are the financial terms so ludicrously unfavourable to authors? Why must you already have a huge online following before you are even considered for a book? Why must every decision undergo months of painstaking bureaucratic minutiae over which you have no control?
Infinite Books is our solution. We are reimagining publishing from the ground up. In doing so, we are habituating a set of author-friendly terms unheard of in the traditional industry (more on that in the coming weeks).
Disrupting such a behemothic industry takes work. Big publishing companies continue to hold great influence. In the face of such a challenge, we are maintaining our discipline. Traditional publishing too, shall pass.
This installment of OSV Quarterly is all about all the other ways we are executing on our “Whys?” The expansion of our fellowships program. Our ever-growing portfolio of companies. Our emerging online community.
If you find yourself reading these pages and thinking differently about the world, I have one question for you. What are you going to do about it?
Thanks for reading OSV Quarterly. I’ll see you here next time.
Let’s make a habit of it.
What Are You Going To Do About It?
The last time I wrote to you in these pages, OSV was in its infancy. We had launched only a few months prior and, like a toddler taking its first steps, were approaching the world with wide-eyed wonder.
I focused on a question that any parent or grandparent will be all too familiar with: “Why?” My thesis was simple: the ideas that change the future will come from those who challenge the prevailing wisdom.
OSV aims to unleash the potential of those willing to embrace the “Why?” mindset. That simple, one-word question inspired me to get out of bed in the morning at age 23, still does at age 63, and will continue to do so at age 103.
But, like any question, “Why?” is not the end. It is the beginning. Challenging the status quo is all well and good, but changing it is something else entirely.
Somewhere along the way, those of us seeking to change anything – our humanOS, our future, our world – must temper our dewy-eyed optimism with the cool detachment of execution.
We have, in other words, to make shit happen.
The bridge from “Why?” to “How?” is built by good habits and maintained by discipline. Good habits compound into good results. Bad habits… Well, look at the poor guy with a cigarette in his mouth spluttering outside an office while shivering from the cold.
If you’ve asked the world “Why?” and haven’t received a satisfactory answer, if you’ve committed to taking action that upsets the apple cart, the next step is to start habituating your new approach, whatever that may be. Fail to do so, and before long, you’ll find yourself defaulting to the warm, comfortable glow of consensus.
If you’re doing something unusual, every ounce of your being will try to revert to the norm. We’ve all woken up one morning thinking we will start Doing Things Differently, only to find ourselves back in the same way of thinking and acting by the time we get back into bed.
So, how can we change our habits? Repetition, repetition, repetition.
The more you habituate something, however weird it feels at first, the easier it becomes to do it again. By repetitively engaging in the same way of thinking or doing something, you reinforce your neural pathways, which then grow into neural networks.
Your new habits will feel incredibly awkward at first because those neural networks your old habits built up won’t like the new way of doing things. Remember how weird everything felt when you first learned how to drive? The same will hold true here: your conscious mind needs to be involved in the beginning, and it will only be through constant repetition that the new habit will take hold.
At OSV, we’ve habituated several behaviours which together help us embody the values we aim to live by. Asking whether ANY potential partnership is “win-win.” Only seeking opportunities whose ethos aligns with ours, regardless of the financial upside. Hiring and working with global talent, unlimited by geographic restrictions. Acting from first principles rather than trying to copy what others are doing.
We will make mistakes, but we will learn from them and hopefully keep making better and more novel mistakes over time!
Your habits don’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. Just remember, if you find yourself defaulting to a certain worldview or behaviour that keeps getting in your way, changing it requires you to question your priors, establish which ones led you to a disappointing outcome, implement alternatives, and then work on those—over and over again.
This won’t always be easy. That’s where discipline comes in…Being highly disciplined is extremely difficult. It goes against almost every impulse we have baked into our genes.
Sure, it’s easy when things go your way. Real discipline kicks in when things are going against you. When your shiny new habits hit the daily grind of reality. When every week seems like a month. When you are filled with self-doubt. When you are constantly questioning every single part of your process. When others express scepticism about your core beliefs and even friends and colleagues begin to doubt you. When you suddenly really understand the opening of Shakespeare’s 29th sonnet:
“When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, and look upon myself and curse my fate…”
The moment you most need discipline is precisely the moment when it tries to abandon you.
Everything you read or hear people say reminds you that you’re mistaken and must abandon your silly persistence. Not only will you have to cope with your interior fears and doubts, but you will also often be derided, mocked, and ridiculed by many other people who think you’re simply a fool.
The only thing you can do is hang on to the idea that “this, too, shall pass.” Not much of a lifeline, is it?
The question you must honestly answer is—in the throes of adversity, do you have the discipline to remain unemotional and stick to your habits?
You must be brutally honest with yourself. Adversity can ignite our reptile brain and can elicit a pure emotional response. Stay strong, stay true. This is the gauntlet through which you must run to achieve real change.
OSV is growing up.
We’re no longer the teetering, tottering toddler trying to find its place in the world. “Why?” is no longer sufficient. Having asked the question, we are now seeking to answer it.
Take our publishing imprint, Infinite Books. It’s abundantly clear that the traditional publishing industry has no good answer to the “Why?” question: Why are the financial terms so ludicrously unfavourable to authors? Why must you already have a huge online following before you are even considered for a book? Why must every decision undergo months of painstaking bureaucratic minutiae over which you have no control?
Infinite Books is our solution. We are reimagining publishing from the ground up. In doing so, we are habituating a set of author-friendly terms unheard of in the traditional industry (more on that in the coming weeks).
Disrupting such a behemothic industry takes work. Big publishing companies continue to hold great influence. In the face of such a challenge, we are maintaining our discipline. Traditional publishing too, shall pass.
This installment of OSV Quarterly is all about all the other ways we are executing on our “Whys?” The expansion of our fellowships program. Our ever-growing portfolio of companies. Our emerging online community.
If you find yourself reading these pages and thinking differently about the world, I have one question for you. What are you going to do about it?
Thanks for reading OSV Quarterly. I’ll see you here next time.
Let’s make a habit of it.
