Guardrails

Hey - It’s Michael.

Been in a deep slump, finally got out of it. Enjoy the newsletter!

This one project failed because of some obvious mistake. You could have seen it coming, but for whatever reason you did not prepare for it.

Or you did this one thing and swore to never do it again. Then it happens again. And again. And again.

Apart from the obvious negative consequence, every time you do this thing, you lose self-respect and self-trust.

It doesn’t really matter what it is, that you want to avoid. What matters is acknowledging that the highest likelihood of poor choices is when you’re under pressure or in a weak state of mind.

Whatever you want to stop doing or protect yourself against, plan for it when you are in a calm and clear state of mind.

A few examples:

Principle

Design guardrails for high-stakes situations & weak moments when you’re calm

All the great value investors know: you don’t have to be right all the time, it’s much more important not to be wrong.

Setting up guardrails against your own failures is one of the simplest practices to effectively get what you want.

Think of your current project’s most dangerous & impactful weak point or about some habit you want to stop.

Then, get creative and design guardrails against that thing to happen. Whatever the process is, make sure it kicks in effectively when sh*t hits the fan, stakes are high or you are in a low.

Stop Rule

Stop relying on chance or willpower to avoid damage.

Fun fact: I’m writing this issue after some terrible days. Looking back it could have been much worse, if I hadn’t set up quite sophisticated guardrails to protect myself.

“Avoiding stupidity is easier than seeking brilliance.” - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

How would my wisest future self behave?

See you next week - Michael