How to always know EXACTLY what to do

In 1761, Thomas Jefferson left home at age 16 to attend The College of William & Mary. While the school was great, Jefferson was disgusted with Williamsburg. He referred to the town as “Devilsburg”, because of its drunkards, brothels, and gamblers.

Later in life in a letter to his grandson, he explained how he was able to make the right decisions and avoid trouble in such a vile environment:

“I had the good fortune to become acquainted very early, with some characters of very high standing… Under temptations & difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr. Small, Mr Wythe, Peyton Randolph do in this situation? What course in it will ensure me their [approval]?”

When I’m working and get the urge to check my phone, I imagine what Christopher Nolan would think. Nolan is an infamous digital minimalist who still owns a flip phone and bans cell phones on his film sets. He credits his creativity and problem-solving abilities to his analog lifestyle and workflow, and those are the things I admire about him. So, the urge to distract myself is conquered more often this way than if I tried to reason with myself.

But even the best of us have faults — which is why you must pick only a few qualities from each person. After all, I admire Warren Buffet’s wisdom, business acumen, and focus, but I abhor his family life and lack of independence.

This exercise is especially helpful when your emotions start to bubble up. 

For example, say you’re out with your girlfriend and someone makes a rude comment to her. It’s very easy to truly believe that the right thing to do is start a fight. Your pride demands it, you know it’s right…

But is it really? Who exactly would that help? Aside from your ego for 5 minutes, absolutely no one.

Instead, if you take a moment to ask yourself how your calm and playful cousin or brother would respond, the answer becomes obvious. You take a breath, maybe crack a joke, and move on.

It turns out that the term “model behavior” is a lot more literal than it seems.

I’ve been reading a lot of old letters and writings that were written as advice, and the Jefferson letter is a short but worthwhile read. Read it here.

If you want to read about Christopher Nolan and why he STILL doesn't have a smartphone or an email address, read this.

Also, if you’ve never seen a Christopher Nolan film, please do yourself a favor and watch Inception or Oppenheimer or Interstellar NOW and thank me later.

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