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Ladies and Gentlemen, I stand before you today to share a dream that I have for my two daughters. A dream that I believe will help shape their future in ways that are both profound and meaningful. I want my daughters to have the freedom to explore their own interests, to make their own decisions, and to take charge of their own education. That's why I have decided to start WEquil Academy, where they will be able to build and lead their own school. In this new environment, my daughters will have the opportunity to learn from real-world experiences and take ownership of their own education. They will have access to cutting-edge technology, including 3D printing, solar energy, and the latest advancements in AI and machine learning. They will have the resources to grow their own food, design their own living and work spaces, and start software and traditional companies. They will be able to experiment, make mistakes, and learn from them in a safe and supportive environment. This will be a true hands-on educational experience, where my daughters will be able to learn by doing, and where they will have the freedom to make their own choices about what they want to study, how they want to study it, and how they want to apply what they have learned. They will be able to form their own opinions, develop their own skills, and learn how to work with others to achieve a common goal. In short, I believe that by giving my daughters this opportunity, I will be better preparing them for the future. I believe that this experience will help them become more confident, self-reliant, and independent young women who are equipped to tackle the challenges of the 21st century. We live in a brave new world. The internet has made knowledge free. Automation has replaced rote memorization. Children who are not given the opportunity to exercise their unique strengths and interests to create real value for the real world are at risk of preparing for a future that does not exist. So today, I invite you to join me in this vision. Let us work together to create a future where all children have the opportunity to take charge of their own education and to build the lives they want for themselves. Thank you. Sincerely, Joe Lu Co-Founder of WEquil Academy https://www.wequil.school/wequil-academy

Our family philosophy...along with original music compositions by Sumay. WEquil is a way of life that helps our family find "Equilibrium" ... purpose from using our unique strengths to create unique value for the world. We are all unique. By accepting this as a family we learned to better understand ourselves and each other. We learned to turn our differences into opportunities to grow from each others strengths. We share because we believe our family's journey is a unique perspective that can create unique value for the world. Many great minds had influence on our family. Thinkers like Steve Jobs, Paul Graham, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravakant, Socrates, John Gottman, Balaji Srinivasan, Brené Brown and others … each with an independent perspective, but each with the shared mission of discovering truth. Steve Jobs taught us the power of reflecting on death ... a meditation that helped our family avoid despair after our house burned down, taking our dog Juna who saved our lives. Paul Graham taught us how to think like an entrepreneur ... viewing failure as an inevitable part of life, and growth as a process of iterative improvement. Ray Dalio taught us a lot about the power of radical transparency...creating environments of open and honest communication so the best ideas can rise to the top. Naval Ravakant taught us the value of Specific Knowledge ... unique strengths born from unique experiences that can be learned but not taught. Socrates taught us the way of the Peaceful Warrior ... having the humbleness to question our convictions and the confidence to seek answers from within. ... and many others. We stand on the shoulders of giants...or so we try. Seeking truth is hard because no one person or ideology has a monopoly on truth. The nature of life and the human condition are infinitely complex. We are but a speck in the universe...we are but a brief moment in time. So how can we mere humans find answers to life's biggest questions? After the Fire When Sumay was seven years old, daddy wrote her a letter about the "Ultimate Currency". Sumay had confided that she would have liked a "bigger house, like some of her friends, preferably with a jacuzzi". Here is an excerpt... Hello Sumay, Mommy mentioned that you had asked why we, since we can afford it, why we don't buy a nicer house like some of your friends ... with a jacuzzi. Wow that sounds like fun! Who wouldn't want that? Mommy and I have been talking since before you were born about happiness. We have much to learn, but what we know so far is that happiness is the "ultimate currency". What this means is that when we make decisions we should try to increase happiness and decrease suffering. Sometimes this is easy, like when picking out a movie, we obviously want the movie we think we will like better. Sometimes this is hard, like when we try to balance happiness today from eating candy with happiness tomorrow from being healthy. The world is full of people that will tell you how to live, what to buy, who to talk to, and how to spend your time. It is tempting to listen. It is tempting to follow the herd and do what everyone else is doing because maybe they know better. Another thing Mommy and I realized is that most people don't really know how to find happiness. They tell other people what they think is right because if they get you to do the same thing it makes them feel better. But most of the time, doing what other people are doing just because they are doing it doesn't lead to happiness. Instead it leads to suffering because you give up control of your own life and make decisions that you later regret because they were not your own decisions. Your school has a poster that reads, "most people are as happy as they make up their mind to be". We agree. ... Full Letter. End Excerpt Our house burning down was a real test for us. We had talked a big game about avoiding attachments to physical things. We experienced a tremendous amount of suffering in the weeks after the fire. All of us experienced panic attacks and cried very hard at Juna's funeral. Coming so close to death was a very traumatic event that is challenging if not impossible to convey in words. But even in the days after the fire we found ourselves doing what we always do ... turning life's problems into opportunities to learn, grow, and create. Being literally forced out of our home was an eye opening experience. For over two years we had grown accustomed to spending a lot more time at home and connecting with people around the world virtually. It took us a month to locate permanent housing, crashing at friends houses and hotels. Meeting so many new people gave us an opportunity to re-think some of the things we were doing ... "iterate and improve" as Paul Graham might say. One thing we did was livestream our Demo Days at WEquil.School again...starting with sharing what we had learned "After the Fire". That picture was taken the day after. We were wearing clothes donated by our neighbors and all still in a state of shock. In the days after the fire, hundreds of families that had been in some way involved with WEquil.School reached out to express their sympathy and offer help. Several kids had even packed clothes to give to Sumay and Aila. One mom told us that her daughter was terrified after hearing the news and could not stop crying the whole night. We were emotionally overwhelmed at the time... incapable of reaching out to everyone individually even if we had the time. So we decided to restart Demo Day with just us sharing our recollection of events and how we were trying to "turn our struggles into success". Success means a lot of different things to different people. For us...success means helping ourselves and others find happiness and avoid suffering. Happiness is the "Ultimate Currency" as dad concluded in his letter to Sumay those many years ago ... so no matter what we may write or say about the "WEquil Way" none of it means anything if it doesn't lift you up. For us ... the fire was a testament to what we had already discovered, but now knew more than ever. Purpose and meaning are created when we take responsibility for using our unique gifts to bring happiness to the world. The WEquil Way We are all enrolled in WEquil.School ... the learning community our daughters started during the pandemic. Every Monday we decide on a "Creative Project" to share on Friday. This week, dad's project was to draft this letter on the WEquil Way for the family to review before publishing on our app and this blog. Why? Why choose this Creative Project? Of all the things dad could do this week ... how does this blog post "create meaning and purpose" and "use his unique gifts" and "bring happiness to the world"? Well...for one thing...our whole family just went through a very tragic event less than two months ago. We are still processing that event. Writing is a great way to structure one's thinking, process experiences, and internalize life lessons. Dad is also an accomplished author ... so written projects are a great way to reach other people who may find our family's experiences helpful. Our family also had some rather profound insights and personal breakthroughs in the weeks following the fire. We grew even stronger bonds ... gaining greater appreciation for how we each processed the event and grew personally as well as a family team. Finally, it is common for people who come out of near death experiences to rethink their lives and priorities. One remarkable realization that we all had is how much we love WEquil.School and our way of living life! So we decided to double our efforts (if that's possible) to share our journey with the world. We want to keep walking the path of Equilibrium ... the point where our unique strengths are are used in service to others. We want to keep fearlessly sharing our triumphs and struggles along the way, so that we may discover those who appreciate our unique gifts. We want to keep listening to those who appreciate what we are trying to do as a family and individuals so you can be our guide toward iterative improvement. We want to keep using our unique strengths, interests, and passions to bring unique value to the world. If that sounds like a life well lived to you ... then we want to help you too. Sincerely, WEquil Family YouTube Family - www.youtube.com/@TheWEquilFamily School - www.youtube.com/@WEquil_School App - www.youtube.com/@WEquilApp Websites www.WEquil.com www.WEquil.School WEquil.App Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/wequilschool

The Agricultural Revolution gave birth to the “economy” … production and trade of goods and services to satisfy our wants and needs. Initially our economy was more focused on needs over wants, like tools and clothes for survival. But even back then entrepreneurs mostly prevailed by personalizing their products to people. Most humans still grew food, but increasingly so, sapiens started to specialize. With specialization grew personalization as the variety of goods expanded. Entrepreneurs existed then as much as now, the change agents driving progress by creating something novel and useful. What changed is technology and the awareness that innovation is possible. Learning was hard because knowledge was scarce, locked inside heads and books few could read. Growing was hard because capital was scarce and value was measured in atoms not bits. Creating was hard because few thought it possible to invent something new to solve problems. But abundance of food and specialized labor ... set in motion the path forward to help make life better. By the Renaissance we began to understand that progress can indeed be planned. Scientific discovery was well underway by the time Democracy came, hopefully to stay. Then came the Industrial Revolution, a shock that reshaped how we learn, grow, and create. The Industrial Revolution was unnatural in the sense that it forced human beings to learn to act like machines. Interchangeable parts combined with economies of scale changed the way we learned in school, grew financial capital, and created goods and services. Assembly lines replaced skilled workers that used to spend years learning to make something alone. Warriors like the Samurai was one such fatality, replaced by guns produced en masse. Armies could be trained in months to fight or fill factories. Farmers left fields to fill these new means of production. Cheap goods paid for with routine wages created the modern “Middle Class” … a new layer of society that willingly rents out their time to capitalists and entrepreneurs in exchange for safety, security, and stability. The cost of the Industrial Revolution … was Anti-Personalization. Before the Industrial Revolution most tailored their clothes. Smiths tailored knives. Cobblers tailored shoes. Children tailored toys, and cooks tailored meals. Most everything we bought and made was personalized to the unique preferences of particular people. That changed a century ago, and economies of scale was a big reason why. We wanted more stuff, but personalized stuff was hard to come by. We grew accustomed to a world with fewer options that were cheaper. Henry Ford said you could buy “any color so long as it is black”. Ketchup at McDonalds and Wendy’s was free, but no matter the burger joint Heinz Ketchup ... was the only ketchup anyone could see. Why? Because everyone’s the same? Because everyone just so happened to prefer Black Fords and Heinz Ketchup? No. We lost something beautiful with the birth of machines … alarm clocks, school bells, and our concerted routines … we forgot we were human … we forgot how to dream. The Industrial Revolution did not make us machines. What it did do was change the easiest path to success. All our unique strengths and interests and passions just could not compete with cheapness for masses. Safety, security, and stability are good reasons ... to leave the farm, go to school, and learn to follow directions. Entrepreneurship was fine and good for a few ... but most of us innovators simply had to make do. … and then came the Software Revolution, a new shock that reshaped yet again how we learn, grow, and create. Learning is easy because knowledge is free, available on the internet for all to see. Growing is easy because capital is cheap, and value is measured in scalable bits. Creating is easy because digital platforms make it cheap to invent something new and share. Now everyone wants our creations because the cost of uniqueness is rapidly falling. There are now millions of threads across the Metaverse … on every conceivable topic, curiosity, and ideology. These are a reflection of our humanity. Human nature has always provided the opportunity to create value by meeting particular tastes and temperaments of individuals. People have always had the genetic and cultural dispositions to personalize our lives, through fashions and other forms of unique expressions. Technology is not changing humanity…it’s lowering the cost of embracing what makes us human. We humans have always had personalized preferences and personalities. We are all unique. Now even newer technologies like social networks, blockchain, genomics, 3D Printing, and machine learning are accelerating … reducing the cost of personalization and collaboration to zero. Numbered are the years that most companies will survive if they fail to see this new trend. Consumers want clothes, cuisines, and content that is customized to their character ... and if you can’t create it your competitors will. The world was already moving in this direction before the pandemic…when the entire world was forced to take a break from their synchronized routines, leftover relics from a world in which humans suppressed their humanity to be more like machines. It’s time to take our humanity back and embrace who we are. To be human again … that’s your north star. Discover your strengths, interests, and passions by listening to yourself. Listen to others so you can make yourself useful. Create value for others doing what you do best, by being an increasingly better version of you. Find people that love what you do naturally like breathing. Keep iterating and improving by keeping on listening. Follow that path of equilibrium … balancing your humanity with the wants and needs of the world. Follow that path wherever it takes you … and you will learn to grow and create value so powerful that no machine or human being can ever replace you. The new personalized economy is coming … and the winner is humanity. Sincerely, Joe McPhail CEO of WEquil Group www.WEquil.com

By Dr Lihong and Joseph McPhail Dear Public School System, During the pandemic my daughters launched their own virtual school, WEquil School, and are having great success. For this reason, we are reaching out to public school principals, teachers, and other leaders in hopes that we can learn from each other. The remainder of this letter includes six parts explaining what we are doing to improve education outcomes. Our Story WEquil School Solutions Thank you for collaborating with us so that we can help all children reach their potential. Part 1 - Our story The past year has been a transformative experience for our family. While the pandemic brought a lot of pain it also brought a lot of opportunity. For the first time our daughters were able to have more control over their learning experience...and what I (their father) saw forced me to rethink my views on childhood education. After the pandemic hit our daughters took initiative in developing a new approach centered on the belief that children learn best when they are free to follow their interests. They used online tools like Khan Academy, Crash Course and Ted to expose themselves to new ideas and new technologies. After three weeks they had published over 40 lessons on a wide range of topics like Genomics Sequencing, Economics, Statistics, and Positive Psychology. In short...our daughters were learning and growing more competent at a rate that felt ten times faster than they had experienced while attending their public school, Haycock Elementary in Falls Church, Virginia. For those who are unfamiliar, Haycock is consistently rated one of the top public schools in the country...and for good reason. Our daughters were consistently happy with their teachers and we believe strongly that Haycock is a big reason our daughters have been successful launching their own virtual school and building their own online education tools. GoGuardian, an EdTech company, heard about WEquil School back in July and interviewed Sumay and Aila about it. You can listen to them using the links below (1-4). They were not following a script and did not prepare much. They just shared their experiences and what they planned (and did later) build. (1) https://www.goguardian.com/blog/learning/makeshift-homeschool-episode-1/ (2) https://www.goguardian.com/blog/learning/makeshift-homeschool-episode-2/ (3) https://www.goguardian.com/blog/learning/makeshift-homeschool-episode-3/ (4) https://www.goguardian.com/blog/learning/makeshift-homeschool-episode-4/ When schools went online for the Fall Semester we asked our daughters to be open minded and give Haycock an opportunity to work with them. This proved challenging for Sumay who was by this time already teaching several other students how to leverage their passions and use technology to write, build and share their own projects as she had learned to do. Sumay was also working with Wei Jiang, her programming instructor, to build a WebApp to help scale their platform to reach more young people. By October of 2020, Sumay decided to leave Haycock and grow what she believes strongly to be a solution to many of the challenges she experienced. Over the previous six months Sumay and I had interviewed dozens (now over a hundred) parents and kids to learn more about how to improve childhood education. Many said the same things that she had been saying...public school provided little opportunity to build on each young person's unique strengths. Leaving Haycock was hard for Sumay and our family. We never intended for her to leave the public education system, and the many wonderful teachers that truly are heroes and deserve more support now than ever. We supported Sumay's decision to drop out of Elementary school because we see the success that Sumay, Aila, and a growing number of fellow students are having ... so like all parents believe we had to do what was best for our kids. Part 2 - WEquil School When the pandemic hit Aila and Sumay founded WEquil School, a virtual classroom and WebApp to address key challenges with the traditional education model. These challenges include a lack of opportunity for young people to pursue their interests, learn about new technologies, practice teaching and public speaking, reliance on a single teacher to determine the value of what they create, and limited opportunity to share their creations beyond the classroom. WEquil School is also a virtual classroom that allows children of all ages from anywhere in the world to collaborate and share projects with each other. We have found this model to be extremely effective in helping kids grow their confidence, curiosity, and desire to learn and explore. WEquil School is growing because children learn faster and have more fun when they are empowered to follow their passions and share them with the world. For this reason we are spending our own money to hire more programmers and educators to help us expand. We are already working with educators, parents, kids, and others to help us continually improve our approach. We believe that the best way to achieve our mission is to work with all variety of educators, parents, and students because every child is unique. All children and parents are free to join WEquil School. Most of our students still go to traditional schools and use our platform as a supplement. We seek only to help all children reach their potential. To join, just send us your email through our website below. https://www.wequil.school/ Part 3 - Our Solutions To best communicate our solutions we first share what we believe to be core principles of learning. Put simply...kids and adults learn best when they... Solve real problems Iterate and improve Are free to explore Build on strengths, interests and passions Teach others These are the principles upon which WEquil School is built. The success of our students is evidence that these principles are sound, as well as scientific research regarding the nature of learning. While these principles may not appear at first glance to be missing from traditional schools, we wish to point out specifically how they fall short. Solve real problems - At WEquil School kids solve real problems such as how to build Apps, create recipes, write music, make games and design products with 3D Printing. There are many problems kids can solve around the house, in their neighborhood, in their communities, for their schools, and for each other...but that's hard to standardize. Schools standardize projects so they can compare and rank student abilities and check off if they have achieved certain milestones. But kids that solve real problems that relate to their interests are far more likely to learn to love learning, and kids that love learning will learn much faster. Iterate and improve - Most of value comes from a process of iteration and improvement. Students at WEquil School do not receive grades. They share their creations with other students and mentors who provide feedback and encouragement. They re-create projects all the time...improving with each iteration until they have made something of value or move on to another project. Our students learn that there is no limit to how much they can improve, and grow an awareness and openness to feedback from many people to reach their potential. Are free to explore - Children that are curious do not need to be told to learn. They only need the tools to explore and mentors who can help guide them. As students mature they learn to help younger students to do the same. Children want to share their discoveries and we provide a platform to do this in our virtual classrooms. This further facilitates the feedback loop that helps young people cultivate their curiosity. When kids are in the habit of exploring they become independent and self-directed in their learning process. We have seen this with our own daughters...who never need to be reminded to make productive use of their time and grow themselves. Build on strengths, interests and passions - The economy of the future will be driven by technology and creativity. Kids that never learn to cultivate their unique strengths, interests, and passions will have a hard time succeeding because they will not know how to differentiate themselves in a world where machines are automating away all the routine and monotonous jobs. Building on their unique strengths, interests, and passions are the ingredients for rapid development. Teaching others - Education scientists have shown that teaching is the best way to internalize knowledge and grow one's confidence. For thousands of years kids would teach each other. Oftentimes with older kids teaching the younger ones how to sew clothes, fix tools, learn to read, chop wood, and sing. At WEquil School we have kids of all ages sharing and learning together. We believe that the best students of life learn from everything and everyone, and the best way to learn is to help others understand. We believe that public schools can incorporate these principles. We also believe that these principles can be improved as can our own platform. That is why we are encouraging representatives of the public education system to reach out and collaborate so we can better help our children. We believe our public school teachers are national heroes. During this pandemic, thousands of schools and teachers showed tremendous courage and leadership to help our children during this pandemic. Finally, the mission of WEquil School is to help all children reach their potential. The reality is that this can only happen with the help of public schools, because most parents cannot afford private schools or devote themselves the way we have to our daughters. Sincerely, Dr Lihong and Joseph McPhail

When you see a tree I want you to remember a hero by the name of John Wittrig, your Popow. You may think you never met him, but the truth is you have. He is all around you, in the trees...and the leaves. Popow, you see, gave the best of his life to saving our planet so you could someday, walk in the woods and hear the birds say Thank you for keeping our planet this way. Popow grew up on a Mennonite farm. He lived simply, not surrounded by unending materiality. It’s hard to imagine in our world full of gadgets And gizmos and tweets and other distractions. But that is the only place you will find what truly matters to the depths of your mind. We all need to make sense of our own existence and the principle of simple took root in your Popow. He never talked about houses or clothes. Or who had what things or how fast money grows. He had just what he needed, nothing more from the store. For he knew deep down that true happiness came, from service to others now you know the same. You see...Death gives life meaning for without death we risk living For only ourselves, as many do Until it’s too late to look back and redo. Popow knew that someday he would die. So he did some thinking on his reason why. No one can say for sure how he’d put it, but his actions are as clear as the air that you breathe. He lived for the future...for you and for me and future generations he never would see. Long ago when I was the same age as you Popow gave me a book that he thought would ring true. Good thing he paid me to read it because It was then that I learned to love learning and Zen. “Sacred Depths of Nature” was the book’s title That book would become my earthly Bible. Inside was the story of the birds and bees And the stars that gave us the flowers and trees. But more than that, it went on to say That these things are special in a deep sort of way. You can choose to believe that all life is special That all of existence is the true miracle. Worthy of awe and taking good care. For the planet we love will run out of fresh air If we fail to see, the truth that our world. Is a gift … that we can break without care. So next time you see a tree in the park or hear the leaves rustling, while camping in the dark. Just remember that those trees might be just like you The descendents of a hero, that deserve his due For doing that which so many find hard Looking past petty wants to find meaning in giving Service to others ... making your life worth living. In loving memory of John Wittrig ... my grandfather (Popow) By Joseph McPhail About John Wittrig (Popow) John Wittrig passed away on January 9, 2021 at the age of 90 at his home in Winfield, Iowa. John...or as I have always called him, Popow, is my grandfather. He was like a father to me. This is my tribute to him and all the gifts he has given to my life and the world. My grandparents, Momow (Betty) and Popow, took care of me in Iowa during much of my childhood. I attended Iowa State University, as Popow did before me. My grandparents were a big reason why my wife took a chance on a "Tree Guy" ... my nickname in college after starting a business helping Iowa's follow in my grandfather's footsteps. Popow taught me many of the principles that I try to live by...such as how to live simply and love my planet. He taught me how to work hard on our tree farm...where he gave the last decades of his life. After he retired in the late 1980s he chose to dedicate himself to helping save our planet. Before just about anyone had ever heard of global warming ... he started planting trees to sequester carbon and do far more than his part to help stem the tide of climate change. Dr John Wittrig was an outspoken advocate for protecting our soil...teaming with other farmers and environmental activists across Iowa to teach them how to build wetlands and practice sustainable agriculture. He showed how other farmers could profitably raise organic chestnuts. Popow employed many people in his community and paid them above market wages to help bring J&B Chestnuts to market. This was a continuation of his life's work serving the Union while employed in the service of the US government. He believed strongly in protecting the rights of labor and giving all people the opportunity to succeed. Popow was a true visionary ... and his contributions to our small planet are just a taste of what he gave to his family, friends, and global community. Sincerely, Joe (Tree Guy)

America has been a beacon of freedom and hope for the world for two and a half centuries. Not because god blessed America. Not because of fate. Because we held close to a shared purpose and identity. All Americans hold these truths to be self evident...that all people are created equal...all people have the right to live, worship, speak and love how they wish. True Americans believe that a government by the people and for the people is the only path forward that allows all people to find meaning and pursue happiness. But the America we should love is now under threat...by Americans. The guardrails of our Democracy are slowly eroding and faith in our institutions is failing. Our Constitution is only a piece of paper if it is not held up by the American people and the leaders we elect. Our two parties increasingly view each other as adversaries worthy of contempt, and no law can stand in the way of an electorate that has almost completely lost the courage and curiosity to learn from those that think differently. There is a path forward for Americans to come together. We have done it before. I believe in my heart that we can do it again. But if we are going to come together we need to understand why we are falling apart, use this knowledge to rebuild our shared American identity, and retake our role as leader of the free world. Why America is Falling Apart My great Uncle William "Bill" Hunt Sadler Jr. was born on August 8, 1925 in Guilford County, North Carolina. He helped his parents, the late William and Ruby Sadler, take care of his five younger siblings and scrape together a living on a modest farm in Iowa. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor he joined the Marine Corps and fought in Guadalcanal where over 1,600 Americans died directly and many more from disease. He passed away at 90 on Tuesday, August 25, 2015. Uncle Bill was part of our Greatest Generation. They were great because their experiences gave them the courage to do what it takes to make our Democracy great. They appreciated the freedoms we take for granted today because many of their friends, family, neighbors and fellow Americans paid the ultimate price ... to hold our beacon of freedom and hope up for the world. The challenges they overcame gave our Greatest Generation the strength to lead the world into the most prosperous period of world history. They didn't just lead America...they led humanity into an experiment in global peace and collaboration that no other global superpower had ever attempted. The result is hard to comprehend today. Entire nations were able to bring their people out of poverty by building businesses and growing trade routes that for the first time didn't need to be defended. Democracies flourished and dictators feared the power of an America that stood for justice for all. But today our Greatest Generation is dead or dying. We Americans have inherited a gift that we can't fully appreciate because we never paid the price. The void our Greatest Generation has left is evident in the growing partisanship between our political parties. Split ticket voting peaked at the peak of our Greatest Generation's influence. Veterans who fought side-by-side other Americans from every walk of life grew their influence after WWII. Split ticket voting hit an all time high of over 30% in the 1970s as our political leadership was full of former WWII veterans. Today...split ticket voting has fallen to nearly zero. Nearly all American's have stopped thinking about who they are voting for...so long as it's their party on the ticket. The plague of partisanship is nearly total. Both parties are responsible. The same goes for bipartisan legislation...or lack thereof. The percent of congress that crosses party lines to vote for a bill looks the same as the above chart. American's are electing politicians that don't care about what the bill reads...only which party has proposed the legislation. So why is America falling apart? Societies are not all that different from individuals. We are at our best when we are challenged and overcome. We are at our worst when we have been given everything on a silver platter. We become complacent, lazy in our thinking, and take what we have for granted. When we are given everything we have no right to truly believe in ourselves. The Chinese have a saying for this ... huò xī fú suǒ yǐ fú xī huò suǒ ... Pronounced: who-ah she foo sue-oh E foo she who-ah sue-oh foo. 祸兮福所倚，福兮祸所伏 This literally means: misfortune leads to fortune and fortune leads to misfortune. The saying has its roots in Taoism an eastern philosophy that the Chinese have reflected upon for thousands of years to cope with misfortune. What this saying means to me is that crisis is the cure. That struggle is what makes us strong. That strife is inevitable, but also necessary for growth and prosperity. We tend to put off dealing with problems until they become urgent. Until then, we will take the path of least resistance. We will just keep kicking the can down the road until the necessary degree of cooperation and shared sacrifice is no longer sufficient for our institutions to function. You can see this phenomenon in financial markets as well. US debt as a percentage of GDP is now at an all time high. After WWII...our Greatest Generation worked together to balance the budget and find bi-partisan ways to grow our economy and sensible government programs sustainably. But as our Greatest Generation faded we became reckless and increasingly expect our government to bail us out and give us handouts. Crisis of Confidence During the lockdown my daughters spent a great deal of time learning how to cultivate curiosity in children. With the help of our CTO, Wei Jiang, and several young people in the neighborhood ... Sumay and Aila build a new learning platform called Makeshift Homeschool where kids teach each other. Kids can write lessons about their passions, and share them with the world. After more than twenty interviews and hundreds of hours of research we discovered something powerful...perhaps the most important thing I've learned about human nature in my life. And that is the necessity of self-love and confidence in cultivating curiosity. To explain allow me a thought experiment. Think of someone you know that lacks confidence. Now ask yourself... How do they respond to criticism? How interested are they in learning? How selfish are they in trying to get what they want? One day my daughters were playing with a boy that kept running into the street. They would call out to him every time and yell "Stop! What are you doing? You are going to hurt yourself!" They were confused as to why someone would do this. I pointed out that the boy was struggling at home for various reasons that I won't get into. Suffice to say that it was likely that he wasn't getting a lot of attention from his parents. We discussed his behavior some more and came to understand that the boy's actions were actually quite logical. He didn't believe that he was valuable...and him running out into the street was an easy way to get people around to show that he mattered. People will do anything to feel they have value. It is a need...like air, and food. Without it we lack a will to live. One quality that differentiates people cleanly is their willingness to distort reality in order to satisfy this need to feel valued. And when a person lacks self-love and has no confidence they are likely to take dangerous shortcuts to satisfy this need. Distorting our perception of reality is easy. Changing reality is hard. And because of this reality we all feel the pressure to change how we see the world if it makes us look better to ourselves. Evidence of this is everywhere. People who are pretty value beauty. Those with money value wealth. Changing behaviour often changes our values more than values change behavior. If you spend more time with your kids you will value family more. If you spend more time working out you will care more about your health. Churches invented tithing because they discovered that when the faithful paid them they actually caused their followers to become more faithful. We need to believe our actions and circumstances are correct and good...and so we reshape our perception to satisfy that need, that longing, to feel good, to feel worthy. You can see these mental tricks playing out all over...in the family member that chooses to surround himself with failures in order to feel better about his own failings...in the coworker that obsesses over a promotion because he has no family and thus puts his entire identity into professional success. You can see it in people who tell you how to live your life when it’s perfectly clear that they haven’t a clue because they never bothered to listen long enough to know anything about you, and what they propose happens to be exactly what they always did. It’s all too easy It takes no courage to simply satisfy our need for validation, our need for purpose, our need to feel as though we amounted to something by warping out mental map of reality. But when we do we harm ourselves in ways that compound with time. As the saying goes...hard choices make for an easy life and easy choices make for a hard life. Truth ... now that's hard. -- Americans...for the most part...are suffering from a lack of confidence. This is clear to me because we are doing all the things that people do when, deep down, they are scared of the future and can't bring themselves to see the reality in front of them, and make the tough choices that are required to avoid future pain and suffering. 1. How do Republicans and Democrats respond to criticism? By getting defensive and blaming the other party. 2. How interested are Republicans and Democrats in learning the other's point of view? Not interested 3. How selfish are they in trying to get what they want? Purely This is not blind speculation. Those reading this post will probably lean 75% Democrat. For you Democrats...how many of you have decided to completely ignore the fact that 70 Million people voted for Trump by writing off Republicans as being "Racist" and "Sexist". Is that really the case...or is it that you simply lack the courage and curiosity to dig deeper and discover what is really going on? Curiosity takes courage because we might just learn something that challenges core beliefs about who we are and how the world works. Cultivating Curiosity While working with all these kids on Makeshift Homeschool we found a clear pattern. Once kids felt they were valued and listened to ... they started building confidence ... and once they had confidence ... they became really curious. When your mind is full of mental tricks to protect your ego it's impossible to be curious. We simply don't have the mental capacity to do both. If we are pre-occupied with a desperate desire to satisfy the needs within...our eyes can't be open to see the world outside ourselves and our thoughts. The truth can be scary. So can sharing political views with family and friends that disagree with you. They are the most important people in our lives and so the cost to us can often be greater than the difference we can make. But if we are going to come together as a country without suffering through a Great Depression or fighting in a World War...we are going to have to find the courage. In some ways...our path is harder then my late Uncle Bill. Our Grandparents and Great Grandparents had to fight to survive. Many lost everything in the Great Depression and had to pull themselves up to feed themselves...and if you didn't enlist after Pearl Harbor you were looked down upon by everyone in your family and community. We have no great challenge to bring us together...at least not yet. And history suggests that we will just keep slowly eroding away our inheritance until it's too late. Conclusion My hope is that America can once again be that beacon of freedom and hope for the world. Our light is dimming ... and many are already suffering as a result. Dictators are flexing their muscles and those who share our American dream...that all people deserve to be free, pursue happiness, and govern themselves...they are fighting but feel increasingly alone. The path that we are on is not going to end well. But we can avoid a lot of pain and suffering if we stop satisfying our need for belonging and righteousness with party affiliation. Democracies cannot govern when everyone votes along a party line. Congress cannot balance its budget when the electorate cares only about their own parties agenda and cares not for the future our children will inherit. The world needs a leader to show humanity that we can listen to our better angels. That we live and grow together. That we can have the courage listen and learn from each other. That we can cultivate the curiosity to solve our problems without giving into tribal politics and writing off others as backwards or worse. America is great because we have always found the courage to lead...and our leadership follows you...my fellow Americans. Sincerely, Independent

By Aila and Sumay Nobody likes to think about death. But it’s going to happen to everyone and we might as well know it’s going to happen so we can be cognisant and conscious about our choices. Death gives life meaning. What would be the point of doing anything if there was always a tomorrow? In this article (link below) we will be talking about five regrets of the dying to think about how we can avoid having these same regrets ourselves. So we can try to live a life that when we come to our deathbeds we can say confidently, I lived a good life. The first regret of dying is this, I Wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. Everyone craves validation, and one way we try to get it from others is changing how we live our life to the way we see others living their lives. But you only have one life, and when you are about to die it becomes transparent to you that you should take the opportunity to find out what you want. But this takes effort. It’s not always easy to know what you want. You may ask why people don’t just do what they want and why they just go along with what everybody else does. This is because it’s easier to be wrong with everyone else than to be right by yourself. It’s hard to be the odd one out, it’s hard to be different. I hope you find this insightful! The second regret of the dying is I wish I hadn't worked so hard. This doesn’t mean that people who were dying wished they had been more lazy. It’s that they wished they hadn’t worked so hard on the things that weren't very important. Many adults spend most of their mental energy on their jobs, but what we learn from the regrets of the dying is that you will probably live a happier life if you prioritize things like family and relationships. It’s so easy to get distracted from the things that are actually important. And thinking about death can be really helpful in separating the things you should be spending mental energy on, and the things you shouldn’t. So ask yourself, what do I want to do with the day I have today, the time I have with my family, and the mental energy I can use to help those around me. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. It can be really frustrating when you aren’t able to tell people what you feel about certain things. Sometimes you’ll be in a situation and it would be beneficial to tell someone that you don’t really like the situation you’re in and they can try and help you. Either way, sharing how you feel about things can be extremely therapeutic. We like to think that we are very data driven creatures like vulcans from Star Trek. But we are very emotionally driven and our emotions can be the thing driving very important decisions in your life at times. But most importantly the way we feel is very important because it can dictate whether or not we feel happy with how our life is unfolding. It’s important to express that so we can work things out so we do feel happy with the life we live because you only have one. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. People should stay in touch with other people such as friends and extended family. If you don’t pay attention to your social life then it can lead to long term stress or depression. People need friends to grow themselves, have fun, and to have someone there when they need help. Those are the three kinds of friends, to learn more click here. If you don’t have friends then what is the point? People live life to get to know others and have an effect on the world, and that is why people wish they had stayed in touch with their friends. The last regret of the dying is I wish that I had let myself be happier. We can control how happy we are every day, how much negative thoughts we let come to us, and whether or not we focus on the good parts of our lives. This can be really hard sometimes, and it rarely becomes a priority in people’s lives. No one can always be happy, because sadness is what makes happiness something significant. If there was no sadness, what would happiness be? But we can decide whether or not we are going to focus on the sad parts of life, or remain optimistic and hopeful for the future. Bad things do happen, and sometimes you just need to be sad. But let yourself be happy, know it’s never something you have to earn, and you being happy helps everyone around you. In conclusion, we wish to share the lessons we take from the regrets of the dying. This is how we hope to leave this world feeling good about the choices we made. Dream big - Do not let the expectations of others stop you from living your life. Prioritize family - Do not let work stop you from spending time building your marriage and loving your kids. Be yourself - Do not hide your feelings or try to be someone else. Build relationships - Do not let day-to-day struggles stop you from spending time with those you enjoy. Be happy - Choose to see problems as opportunities and not let others drag you down. Thank you for reading. Sincerely Aila and Sumay McPhail Source: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying

by Aila Hello! Today I will be talking about Positive Psychology and we will talk about three things: what is the Hamburger Model and who created the hamburger model, what is the hedonism and rat race burger, and lastly what is the detriment and happiness burger! I hope you enjoy! This is a mental model called the “Hamburger Model.” This model was created by Tal Ben Shahar who is an entrepreneur who created the Happiness Study Academy (HSA). You can watch the video below or read my takeaways. https://youtu.be/74Wei0-vAZs The hamburger model is not only for hamburgers. It can be for many different things in life. People make many decisions in life. And sometimes it is not the best one. Every once in a while people might choose to do something that is not good for you, but right then it feels good. Things like playing a video game, or watching TV. That hamburger is the hedonism burger. And there are also things that are good for you but you do not enjoy doing them such as studying for lots of boring exams, or not having dessert. That is the rat race burger. There are also things that you don't like doing but it also doesn't help you in the future. Things like feeling bad that you did something mean to another person or maybe you are having a bad day. That is the detriment burger. And last but not least, there are things that you enjoy doing and it also helps you in the future. Things like spending time with your friends or reading a book that you like to read. That is the happiness burger. Thank you for reading my post about the hamburger model! It is important that we have as many happiness burgers as possible, because you want to spend as much time as possible to do the things you love and are also good for you in the long term. Stay safe!

What do Happy Families have in common? With COVID19 cases back on the rise it seems we will likely be in lockdown for months to come. Being so close for so long has put pressure on many families. For this reason we tried to distill into a few core tenants what happy families have in common. What follows are five principles...each with their own symbol so we can better remember them when times get tough. We also included emergency strategies for dealing with family problems. We welcome you to join our efforts and suggest changes to existing or new principles. First Principles Positive Community Happy families surround themselves with people that they want to emulate and that share universal principles. Positive communities support each others families by helping other to remember first principles like "Charitable Interpretation" and strategies like "Just Give a Hug". A positive community is available in times of need to listen, facilitate understanding, and avoids judging or other bad behavior. Charitable Interpretation Happy families try to take the most positive and optimistic interpretation that of other people's actions. We should assume that other people, especially family members, have good intentions. This helps us to avoid jumping to negative conclusions. If someone says something hurtful we should ask questions to clarify instead of assuming that their intention is to harm. Silver Rule Most of you know about the golden rule, "Treat others the way you want to be treated." but we like the Silver Rule even better...“Treat others the way they want to be treated.” To do this you need to know the other person. Every person is different, and every person has their own unique personality, love language, and preferred communication style. Love others they want need to be loved. Trust Not Fear In the movie the Peaceful Warrior it brings up the concept of absolute vulnerability. Absolute vulnerability is when you are completely vulnerable to the people you love instead of getting defensive. This is hard because its the people you care about most that have the power to hurt you. But when we trust that they are trying to help us we can let go of our fear of rejection and disappointment. Emotional Bank Account The Emotional Bank Account measures how much stress a relationship can take. When we do something nice we make a deposit. When we hurt someones feelings we make a withdrawal. If the account runs low then even small things can cause big arguments and hurt feelings. Before this happens, we should make deposits and avoid putting stress on a relationship. This is especially true for people that live with each other because we often don't realize all the little withdrawals we make. Emergency Strategies Here are some strategies we recommend for dealing with family problems. You are welcome to suggest others. Give a Hug All families go through rough patches. Sometimes people argue. Sometimes feelings get hurt. When this happens we might know what to do. But we can always give a hug. Hugs show we care even if we don't know what to say or don't yet have the strength to say we are sorry. Say I Love You Above all...Love. Let others know that you are here to support them when they are in need. You can always say "I Love You" even when you feel angry. You can always say “I’m here for you and everything is going to be okay.” Say I’m Sorry We can always say we are sorry...even if we don't think whatever happened is entirely our fault. You can say "I'm sorry that your feelings are hurt" or "I'm sorry that I didn't do better". Feelings are complicated and we can always do better. Say Thank you You can always give a complement to show your appreciation. Say “thank you for everything you do.” Remind them of reasons why you love them and are grateful to have them in your life. Be Vulnerable “A warrior is not about perfection. Or victory. Or invulnerability. She's about absolute vulnerability. That's the only true courage.” Those that are closest to us can sometimes hurt our feelings. That is because we care about what they say and do. This makes us vulnerable, and that is ok. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable we are telling the other person that we care about them. We show that we are humans with flaws, and that make us approachable and trustworthy. "You should trust and not fear the people that love you ... even though they are the people who can hurt you the most. Let down your weapons and hold hands so that you stand together against the storm." - Sumay Call Safe People Safe people are members of your Positive Community that are there for you when you need help. Sometimes we all feel alone, helpless, or misunderstood. Maybe you just had a fight with your big sister...or maybe your husband is acting more thick headed than usual. Whatever it is we can all sometimes benefit from talking to a safe person. Safe people are true friends. First and foremost that means they listen to you. They won't pretend to know more about your life than you. They won't pass judgment on you or your family. When you tell them about your struggles they won't derail the conversation by talking about theirs. They care about your relationships and can help you remember first principles and strategies for handling emergencies. Avoid talking to people who bring you down or set a bad example for how to treat others. For example, when we are angry or upset we should avoid talking to people who might encourage our anger, take sides, or worse. People do this sometimes because it is an easy and cheap way to make us feel better in the moment and in the process make them feel more important. By saying, "You should be angry" or "What a horrible thing they did" they validate our emotions making us feel safe and free to share with them. But at what cost? Safe people care about your family. They means they love you AND your relationship with your sister. That means they love you AND support your marriage. They listen carefully and ask thoughtful questions. They help to de-escalate stressful situations so that we can avoid doing things we may regret. They remind us that we are all flawed people, but that we all deserve love, friendship and understanding. -- Sincerely, By Sumay and Aila McPhail ... with help from Mommy and Daddy

We all have ways of coping with and understanding difficult circumstances. You do not need advice or guidance from a deeply flawed and young man like me...but I will share one thing with you...mostly so that I will not forget it myself when I inevitably face tragedy. ... We all have beliefs ... deeply held ... about what life is supposed to be. What a good life is. Who we are. Why we're are here. But these beliefs are reflections of narratives imposed upon us far more often than they are truths. When we are unaware that we hold these beliefs we are slaves to them. Like believing that we need a promotion, need to be admired, or for me, that my children will always think I am cool (just wait until they are teenagers :) Billions of people around the planet immerse themselves in silly games without meaning...like obsessing over who has the best lawn or getting jealous when their colleagues or friends that make more money. Almost everything people value ... and thus expose themselves to getting upset about day to day ... is a pointless, meaningless distraction from the only thing that matters. This moment. In time. To live in the moment is a choice that we often ignore until we face death ... and we all do if we are honest with ourselves. The tragedy is most choose to live in a constant state of distraction as evidenced by the regrets of the dying. We choose how to view our situation ... it is a choice. There is no guide rule for how good a life is. We decide through the paradigm we use to see ourselves and the world around us. What I know from my limited life experience are two things... 1) most people I know are miserable.  2) their misery is uncorrelated to circumstance. The peaceful warrior accepts death and misery as necessary for life to have meaning and value. If we had no struggle...there would be no opportunity for triumph...and triumph would have no value if there be no risk of failure. There is no ideal circumstance...no better burden to carry...no better life to live than the one we have.  And when we accept that ... we become a stronger and more patient force for love and good in this world than we ever thought possible. Your friend, Joe

Hello! Thank you for coming to read Positive Psychology 101! Positive psychology is the study of human happiness. In this post we share insights from this rapidly growing field on how to be happier, regrets of the dying, and the "Hamburger Model" which suggests we can be happy today while also setting us up for happiness in the future. -- Greatest Hits of Positive Psychology My parents read many books on positive psychology before I was born. Their thinking was, "If we want to be happy...shouldn't we start by researching it?" Perhaps that's a little silly, but that is the way leaders in the field of Positive Psychology came to create this new discipline. In this section I will share "Greatest Hits" from Tal Ben-Shahar. Tal Ben-Shahar wrote the book titled "Happier" based on his experiences of teaching. He started a class at Harvard about how to find happiness that quickly grew from just eight students (two of whom quickly dropped out) to hundreds in just two years. Lucky for me...he made a YouTube Video that summarizes many of the greatest hits! You are welcome to watch, but here are some key takeaways just in case: Permission to be Human - Everyone feels bad sometimes. Feeling bad is evidence that you are not dead or a psychopath. You need to give yourself unconditional acceptance to feel emotions. Negative emotions are part of reality that we must accept. We need to give ourselves permission to be human. Accepting negative emotions is required to prevent them from controlling us. The only way we can make rational decisions, and to mitigate negative emotions, is accepting those emotions. Dealing with Stress - you should have time to do the things you want to do. And you should have time to spend time with people you love and people you care about. Stress is not the problem. The problem is the lack of recovery. But there are things you can do to recover, as simple as take a walk or meditate for a few minutes, but mostly, have a lot of sleep. Exercise is one of the main things too! If you don't exercise you are more likely to be depressed. Exercise is the thing you can do if you are depressed. It not only is good for stress it also makes your brain function better. And it also helps with your health by making your immune system stronger. And now meditation. Meditation is the best thing to deal with stress, and there are many different ways to meditate. But in every way to meditate there is one thing that you have to do for all of them. You always have to focus on one thing. Either you say a word over and over again or you are focusing on your breath. Scientists have found out that if you have more activation on the right side of pre-cortex then you are more likely to be depressed. And when you have more activation on the left side of pre-cortex then you are more likely to be cheerful! If you meditate then your brain can completely transform; and not only that, it makes your immune system stronger. You should also appreciate, there are two main ways to appreciate. You can say thank you, but there is also a second way to appreciate, and it is that you appreciate the good in your life. As simple as being grateful that there is food or the fact that you even have a life. You have to appreciate the things that you have or you will not be happy. -- The second thought leader in the field of Positive Psychology is Dan Gilbert, the Author of Stumbling on Happiness. You may enjoy his video as well. Regrets of the dying People do things that they regret. And sometimes they don't notice it until they get really old. They say"I feel like I finally feel alive", that is, because they are grateful for every second of their life. This link showed the top five regrets of the people that are dying, people that finally are grateful for every second they are alive. But you want to be alive your whole life. There is a story about my great-aunt. And it is about when she got diagnosed with cancer. She didn't know if she was going to make it (she made it). And one of the biggest regrets of hers is that she wished she cared less about what other people thought of her. And to let herself just be herself. The other regret she had was that she wished she had been more kind to other people. Because you can apologize later, but sometimes you don't get the chance to. Sometimes the person you wanted to apologize to moved to a different country or who knows what! So in the first place, you should just try not to be mean. Hamburger Model The last insight from the field of Positive Psychology that I want to share with you is the "Hamburger Model". This models was created by Tal Ben Shahar whom I introduced earlier. You can watch the video below or read my takeaways below. The hamburger model is not only for hamburgers. It can be for many different things in life. People make many decisions in life. And sometimes it is not the best one. Every once in a while people might choose to do something that is not good for you, but right then it feels good. Things like playing a video game, or watching TV. That hamburger is the hedonism burger. And there are also things that are good for you but you do not enjoy doing them such as studying for lots of boring exams, or not having dessert. That is the rat race burger. There are also things that you don't like doing but it also doesn't help you in the future. Things like feeling bad that that you did something mean to another person or maybe you are having a bad day. That is the detriment burger. And last but not least, there are things that you enjoy doing and it also helps you in the future. Things like spending time with your friends or reading a book that you like to read. That is the happiness burger. Conclusion The field of Positive Psychology is the study of human happiness. Humans did not always think about the subject too methodically...believing that happiness was impossible to achieve or that it was something so fleeting and complicated that strategies for cultivating it may not exist. But we can increase our happiness. As we wrote about here, happiness is the "Ultimate Currency", so thinking about its nature and causes should really be step one in life...right? -- Thank you for your interest! Aila

by Joe, first published in May 2020 In just over a month the unemployment rate of the United States grew from under 4% to over 15%. Many of you are out of work, or worried about losing your job. It's a tough time for many and many of you have reached out to us asking for guidance. We don't pretend to have all the answers, but we have learned a few things. We both hit the job market during the Financial Crisis in late 2008. Between the two of us we've worked in industry, government, consulting and entrepreneurship. We've done hundreds of interviews and interviewed hundreds of people. Everyone's situation is different, but there are shared first principles for career building, and we've also learned a few practical strategies for uncovering valuable opportunities. Career building is a process...so what we share here applies to everyone regardless of if you have a career you love or still searching. First Principles. To begin...let's start with a few first principles of career building... Grow your Specific Knowledge Know what you know Create Positive Skew Opportunities Specific Knowledge is everything we know and do that makes us unique. It cannot be taught, but can be learned through experiences. No one lives an identical life to someone else. Your specific knowledge has to come from within ... from all the things that inspire you. It's what you do like breathing ... without even thinking about it. Your specific knowledge is extremely important because it is what makes you scarce and scarcity is the source of value. Only by discovering your specific knowledge can you guarantee your career security because your specific knowledge makes you irreplaceable. To learn more about what your specific knowledge is and how to harness it you can check out this post by Sumay: https://www.wequil.com/post/arm-yourself-with-specific-knowledge Know what you know is a mental model for categorizing what we know. During a recent trip to Iowa State University we were asked by a group of college students what classes they should take and what industries they should work in. But that's not the right question. The future is unknowable and how your specific knowledge fits into that future can only be discovered by you. Discovery is a process...not an answer. You will need to constantly evolve with the world around you and continually find how your specific knowledge can be leveraged to add value to others. The only way you can do this is by first recognizing that we are all deeply ignorant of the state of the world. Once we accept this we can let go of our preconceived beliefs about what we were "born to do", and start having lots of conversations and interviews. Once we accept our ignorance we can begin learning from leading minds, podcasts, blogs, books, and every other source fo valuable insights on what will innovations and industries are creating value. We need to reduce the size of the "unknown unknowns" and avoid thinking we know things that we do not. To learn more about this mental model check out this post by Aila: https://www.wequil.com/post/not-knowing Positive Skew opportunities provide the potential for large gains without much risk or cost. The term comes from statistics...and refers to the shape of a probability distribution on the right. Notice that the distribution has a "fat tail" on the right hand side. This means that there is a small possibility of a large outcome. In this context we can think of the "large outcome" as including things like discovering a great opportunity, building a valuable relationship, or finding a passion that also pays well. There are no guarantees in life. Everything is uncertain. But we can use this to our advantage when we create many positive skew opportunities. We can never count on any one opportunity to pan out, but if we create enough of them, then we can greatly increase the probability of very good outcomes. To learn more about positive skew check out this post in our Evolutionomics Blog: https://www.wequil.com/post/positive-skew -- The culmination of finding our specific knowledge, knowing what we know, and creating positive skew, is a recipe for career building success. We first learn how we best add value to the world...what the world needs...and then create opportunities for making that overlap become a reality. The first two steps take a lot of time... Understanding our specific knowledge takes deep introspection. It also takes a lot of honesty, and close relationships with good friends that can help us better understand who we truly are. It takes reflecting on feedback from our bosses, our spouse, our kids, and others willing to share. It takes a lot of listening, and that takes courage. Our family has a process for learning about ourselves and each other. We call it our Sangha...and you can learn all about it here: https://www.wequil.com/pandaparent Our daughters are using their blogs to generate and learn about their specific knowledge. Writing is a very fast and effective way to learn. By following their own educational curriculum through Makeshift Homeschool they are learning as much about themselves as they are standard academics. Given our success with this ... writing and blogging is a process for learning and discovering your Specific Knowledge that I highly recommend. Understanding what the world needs requires letting go of our preconceptions. It also takes a lot of humility, and a willingness to invest a lot of time in our education. The internet has made nearly all of the world's knowledge free...but very few use its power to its potential. Leading minds like great business leaders, scientists, engineers, and many more are out there sharing their wisdom and insights for anyone willing to listen. We write a lot about what we learn from the world's leading minds. You can find pieces here on thinkers and entrepreneurs like Peter Theil, concepts like mental models, and new innovations reshaping the future like machine learning. It's all out there. Only after we know who we are and where we fit in can we really make the most of positive skew opportunities. Thankfully...that last step doesn't take much time at all! Strategies for Creating Positive Skew Opportunities Positive skew opportunities cost almost nothing but can create tremendous value. Like a seed we plant in the ground...it may not survive, but if it does it may thrive. There are many sources of positive skew opportunities, but they all come down to relationships. We forget sometimes that at the end of the day...everything that we create, and our greatest sources of happiness all come down to relationships. Your interviews could create relationships. Your colleagues might create valuable relationships. Your neighbors could be helpful relationships. Your spouse could be the greatest of all relationships. Starting a relationship costs almost nothing...but like the seed we plant, it can make a huge difference. When you are ready to grow your career you want to start a lot of relationships. Here are a few ways to start: Share on Social Media Do lots of interviews Connect with Leading Minds in your field Sharing on Social Media is a strategy that has only been around for a decade...so if you believe social media is a waste of time then perhaps you are just doing it wrong. Here are the strategies we have found to be most effective: Linkedin is arguably the best job searching platform in the world. Use it to grow your professional career by connecting with everyone you meet in a professional capacity, looking for job openings, and marketing your published works. If you don't have any published works...learn to love writing and then start publishing on Linkedin. Many business leaders and other leading minds use this platform to share their insights with the world. You should also. Twitter gives back whatever you put into it. We follow Leading Minds. Never before have many of the world's brightest thinkers been willing to share their insights in real time...until Twitter. The more we use Twitter the more its AI engine learns what types of information we like to read. You can create lists of Leading Minds categorized by their areas of expertise for fields you have an interest in. Its a tool...that take time to learn to use, but once you learn to use it properly you will find it as valuable as email or Zoom. Facebook has been adopted by a larger percent of the world's population than any other platform. Use it to create private subgroups to connect with old friends and colleagues on subjects of interest to you. For example, we run two private groups. One on Evolutionomics and the other for Universal Principles. We are able to keep up with far more friends and family this way and control the quality of content by ensuring that those in our groups have a Growth Mindset. Other platforms may be useful as well. The key is to make the platforms work for you. Know what you want out of them and structure them accordingly. -- Doing lots of interviews is the fastest way to generate positive skew opportunities while simultaneously learning about your industry and building valuable relationships. Interviews are perhaps the fastest way you can learn about your industry. If you have not done at least 10 interviews within the past year at different firms in your field...then you don't really know half of what's going on in your field. There is a limit to what you can learn from your job. You probably only have one boss...and you probably only work on a few projects at a time. You only get to work with a few people a month and the priorities of your branch may not provide much insight into broader industry trends. If you were to ask leaders of an institution to take a break from their jobs and spend a day talking to you about where they are having problems, what they need, how they see their business growing, and who they want to help them get there...they probably wouldn't give you the time of day. But that's exactly what an interview is! Interview frequently...regardless of whether you actually want to change jobs. Use them to build relationships and gain insights you never could from simply working. -- Connect with Leading Minds in your field by reading a lot and reaching out! Don't be annoying, but also don't be afraid to email or connect on social media with thought leaders in areas you find interesting and relevant to your career. We've found this to be a valuable way to build relationships, learn about the world, and generate leads to new opportunities. You just don't know where these relationships will take you. Remember...there are no guarantees, but the cost is near zero ... so the result is positive skew. -- Let's know if you have other suggestions for career building...and feel free to reach out...we love building new relationships! Sincerely, Joe & Lulu -- If you are trying to expand your network and found this article helpful...feel free to connect with us at the links below. Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephmcphail/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumay-mcphail/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lihongmcphail/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/aila-mcphail/ Twitter https://twitter.com/joseph_mcphail https://twitter.com/LihongMcphail https://twitter.com/SumayLu Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joseph.e.mcphail https://www.facebook.com/lihong.l.mcphail https://www.facebook.com/sumay.l.mcphail https://www.facebook.com/aila.mcphail