Archives for June 2025

Growth comes when we’re exposed to a stimulus that stretches us, but doesn’t break us.

As we get stretched, we grow and improve, and our capacity to deal with the unexpected increases.

When I first started work, I hadn’t trained my “does this make sense?” muscle. Up until that point, I was used to all the data and information in text books being correct.

However, the real world is messy. Any answer or piece of data may be correct, or there may be nuance or grey areas that make the conclusion less clear.

It always pays to ask, “does this make sense?”.

The prototype is typically fast and easy to build. It’s a simple demonstration that a particular idea, technology, or solution is possible.

If the prototype demo goes well, the tricky part is translating it into a product that is ready for production (i.e., ships to end users).

All the complexities and edge cases that get glossed over in the prototype phase have to be hunted down and resolved. And they’re typically hard and take a lot of time.

Prototypes will get people excited and motivated, but sustained effort and energy over time is required to ship.

That’s the hard part.

A helpful rule for green-fingered folk: it’s better to underwater than overwater your plants.

I didn’t know that until recently.

The risk of root rot is high if a plant is holding a lot of moisture.

They’re more likely to survive a few days with dry soil than they are with drenched soil.

Sure, think hard about doing it more efficiently or effectively.

But at the end of the day, look back and appreciate the progress you’ve made—whether you inched or leaped forward.

Do what you can.

The very best you can.

Whether it’s family, friends, or colleagues. Many a misunderstanding can be avoided if we first assume good intent.

We’re all on the same team. No one is deliberately trying to make the other person’s life more difficult.

A little treat can’t hurt.

A candy, a bar of chocolate, a scoop of ice cream, a dessert, a daily sugar habit.

It all feels small and inconsequential until it doesn’t anymore.

The less a company treats customer service with a solve-this-problem-quickly-and-cheaply type attitude, and has a let’s-win-this-person-over-for-the-long-run type attitude, the more everyone wins.

The customer and the company.

What feels painful to the company in the short run pays dividends over and again in the long run.

We’re heading to Glastonbury Music Festival at the end of this week with good friends. Growing up in New Zealand, whenever I heard about Glastonbury, it always seemed like a myth from some far off land. Because it was.

So I can’t wait to experience it for the first time soon. Although, I’m likely to be in bed soon after midnight, with my ear plugs in, and my eye mask on. No late night raves for me.

The pothos starts off small with just a few leaves. But with a bit of warmth and bright, indirect light, it’ll grow 12-18 inches per month.

Its aerial roots allow you to train it to climb, or you can let them hang out.

We can’t tell growth in a day, but give it a few months and it’s a different plant altogether.

Find your warmth and bright, indirect light, and be willing to be a little patient.

Tomorrow is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.

I plan to take a long walk in the evening to soak in the late evening rays.

It’s bittersweet in the sense that until this moment, the days only get longer. There’s a young, blooming feeling that comes with that. But from tomorrow there’s the acknowledgement that the days will only get shorter.

And for those reading in the southern hemisphere, you’re about to turn the corner. The darkest winter day will be over.

The first time I travelled to Argentina to visit Maru was in 2011. It was a direct flight from Auckland to Buenos Aires on Aerolineas Argentinas. In 2012, however, they discontinued the route due to high fuel prices.

There was a three year period with no direct flight.

A few years later in 2015, Air New Zealand added the route, but the pandemic swiftly ended that one. So we were back to no direct flights yet again.

However, yesterday China Eastern Airlines announced it will be adding a direct flight from Auckland to Buenos Aires. The route will originate in Shanghai and stop in Auckland on the way.

Although we live in the UK, it’s really nice to know that there is now only one flight between Argentina and New Zealand. My family could visit Argentina more easily in the future, or it may be possible for me to make it to both places on a single trip.

It makes very long distances feel a little bit shorter.

Remove the snacks from the home.

Put your phone in the other room.

Lay your workout clothes the night before.

Remove willpower from the equation wherever possible. Make it a non-negotiable.

Last year I wrote about Haruki Murakami’s book ‘What I talk about when I talk about running’ and the idea of “acquiring a void” when running.

I said I didn’t understand it at the time, but I think I understand it a little now after a year of running (with a few hiatuses in the middle).

The thoughts and problems of the day are subordinate to the void. The void is just there. It’s a space for the subconscious to process without any conscious thought messing things up. It’s a deliberate eschewing of overthinking and must-solve-it-now habits. It’s a safe place to just be.

It was a bright, warm, sunny day Friday afternoon in Central London.

Someone mentioned that thunderstorms could be arriving in the late afternoon.

Within a few hours, the clouds had closed in. There was no thunder, but the rain was falling.

Things can change in an instant. We shouldn’t bank on the sun just because we can see it.