Dan's Daily

“When in doubt, good health is always the priority.”—The Orange Book

I loved this little reminder.

“I hereby declare on my honour I have not had any of the following symptoms in the last 48 hours…”

It was fun discovering this line in the ‘Engagement sur l’honneur’—the form you need to fill out before entering France.

Although I’ve never declared something “on my honour” before—I like it. It definitely made me think more carefully about my answers compared to what I would’ve done had I been looking at a simpler sentence.

I have a feeling that was their goal all along.

Maru and I are on our way to France for the wedding of some good friends of ours.

Upon arrival at Heathrow, I realised it had been 18 months since I was last there.

Heathrow has always been a place of intense emotions for me.

Painful goodbyes. Overjoyed reunions. And profound anticipation at the prospect of returning home to see family.

Just pulling up to the airport and heading into the departures terminal conjures up these memories.

And then I realised, it has very little to do with Heathrow, and it has everything to do with the people who I get to see by walking through its doors.

That’s the Heathrow feeling.

Or… Maybe I’ve just watched ‘Love Actually’ one too many times.

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere.”

Here’s a simple rule to make almost all business writing better: put the last paragraph first.

We often bury the answer—requiring the reader to dig to get to the heart of the matter.

We all love a great ending, but business writing isn’t a story or a film.

In the middle of the sprint—at the peak of stress, when you’re straining with all your might—just focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

Once you pass the finish line, only then allow yourself to measure, to judge, to critique, and to determine what could’ve been done better.

When we ask these questions mid-sprint, the psychological game has already been lost.

There’s a time to sprint, and a time to reflect. Keeping our minds focused on the right thing in each of these periods is a super power.

I started seeing e-scooters popping up around London in 2018. They were already common in the US and in other parts of Europe at that point, but London was lagging.

They were illegal here; classified as “powered transporters” and so could only be used on private property.

Fast forward 3 years, and I now see dedicated e-scooter parking zones all around my borough.

The government is now heavily backing the adoption of e-scooters. The shift has been driven by 1) demand for more socially-distanced transportation, and 2) an appetite for a transition to greener modes of travel.

Ironically and confusingly, only government-backed e-scooter rentals are legal here. Privately owned e-scooters can still only be used on private property.

I think that’ll change eventually, but it’s interesting to see how quickly e-scooters have transitioned from public nuisance to progressive policy lever.

I’m all for it! E-scooters are a lot of fun.

I recently learnt about the incredible bar-tailed godwit: a little bird coming in at 38cm long and only 300-400 grams.

Each year they complete the longest known migration of any bird species: a journey of almost 10,000kms from New Zealand to Alaska (and on the way up to Alaska they also make a pit stop in China’s Yellow Sea!). All up, it takes them about 8 days, and during that time they don’t sleep or rest. The funny thing is they’re obese and prime athletes at the same time (they need the fuel for the flight).

Unfortunately, like many other species, the bar-tailed godwit population is declining. Scientists are tracking their migratory pathways to figure out what could be threatening their existence. It’s amazing to think that the survival of such an amazing bird depends on the health and biodiversity of 3 places as unique as New Zealand, China, and Alaska.

If you’re interested to learn more, here is a little 10 min documentary I enjoyed watching today.

When trying to grow, there are only a few moments that matter each day.

There are only a few moments of peak stress, or when patience is needed, or when we can run a little farther, or lift a little heavier.

We don’t grow when things are easy.

We need the new stimulus.

It pays to be aware of, and then optimise, around these few moments.

We’re on the cusp of October.

It’s my month of peak denial: summer can’t be gone yet.

So I try and fight winter in odd ways.

I’ll refuse to wear gloves when cycling.

I’ll venture out in a t-shirt.

I’ll “forget” to check the forecast.

But, inevitably, the cold bites.

It forces my numb, ungloved hands into submission. It warns me via a shivering episode to pack an extra layer.

And yet I still like winter wrestling.

It’s the summer bug in me in its last act of defiance.

If you’re a Kiwi trying to get home—either to visit or to live—you need use the government’s ‘Managed Isolation and Quarantine’ website.

The website is a “lobby” and “queue” system where, currently, more than 25,000 people vie each fortnight to get one of approximately 3,000 rooms.

In short, it’s not a lobby, nor is it a queue, it’s a lottery.

Although I’m grateful New Zealand has been a haven from COVID for the past 18 months, it’s really frustrating that there are tens of thousands of Kiwis trying to get home, with the vast majority of us not being able to.

I get a weird feeling when I look at my passport. At this moment in time, it can get me into almost any country on earth, except the one I was born in. And that feels wrong.

Yesterday, I played my first game of football in 2 years.

Most of my cardio is either cycling or high-intensity resistance training in the gym, so running in short, sharp bursts whilst quickly changing direction is foreign to me right now.

I deliberately played at 60-70% effort with the aim of minimising the risk of injury.

I succeeded on that front, but I still woke up this morning with aches—the good kind—throughout my hips and legs.

It reminded me how healthy and beneficial it is to change up the routine on a regular basis. The new stimulus shocks our body, and it forces us to grow and get stronger.

Today I read a book to my 3-year-old nephew via Caribu.

Caribu is a family, video-calling app that integrates books, games, and activities. It’s goal is to help people connect and bond with the little ones in the family, even though they may be miles away.

We read a story about dinosaurs, we made sounds together, and my nephew helped turn the pages.

Although it’s not the same as being there in-person, but it’s a great option for those of us that are far from nieces, nephews, and grandkids.

I saw this sign in Kings Cross today.

Nice idea, but it fails in practice.

Here’s some data from UK charity, First Aid For Life:

“Currently less than 10% of people experiencing cardiac arrests in the community survive.” That’s pretty grim.

“CPR alone can double the chances of survival. When you use a defibrillator in addition to quality CPR, the odds of someone’s survival can jump from around 6% to 74%.” That’s an insane improvement in odds.

Yet “research has shown that deploying a defibrillator within 3–5 minutes of collapse can produce survival rates as high as 50–70%.” Yes the defibrillator is powerful, but it has to be deployed really quickly.

If someone had a heart attack in the Kings Cross square, I’m certain it’d take longer than 5 minutes to call the number and get the defibrillator to the site.

It’s a good lesson: we may design the solution with the best of intentions, but it’s all for naught if the solution has no chance at success from the outset.

When I put a draft down on paper and share it with someone, I’ve gotten into the habit of asking 2 questions:

1. What’s wrong?
2. What’s missing?

I’ve almost certainly got something wrong. By proactively asking the reader to help me identify what’s wrong, we get the a better answer, faster.

And I’ve almost certainly missed something. While it’s easier to just react to what’s on the page, the someone else is usually able to identify my gaps in logic and reasoning.

I loved this video of 3 centenarians sharing life lessons.

None of them wished they worked more hours.

All of them talked about the importance of relationships and love.

And my favourite answer of all was from a gentlemen who was asked to talk about his failures:

“I don’t have many failures. If I’m making a cake, and it fails, it becomes a pudding.”