Shit You Don't Learn in School

Codifying and living by your values is one of the most important skills of adulthood. Values are the guideposts that help you make decisions that align with who you want to be, especially when you're confronted with difficult situations. In this episode, Steph and Calvin dive deep into integrity, how to think about values, and what this means for individuals and businesses.

The pandemic resulted in hundreds of millions — if not billions — of people moving their work online. These rapid changes mean that so many people now have the freedom to work and live from where they want. Calvin and Steph had the privilege of being location independent since 2016, so in this episode, they break down the most important lessons they’ve learned about being happy, productive remote workers.

Even if we’d like to wish otherwise, our time is finite and zero sum. If we spend time on one thing, we’re not spending time on another. But even though it’s our most scarce resource, we often don’t protect it by saying “no”. In this episode, Calvin and Steph discuss why it can be so difficult to say no and how we can develop the muscle to say no more often.

Some people are never late. Others are late consistently. Why is there such a difference in people’s relationship with time?In this episode, Steph and Calvin talk about chronically late insane people (CLIPs), a term coined by Tim Urban. They talk through when it’s okay to be late, when it’s not, and why some people can’t seem to be on time, despite feeling bad about it.Steph also shares her experience as a CLIP and they discuss the four different types of chronically late people, along with how this behavior may differ around the world.

The pandemic has been a fascinating case study in problem solving, yet remains a topic that parts of the world is deeply divided on. Just like other controversial topics, understanding that there is no perfect solution is both accurate and freeing.In this episode, Steph and Calvin explore the idea of zeroism, or said otherwise, the pursuit of perfection. By identifying the tendency for humans to strive for perfection, they highlight the ways that thinking in absolutes can hinder our ability to make progress.

We all need money, but formal schooling fails to teach us how to make decisions based on our unique relationship with money and investing. In this episode, Steph and I openly explore the challenges we've had with investing our money and the many pitfalls we've tried to avoid in our pursuit of building sustainable, long-term wealth.

We have access to more data and opportunities than ever before, but it's hard to separate the signal from the noise. In this episode, Steph and Calvin discuss navigating information overload, how to avoid being left behind, what we can learn from the past, and how we can better prepare for an uncertain future.

Friendship, family, and community are indispensable to living a good life. But as we get older, it becomes more difficult to stay in touch with the people we care about. Life seems to always get in the way. In this episode, Steph and Calvin chat about the challenges of staying in touch with people, some tactics for doing a better job, and the importance of prioritizing this part of your life.

It's hard to make career decisions. What industry should you work in? What should you optimize for? When should you quit your job? In this episode, Steph and Calvin talk about how they've thought about navigating the endless nuances and ambiguities of building a rewarding career.

Like everything in life, giving back is a skill and a habit that takes time to learn. In this episode, Steph and I talk about how we define giving, the ways in which we've experimented with giving back, and how you can get started giving even before you're ready to give.