Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. Today we’re zooming out to consider the boundaries of our capabilities and the notion of circles of competence. The Cautionary Tale of the Spruce Goose The year was 1947. Howard Hughes was already an acclaimed businessman, film producer and aviation innovator. But now he embarked on his most ambitious project yet - constructing the largest aircraft in history, the H-4 Hercules, better known...
7 months ago • 3 min read
Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. Today we're talking about a fundamentally human bias - loss aversion. First, let me tell you a story. The view from 30,000 feet High above the world, where the air is thin and the sky touches the earth, lies the ultimate test of endurance, will, and decision-making: Mount Everest. The year was 1996, and the mountain was bustling with climbers, all vying to etch their names in the annals of...
8 months ago • 4 min read
Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. Imagine you're at an antique market, and you stumble upon a peculiar-looking vase. The seller, sensing your interest, casually mentions it's from the 18th century and starts the bid at a hefty $500. From that moment on, regardless of its real value, that initial price tag, the anchor, influences how much you're willing to bid. Welcome to the world of anchoring. Anchoring bias is like a...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. Have you ever caught yourself thinking, "If only I had taken that job, moved to that city, or even chosen that restaurant, things could have been so different"? That's counterfactual thinking at work. Many of us engage in it frequently, perhaps unwittingly, and often unproductively. Missed the train by a minute? You might think, “What if I’d left home just 60 seconds earlier?” A...
9 months ago • 4 min read
Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. Ever found yourself putting out fires all day, only to later realise you let the bigger flames spread? Think of your day as a room full of alerts. Some are loud, urgent beeps while others are quiet vibrations which could be easily missed. The Eisenhower Matrix helps you distinguish between them. Cutting through the fog of war Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States...
9 months ago • 2 min read
Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. We'll be trying out a slightly different format for Wayfinder - shorter, denser, but equally actionable. Every fortnight I'll share a framework or mental model you can use to squash problems and cut through decisions. Today we'll look at the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. Maximising Impact with Minimal Resources You've probably heard the tale of King Midas, the man whose...
10 months ago • 2 min read
Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. This week, we're helping Li Ming, a dedicated postgrad student deep into a PhD program in robotics, grappling with a challenging decision: should she halt her doctoral journey due to the weight of its challenges? What we'll cover: Evolution of Objectives: Revisit past goals and explore how personal experiences and new information can shift perspectives. Navigating Turbulence: Just as ships...
11 months ago • 8 min read
Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. This week, we're helping Li Ming, a dedicated postgrad student deep into a PhD program in robotics, grappling with a challenging decision: should she halt her doctoral journey due to the weight of its challenges? What we'll cover: Evolution of Objectives: Revisit past goals and explore how personal experiences and new information can shift perspectives. Navigating Turbulence: Just as ships...
11 months ago • 8 min read
Hey there Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. Today, we have a question from Sandra, who has been a translator for two decades and is currently transitioning into the tech industry. After spending ten months studying full-stack development and data analytics, she finds herself at a crossroads, needing to choose a specific career path in tech. What we'll cover: Backcasting Your Future Self: Envision your ideal future self to identify...
11 months ago • 11 min read