Saturday morning.
Why is it that when we can sleep in, we still wake up early and don’t feel like staying in bed, but getting up during the week is a struggle?
I know it’s because of what awaits me from 9 to 5, but I want another explanation—one that doesn’t rub in my face how dissatisfied I am with what I have to do to make a living.
Jeez, I’m making it sound like I’m stuck in a slaughterhouse or an outlet store. It’s not that bad, but heading to the office on Monday feels about as appealing as starting a debate in the parents’ WhatsApp group.
Anyway, this Saturday I woke up early. A few seconds with my eyes open, thinking about nothing, made it clear that staying in bed any longer was pointless. I got up, put on some sweatpants and a Snoodie, and went to the kitchen to make my coffee. I poured water into the kettle, grabbed my IKEA mug, and bent down to fetch the coffee jar from the cupboard.
(Why does my back hurt so much when I bend down to reach the jar, and why haven’t I found a better place for the coffee yet?)
I grabbed the jar with my right hand, twisting the lid with my left while rotating the jar in the opposite direction—a fluid motion that ended in position to pour the coffee into the mug. With three shakes of my arm, I poured just the right amount. Perfect precision. I’m a Coffee Samurai and spoons are for wimps.
I closed the jar and put it back in the cupboard—it looks like it’s staying in the same spot for another day. Back at the kettle, I filled three-quarters of the mug with boiling water and the rest with cold water, because if I wanted to wait for my coffee, I’d go to Starbucks.
As I walked through the living room toward my desk to sit at the computer with my coffee, I saw the silence filling the room—Yes, there are times when silence is visible.
With my girlfriend and our son still asleep, I knew I could have all that silence to myself, so I placed my coffee on the dinner table and grabbed Tim Ferriss’ Tools of Titans from the bookshelf.
Some people don’t like it, and some don’t even count it as a “book” because it’s mostly just a collection of answers from various people to Tim’s questions. But I’m not a purist or a snobbish reader.
I enjoy Dostoevsky and Pessoa as much as anyone else, but I also read Joël Dicker, Malcolm Gladwell, and E. L. James.
LOL, I’m joking about the last one, but I wanted to include a female writer and couldn’t think of one I’ve read who wasn’t great. Guess I’m snobbish after all.
Anyway, the book.
To me, Tools of Titans is like an analog Substack feed—a place to read short to medium-form content from various authors, packed with high-value insights per word, and featuring links to long-form content.
The only difference is that it's less distracting, and it lacks the nauseating writing advice and constant whining—"Even if no one reads my articles, I’ll keep writing!" Seriously, just write. No one’s reading your stuff because you spend more time writing Notes about how unfair life is than actually writing about life.
Argh, I need another coffee, and I need to curate my Substack feed.
Again, back to the book.
Contrary to books that make you think deeply to get to a breakthrough conclusion, Tools of Titans gives you breakthrough conclusions that make you think, and it’s that inversion that I find attractive and valuable for the start of my day.
Let me show you some examples:
Here’s a gem from coach Christopher Sommer, shared in an email to Tim, in response to his complaints about not seeing progress in a particular physical exercise:
"...this impatience in dealing with frustration is the primary reason that most people fail to achieve their goals. Unreasonable expectations timewise, resulting in unnecessary frustration, due to a perceived feeling of failure. Achieving the extraordinary is not a linear process. The secret is to show up, do the work, and go home."
Now tell me if you don't identify with this. We all want results—fast—but often lack the patience to achieve them. I know I do, even though I’ve yet to meet someone who stuck to a system to reach a goal and failed.
Here’s investor Chris Sacca on how to connect with people:
“Good stories always beat good spreadsheets.
Whether you are raising money, pitching your products to customers, selling the company, or recruiting employees, never forget that underneath all the math and the MBA bullshit talk, we are all still emotionally driven human beings. We want to attach ourselves to narratives.”
I believe storytelling can save the world, as it is the only vehicle capable of carrying any message and delivering it to any recipient. Common sense can’t do that. Logic can’t do that. Not even Love can do that. Storytelling is the only force holding the keycard to enter anyone’s heart and deliver any message. It’s the one that can carry common sense, logic, and even love, without being stopped by anyone’s barriers.
Also Chris Sacca about authenticity (in a commencement speech at the Carlson School of Management):
“Weirdness is why we adore our friends… Weirdness is what sets us apart, gets us hired. Be your unapologetically weird self.
Wouldn't it be great if we believed we had worth just as we are and found a way to—through our uniqueness—provide value to others, instead of trying to mold ourselves into what we think others are looking for? Our uniqueness is what sets us apart—being like everyone else doesn’t make us better; it just blends us into the crowd.
Wear the clothes you like, laugh out loud, tell your silly jokes, embrace your accent, or stay serious all the time. Whatever your quirks are, accept them and find a way to connect with others through them. Only then will you become undeniably you.
These passages are just from this Saturday, so I call it a good investment of 15 minutes of my time.
But this led me to question:
Why don’t I do this every day? Isn’t this something I appreciate? Hasn’t it undeniably contributed to my growth?
Yes, and the reason I don’t do it more often has to do with daily stress—the rush of day-to-day life that makes me say “rushed I-love-you’s' with car keys in hand”.
But it might also be because I’ve been trying to do it the wrong way.
said it beautifully:“I started waking up 2 hours earlier than usual, not because I needed 2 hours to write, but because I needed two hours to enjoy writing.”
Maybe I need to wake up a bit earlier to make the most of those 15 minutes.
Maybe some Monday, I’ll choose not to rush back to the office.
Maybe I need to wake up earlier and do what I love, so I can have that choice.
It won’t be this Monday, but one Monday, it will be.
-Danny
Thanks to , , , , and for all the feedback, editing, and support.
Thanks to and for the beautiful lines I borrowed for this essay.
Oh I feel so honored that you mentioned me here. I hope that Monday comes sooner for you!
Damn right - why can’t every day feel like this? Also, bending for coffee shouldn’t be a back-breaking ordeal but here we are..