What I learned:
I had lunch with a sage at Starbucks.
At least, that’s what I called him.
He walked in wearing a t-shirt, fresh from a workout, and spent the morning working outdoors.
But he doing something no one else was doing…
Smiling.
Not checking his phone. Not anxious. Just a… “happy-to-be-here” vibe.
We talked about life.
I pushed a little: “Anything bothering you? You watching the news?
Worried about any of it? C’mon man..be real?!”
He shook his head.
“I’m in a good place.”
And he meant it.
Here’s what struck me.
It wasn’t jealousy. It was clarity.
This guy had figured something out.
He shuts off his phone. He moves his body. He doesn’t feed the machine.
He’s living Tolstoy’s dream:
“A quiet life, plentiful in nature, with the possibility each day of being useful to the people whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to having it done to them, then work honestly, which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, more nature, books, music, family, friends, and love – such is my idea of happiness.”
Last week’s top workplace headlines: 1) war, 2) AI takeovers 3) job losses, 4) potential market crashes.
The noise is real. The problems are real.
But here’s the real bullet point no one’s putting on their resume yet
….but will:
The ability to deeply focus without being consumed by distraction and negativity.
Cal Newport calls it Deep Work. It’s not a personality trait anymore.
It’s a new age skill.
And right now, most people haven’t built it.
My man at Starbucks wasn’t naive. He wasn’t ignoring the world.
He just refused to consistently rent his headspace to it.
That’s peak for this week.
Drawn by Mike Gusching. Inspired by Sahil Bloom.
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