No #58 | January 15, 2023

by Matthew Boyd

Good morning, welcome to the weekly Lead It Cool newsletter to prepare your for the week ahead.

Like many others, one of my New Year Resolutions is to get more exercise. And like many others, my brain has an uncanny ability of finding excuses not to exercise.😂

In this week's Lead It Cool newsletter:

• 👑Prince Harry & Sibling Rivalry
• 🗃️Memory Dividends
• 🟦Blue Monday is Bullsh*t
• 🧠Brain Memes
• 😎Cool Links

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👑Prince Harry & Sibling Rivalry

One thing I learned over the holiday break is that the most divisive question you can ask at any dinner party right now is this:

"So what do you think of the Prince Harry situation?"

😤PEOPLE HAVE STRONG OPINIONS! NETFLIX IS PUMPING OUT MORE CONTENT!😤

In fact, for many of you, I bet your blood pressure is rising just thinking about this topic.

TEAM HARRY VERSUS TEAM WILL!

The topic of the Royal family can be divisive, but my wife has a theory that it may not be solely about the Royals, but also about how it relates to our own experiences with our siblings.

We are digesting the information about Will and Harry's complex relationship through the lens of our own sibling experience, and we're taking a side based on who we empathize with more.

Are you the older sibling, or the younger sibling? (Or are you the tortured middle child *cough* like myself🙃).

Sibling rivalry is something that many of us can relate with.

Whether it’s competing for our parents' attention or fighting over the TV remote, it’s a natural part of growing up in the same household.

But are sibling rivalries healthy for us?

The answer is complicated.

On the one hand, despite all the bickering and squabbling, sibling rivalry can actually make us more resilient, independent, and self-confident. After all, when you’re constantly competing with your siblings, you learn to stand up for yourself and your opinions. You also develop a thick skin, which can help you in all areas of life. Plus, sibling rivalry can teach us to be more patient and understanding.

But on the other hand, sibling rivalry can lead to resentment. And in the case of Prince Harry, can lead to long-term emotional damage if the rivalry is particularly intense or if it goes unresolved.

In most sibling relationships, some form of conflict seems inevitable. Which is why forgiveness is so important.

In Henry Kissinger's biography he wrote the quote below about his brother, whom he had a complicated relationship with:

Let's hope that Harry and Will can get to this same point and forgive each other, because I think I speak for everyone that I'm tired of the dinner table debates and the Netflix reminders😏.

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🗃️Memory Dividends

The entrepreneur Kevin Dahlstrom recently wrote a thread about how humans can maximize their happiness.

One concept that he presented is something called Memory Dividends.

A Memory Dividend is a great experience, especially those shared with others, that pays dividends for the rest of your life.

For example, have you ever gone out with your friends and laughed about a story from years ago? That's a Memory Dividend - something that happened in the past that you're still reaping the rewards from today.

So if you're still looking for 2023 resolutions, perhaps consider trying to create more Memory Dividends.

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🟦Blue Monday is Bullsh*t

Tomorrow, January 16th, you're probably going to hear a lot about Blue Monday. Blue Monday, which falls on the third Monday in January, is 'recognized' as the most depressing day of the year.

But the truth is that Blue Monday was just a marketing gimmick by a travel company based on pseudoscience to persuade people to spend more.

Don't believe the hype.

Make the day whatever you want it to be. (cartoon by Gerrit de Jager)

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🧠Brain Memes

Lex Fridman posted this meme the other day and it is a 🎯🎯🎯

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😎Cool Links

🌲Turning People Into Trees. "When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, 'You’re too this, or I’m too this.' That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are." (via SwissMiss)

🤓'Returnship' programs can drive diversity and engagement. As we’re reminded after the holidays, returning to work following a break is tough.Now, imagine if that break went on for months or even years. That’s why employers including Amazon, Intuit, Meta, Accenture, and NBCUniversal have been offering “returnships.” Since emerging on the scene, these temporary jobs (think, internships for mid-career professionals) have helped those reentering the workforce after an extended period of time to obtain and successfully transition into full-time roles and learn new skills.

🤔Abstracts written by ChatGPT fool scientists. The ChatGPT-generated abstracts sailed through the plagiarism checker: the median originality score was 100%, which indicates that no plagiarism was detected. The AI-output detector spotted 66% the generated abstracts. But the human reviewers didn't do much better: they correctly identified only 68% of the generated abstracts and 86% of the genuine abstracts. They incorrectly identified 32% of the generated abstracts as being real and 14% of the genuine abstracts as being generated.

🤣Dignity Temporarily Set Aside to Enjoy Trampoline. This is me at the Flying Squirrel.

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