Master the best of what other people have already figured out.
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
*************** FS | BRAIN FOOD ***************
December 14th, 2025 - #659 - read online ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/9qhzhnhd9ed... ) - Free Version
Welcome to Brain Food, your weekly signal in a world full of noise.
------------- Tiny Thoughts -------------
*
If you don’t commit to living life on your terms, other people will commit you to theirs.
**
You have to train before the race, not after. You have to build the skill before you get the job that requires it. You have to be trustworthy for years before anyone trusts you with something important. The bill comes first. The reward comes later.
***
The universe does not offer financing.
This is hard to accept because modern life trains us to expect the opposite. We are addicted to "Buy Now, Pay Later." You live in the house before you pay off the mortgage. You get the degree before you pay off the loan. You eat the meal before you ask for the check.
We are conditioned to enjoy the benefit today and pay the cost tomorrow.
Achievement reverses the transaction. It requires full payment in advance (and regular payments forever). If you want a fit body, a calm mind, a healthy relationship, or financial independence, the cost is non-negotiable. You must do the work before you get the result.
This is why most people quit. They pay a little, see nothing, and stop. They never make it far enough to see the first return arrive.
-------- Insights --------
*
Author Jonathan Safran Foer on happiness:
“I think and think and think, I've thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it.”
**
Benjamin Franklin with a dose of timeless wisdom:
“Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself a slave to it.”
***
Professional basketball player Dawn Staley, who won three gold medals in the Olympic Games, describes her perspective in preparation for the Olympics:
“Winning the gold medal is my goal, not my dream. My dream is about playing to win as often as possible with and against the best women basketball players in the world. Winning the gold medal as a goal gives me some direction, but my dream is something I need to live every day. And I’m doing that each time I play to win… When I’m playing to win, that’s when I feel resonance. If I win, that’s great. I want to win, and having the gold medal as my goal forces me to play to win. But what I love to do, what my dream is, is to play to win.”
--------------------- The Knowledge Project ---------------------
Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland reveals the formula for persuasion, why people make decisions, and how to use psychology to your advantage.
Rory is the world’s leading advertising strategist. He spent almost four decades at the world's leading advertising agency studying why people behave the way they do and how to change that behavior.
He explains why contrast drives choices and efficiency often destroys value, and how trust, friction, and design shape real-world behavior.Here are some Tiny Lessons from this episode. 1. Trust is the only shortcut.2. Visible costs often hide invisible benefits.3. Efficiency is the enemy of magic.4. Creativity starts where logic stops.5. Context creates value.
+ Listen now Apple Podcasts ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/3ohphkh3zk3... ) | Spotify ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/n2hohvhvrlv... ) | Web/Transcript ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/48hvhehmg7m... ) | X ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/wnh2hghqglq... ) | YouTube ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/reh8hohmxom... )
More from this episode ...+ Read all 20 Tiny Lessons ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/08hwh9h2zp2... )+ Read the 19 Big Lessons ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/8ghqhoho97o... )+ A short clip on how we look for efficiency in the wrong place ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/vqh3hrhogqo... ). + A clip on visible costs and invisible benefits ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/m2h7h5h3el3... ) that went viral.
------- SPONSOR -------
( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/dpheh0he52e... )
I'm very busy. That's why I trust Matic to clean my floors. It's one of the few products I've ever loved from the very first moment. Unlike disc-shaped robots that bump into everything, Matic sees in 3D. My kids think it uses Tesla Autopilot to navigate around everything. More importantly, it vacuums and mops and never needs my attention. I'm not the only one who likes it; Wired ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/e0hph7h74d7... ) gave it the first 10/10 rating in 17 years. Buy Matic now. ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/dpheh0he52e... )
Thanks for reading,
— Shane Parrish
P.S. Every ball is moving in a straight line ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/7qh7h8h9zx9... ).
Want to share this edition with a friend? Use this link: https://fs.blog/brain-food/december-14-2025/ ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/9qhzhnhd9ed... )
---------------- Upgrade Yourself ----------------
Members get access to all my reading highlights, ad-free newsletters and podcasts, hand-edited transcripts, early access, AMAs, and so much more. Join us → here ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/owhkhqhwo0w... ).
You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Sunday Brain Food.
Want to sponsor an issue of the Newsletter or an episode of the podcast? Click here to learn more ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/p8heh9h4xp4... ).
Overwhelmed by email? No need to unsubscribe. Try a 30 day break ( https://click.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v/8ghk405nboh... ). If you want to change your email address, update your profile ( https://preferences.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v ). Or unsubscribe ( https://unsubscribe.kit-mail6.com/k0u2wzpzp0u6h54mdv7soso9zg277i8hdr3v ).
201-854 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON K1S 3W3