Articles Discussed

Recommend you read this excellent article by Megan Basham.

Wonderful perspective that doesn’t shy away from reality, while keeping the big picture in sight.

It’s from someone who, based on the little she shares online, is living life to the fullest with her family.

“Cancer may take my life — but not my faith”

Words have the power of life and death, including the words we think to ourselves.

You have to be free to live life to the fullest.

(This is why Galatians 5:1a says, “It is for freedom that Christ set us free.”)

“You want to build on your success, yet you use self-limiting language to talk about yourself.”

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Discussing persuasion:

How it’s expressed in poetry and personal innovation, the Poetry Filter, The 3 Musketeers of Persuasion (Jeff Callahan, , ), and how persuasion talent stacking is Biblical.

(Also, Rumble was slow loading this morning—which explains the drop in video quality. A shame too, because I was happy with my lighting… At least the sound worked!)

Articles Discussed

Jeff coaches people on confidence in context of people skills and communication skills.

(People Skills + Communication Skills = Persuasion Skills)

Here’s his latest article analyzing the persuasion of .

“Pratt-Pilled: Spencer Pratt is the only choice for LA mayor.”

“American” is a master of breaking down how a hoax works—because he’s a master of breaking down how persuasion works.

(A hoax is manipulation via persuasion.)

Here’s his latest article on the campaign.

American Debunk

The Genius of Spencer Pratt’s Campaign | Speaking Liberal

The Genius of Spencer Pratt’s Campaign: A Series Introduction…

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4 days ago · 23 likes · 9 comments · The American Debunk

Here’s one of the best non-political persuasion examples in the wild.

The story of how this pilot met people where they were, persuaded them that the delay was in their best interests—for their safety—and then affirmed them...

Leadership gold.

People Skills + Communication Skills = Persuasion Skills

And skill stacking—talent stacking—is Biblical.

God stays in the equation, and He can work through your persuasion.

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Discussing the thinking of positive talking, network effects of relationships, and human nature in dreams.

(Daily Reads will be on a 6-streaming-day hiatus starting tomorrow, returning next week.)

Articles Discussed

I misread the headline as “positive thinking.” But, thinking is talking to yourself, silently.

Also, I love how the article starts with “gratitude and hope.”

“The Power of Positive Talking”

AI can network like crazy.

AI cannot “network effect” like people. (Even though people are crazy, too.)

“It always comes back to network effects”

Consider that God created humanity, including our ability to dream. Makes sense that dreams would serve multiple purposes—as any artists or craftsman can appreciate.

“New study suggests dreams function as a ‘multimotive simulation space’”

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Momentum Monday.

Taking a step back to see what we can learn when we look past politics:

Discussing how to revitalize organizations clogged by calcified bureaucracy...

And the weapons grade persuasion of Spencer Pratt.

Articles Discussed

If you want to prioritize your vision and mission, you must steward culture—how people feel and think.

Compliance-can’t and risk adverse lead to bureaucratic stagnation.

Compliance-can and risk-advised lead to success.

“SecWar Hegseth Channels Starry: Breaking Bureaucratic Calcification Like Starry Did”

Meta-persuasive article on persuasion. You will learn more than might expect by reading this. Worth your time!

“Spencer Pratt & The Art of Persuasion”

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Discussed excuses, owning errors, media narratives when it comes to “religion” (and MRR), and how humility (plus gratitude) positions you for success.

Links below. Have a great weekend!

Articles Discussed

I’m sure someone was very proud of this headline. I wonder how effective it is—seems like it could either draw or repel people with equal persuasion.

Also, perfect example of excuse making. Sales are down because it’s cold in January? Hmmm...

"Shake Shack shares shook by sales shock, sliding 30%"

Since this was posted, the pastor who made this claim is apologizing for lying about it. But the headline still supports the developing Media Religion Rule (MRR).

(And by the way, no “revelations” are Bible-changing.)

“Religious leaders told ‘prepare now’ for UFO disclosure to unleash Bible-changing revelations”

No surprise here. But great example of pivoting where it matters—in this case, when money is on the line, and you don't have the luxury to cover for mistakes.

“Nobody Is Watching the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy and Disney May Be Done Pretending Otherwise”

“I am humbled that someone would even think to write an article like this.”

That’s the attitude you want to have in everything you do. Confident to share success, humble in your approach. Also, tied to gratitude—which is glue, holding everything together.

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Joined by Scott Grill, aka , to discuss his book, Travel by Star.

Scott shared wisdom on having an dream birthed in you, his process for finding each piece of it, and seeing it through to completion.

And reading his poem, “Unflagging.”

Enjoy!

Articles Discussed

Here’s a little more about Scott’s book, Travel by Star. You can find the amazon link to purchase the book in his announcement post.

Trails Misplaced

Travel By Star - A Novel Announcement

Hi, Everyone. For those of you who have enjoyed my short stories, I want to offer a sincere thank you. Also, I want to let you know I now have a novel out in the world…

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a year ago · 5 likes · Plain Runner

Here is Scott’s poem, “Unflagging.” Worth reading before or after listening.

Trails Misplaced

Unflagging

In fields lost, I walked to scatter…

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8 months ago · 11 likes · 2 comments · Plain Runner

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Discussing self-awareness: good and bad. When it comes to yourself, you feel your focus—including people skills (EQ).

And worked through more of the idea of IQ + EQ = PQ. (In this context, you can grow all 3.)

Learning Skills + People Skills = Persuasion Skills

Articles Discussed

Reminds me of the “TikTok Tourette’s” phenomena from a few years ago...

“Why mental health awareness can harm: Converging explanations for a societal problem”

Focusing on “growing” your self-awareness towards the people skills you want to have is the biggest cheat code to growing your EQ.

“Do These 5 Things to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence”

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Been curious about Rumble’s premier feature and Substack’s schedule stream feature… Got to test them both today, with success.

But I would much rather go live—back tomorrow!

(Video starts about a minute and a half in…)

Articles Discussed

Great article to read to help you keep perspective—on any type of writing (or talent).

And great advice on using your talents—sometimes letting go of the idea you have about them, and just putting them to work, is what opens opportunities.

If you do think you have a "book" in you, here's some advice to think about. And you can check out the blog post, linked under the advice post.

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Discussing Colonel John Boyd's PQ & his OODA Loop.

Observe, Orient, Decide, Act, repeated on loop to create change with speed.

IQ + EQ = PQ (Persuasion Quotient). PQ also matters for speed in influencing change.

Both matter for personal innovation.

Articles Discussed

I had never heard of John Boyd until seeing this article shared. Incredible.

“They Passed Him Over for General Because He Cursed in Front of the Wrong People. Twenty-Nine Years After His Death, the Pentagon Is Quietly Borrowing His Strategy to Defeat Iran.”

Capital Mischief

They Passed Him Over for General Because He Cursed in Front of the Wrong People. Twenty-Nine Years After His Death, the Pentagon Is Quietly Borrowing His Strategy to Defeat Iran.

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21 days ago · 540 likes · 166 comments · Charlie Garcia

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Discussing dealing with misinterpretations, people missing the point, and micromanagers on power trips—all in context of doing the hard things to overcome them.

And having fun along the way.

Plus a fun fitness challenge?

Links below. Have a great weekend!

Articles Discussed

What's obvious to you might go straight over someone else's head. Why "clarity is kindness" is a best practice.

Driving for "no less than 1 year" =

Driving for 1 calendar year?

Driving every day for a year?

Driving no less than 8,760 hours?

Lessons here on short-term vs. long-term thinking, over focus on tasks, and power trips.

But also an opportunity to illustrate how to introduce superficial change to people who are adverse to it. They never stopped buying ice cream... That didn't change.

This in an incredible example of how to respond to unjust obstacles and people in your work:

You stand firm in excellence in your work, respect in your rebuttals, and you continue serving people.

Looks like a fun fitness challenge. Considering it myself, starting next week. Might do a scaled version of it—will still be doing BJJ, for example. Very impressed with the .pdf provided.

“The simplest 4-week program I've ever made. Free.”

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Discussing intrinsic motivation and focusing on how, in context of mental models.

And how to leverage the audience affect in your favor.

Links below—you'll want to give the first one a read for sure.

Articles Discussed

Stop what you're doing, and read this.

It's rare to see anyone write on transferable-talent concepts I call intrinsic motivation and focusing on how, and this article nails them both.

It discusses the mental models behind why you're good at the things.

“If you don’t know what you’re good at, read this”

There's always an audience, even if you're ignoring it. Might as well find and leverage the right one.

“The Audience Effect: Why We Change When Others Are Watching”

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Discussing belief as a skill you can strengthen—putting faith in action.

And, looking into the origins of consciousness in context of a universe fine-tuned for life.

Articles Discussed

Here’s my post expanding on ‘s excellent belief reframe. It’s quote-posting his original post, so you can read it too.

"...may not solve the 'hard' problem of consciousness: fully understanding our internal experience."

Seems like finding the origin and solving the "hard" part go hand-in-hand.

Also, finding what something is not is not the same as finding what it is.

"His ‘Machine’ Could Uncover the Origin of Human Consciousness—And if It Truly Connects to the Whole Universe"

Reading this excellent article, it seems like chance is guided by necessity, in turn guided by design—if you want to look at it that way.

How this might apply to our individual lives? We get to choose if we live our purpose and use our designed talents?

Schrödinger's Poodle

The fine-tuning of the universe for life

When I was a young physics student shaking off the atheism I’d been raised with, one argument hit me like a revelation: the fine-tuning of the universe for life. The fundamental parameters of our cosmos—the mas…

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a month ago · 107 likes · 29 comments · Sarah Salviander

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Discussing history and religious narratives...

Through leadership successions, beliefs, childhood anxiety, and studies meant to intimidate Christians into not sharing the Gospel.

Articles Discussed

An ideological purity tests happens when ideology turns into religion.

Fascinating abbreviated history that makes you think.

So many parallels and lessons here.

(It translates from Russian to English when viewed on X.)

By "religion" they mean Christianity.

A safe assumption: Anytime you see "religion" referenced in a neutral to positive light a western media article, it's talking about Christianity.

"Children can face more anxiety when religion is lacking, according to study"

This study uses confirmation bias to scare Christians into not talking about what the Bible says, because, you know, the people being brainwashed elsewhere by Progressivism might become... Progressive.

Biblical discipleship is needed more than ever.

"Former Christians express more progressive political views than lifelong nonbelievers"

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Discussing taking offense to go on offense, and strategic breaks for strategic breakthroughs.

For an experiment update: Going to try out OBS this week to see if it improves the stream quality. We'll see what happens.

Articles Discussed

A great example of taking something personally in a healthy way that takes responsibility.

“The Blink”

Semi-sleep it off? I believe the more we find out about how the mind works, the more we'll see there's more going on when it comes to consciousness: spirit and soul

Also, sounds like an opportunity for prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit.

"Why a 20-Minute Nap and a Trick From Salvador Dalí Could Be the Secret to Your Next Big Creative Breakthrough"

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Having fun on a Friday discussing playing, building, and play-building in context of sports, industrial inventions, and scientific breakthroughs.

All while staying sober and whole—choosing to play while building.

Articles Discussed

Taking an intentional look at how something helped you grow and develop can bring out more growth in you.

You may know sports (or fill in the blank) helped you, but can you articulate how? Here are some excellent examples.

“Sports Build More Winners Than Self-Help Books”

Interesting article providing perspective, statistics, and good news on Gen Z drinking less.

“Gen Z Stopped Drinking — Here’s What They’re Not Telling You”

This is fascinating and incredible. It looks like both hard-work-fun to invent and produce each new piece.

Also, several lessons you could pull out of these concepts on being whole versus bolted together, playing to your design (strengths), and more.

“Transcend Mechanics is Building a Matter Compiler”

A scientist worked 50 years to discover this breakthrough. That is incredible vision and consistency.

Also, biological wheels and gears confirmed.

"What Physical ‘Life Force’ Turns Biology’s Wheels?"

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Discussing Education researchers researching themselves (and making themselves look good)...

Continual learning for AI and you and I...

And using long-term thinking to preserve intellectual depth—for yourself and at scale.

Articles Discussed

Incentives and agendas.

As an institution, Education researching Education is incentivized to make Education look good.

At a personal level, any individual researcher is incentivized to make themselves look good for more funding/etc.

"Education research is weak and sloppy. Why?"

If AI needs continual learning to imitate intelligence, maybe we need continual learning too.

a16z

Why We Need Continual Learning

America | Tech | Opinion | Culture | Charts…

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a month ago · 167 likes · 3 comments · Malika Aubakirova and Matt Bornstein

A great read that brings to light why long-term thinking matters, in terms of 2nd and 3rd order effects, and in terms of mission and vision drift.

Good intentions can have unintended consequences without intentional win-win systems to build your vision.

“Preserving Intellectual Depth on X: The Risks of Short-Term Algorithmic Optimization”

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A quick story on a cool marketing stunt turned crazy.

Then, talking about trust and reputation.

People will trust you one way or another. How they trust you—to do right or wrong—is up to you. From there, trust builds your reputation.

Articles Discussed

Cool marketing stunt; crazy reaction.

Literally.

"Trust as a Service" is an excellent framing.

Because trust is your service.

“Trust as a Service: Revisiting a Vision for 𝕏 in 2026”

With marketing yourself, may think it's ok—or feels ok—but that doesn't mean it builds the reputation you want.

Consider where you want to see yourself in 10 years.

(Language warning, if that matters to you. Go to the headlining article for the read.)

Lukewarm Is Death™

Helping entrepreneurs build charismatic brands that convert ordinary clients into devoted brand evangelists | Owner, Sandpaper Studio™ and Lukewarm Is Death™ 🔥

By Torrey Dawley

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Almost 3 calendar months.

Discussing the difference between what AI can be and who you are. And poetry (or anything created) as the thing made, how it's made, and why it matters.

Articles Discussed

Great perspective that can help keep people's views of AI—and themselves—healthy.

"What AI Can't Calculate About a Human Life"

Fascinating article with excellent, concise explanations of what poetry is, how it works, and why it matters. And you can substitute other things in, like talent. Then apply it: what the talent is, how the talent works, and why the talent matters.

Bainbridge Island Press

Poetry, Poetics, Poesia

What is a poem…

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a month ago · 42 likes · 17 comments · Tamarah Rockwood

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Discussing how worship music works in the physical—if God made people, music, and worship, then it makes sense there would be some science behind it all.

Plus, reading through Palantir's "manifesto" and how their 22 points could apply to each of us.

Articles Discussed

This article made me think of worship music.

"When a Song Does the Work of a Therapist"

This article made me think of worship services.

"Live music causes brain waves to synchronize more strongly with rhythm than recorded music"

Fascinating "manifesto" coming from a Defense Tech company. A lot of excellent points worth reading, with transferable values for each of us in our own lives.

Read my new poem on the livestream today. You can also read it here. It's a poem on living and healing. Check it out!

"Healing Physician"

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Discussing 3rd order effects:

Stars dimming, historical discovery, artificial cells giving commands, and EMF controlled DNA.

It's a helpful (and fun) exercise to imagine what's possible—useful when making decisions.

Articles Discussed

Fun framing for this article. I like the framing because activates the imagination and wonder, which are good mental muscles to exercise.

(Contains Project Hail Mary spoilers—do not read the article if you haven't read the book or watched the movie.)

"NASA Finds Young Stars Dim in X-rays Surprisingly Quickly"

Always fascinates me how knowledge and heritage can be lost and found, hundreds of years later. In this case, some "memory" kept them closer than they realized. I wonder how this could play out on a individual, family heritage level?

"Shakespeare's 'missing' London house is FOUND after 400 years: Floorplan confirms the exact address in Blackfriars where The Bard spent his later years"

Could these artificial neurons "control" a person? How long before the artificial neurons can skip the middle man of biological neurons?

Next up: Artificial Humans?

"Printable Artificial Neurons That “Talk” to Living Brain Cells"

My first thought after seeing this was, "Someone is going to try to weaponize this."

"Electromagnetic field-inducible in vivo gene switch for remote spatiotemporal control of gene expression"

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