Welcome to my digital garden

This is my public notebook—a space where I grow ideas in the open. It’s part journal, part zine, part map. Some thoughts are half-formed, others are more rooted. Nothing here is final, and that’s the point.

I try to assign a distinct evolution to each note such as:

🚀

Launching

Early thoughts, mostly raw and exploratory
🛰

Orbiting

In development, with growing depth and connections
🌠

Beacon

Established ideas that guide and anchor other notes

Topics quote trust generationalinsight trust culture trust marketing systems trust creativity culture creativity leadership creativity practice communication leadership future generationalshift growth leadership trust relationships habits launching design launching quote bookshelf orbiting bookshelf orbiting bookshelf orbiting bookshelf orbiting live design launching productivity leadership beacon northstar bookshelf creativity culture orbiting bookshelf orbiting bookshelf orbiting quote quote travel Questions quote

April 11, 2025 “what would you be like if there was nobody else in the world? who would you be if the only opinion that mattered was yours? because if you want to be truly happy, you must be that person. you must search inside yourself for what is uniquely you. when you find it, polish it until it becomes your style”
Source: John Hurt, English man in New York April 5, 2025 Trust is the Currency of Modern Business
Speed, influence, leadership—all of it flows from trust. But trust isn’t built by power plays or polished messaging. It comes from consistency, April 5, 2025 Trust is the Antidote to Fear
Fear of failure corrodes creativity. Trust, both in others and in the process, is what allows teams to take risks. At Pixar, failure is reframed as April 5, 2025 Trust as a Cultural Operating System
Trust isn’t just a virtue—it’s the underlying system that determines how well an organization runs. Like an OS, it affects speed, cost, and April 5, 2025 Translate Before You Speak
The best strategists aren’t just voices for their clients—they translate for them. They give companies ears and clients clarity. Emotional April 5, 2025 The Five Waves of Trust
Trust flows outward in waves—from self-trust to societal trust. Each layer depends on the one before: Self: Can I trust myself? Relationship: Do April 5, 2025 The Braintrust: Candor Without Command
The Braintrust is Pixar’s radical mechanism for honest feedback without power dynamics. It thrives on mutual trust, emotional safety, and the April 5, 2025 Protecting the Ugly Baby
New ideas often arrive unformed and fragile. They need time, space, and protection before they’re exposed to critique. The “ugly baby” metaphor April 5, 2025 Originality is Curated, Not Invented
All creative work is a remix. What we call originality is often just well-curated influence—intentionally surrounding yourself with inspiring April 5, 2025 Good Listeners Move Fast
Deep listening is an underrated strategic advantage. It’s what allows you to learn fast, connect deeply, and solve the right problem—not just the April 5, 2025 Gen Alpha Isn’t Reacting—They’re Rebuilding
Where Gen Z responded to a broken system, Gen Alpha is skipping the protest phase and going straight to creation. They’re grounded, emotionally April 5, 2025 Closing the Gap Between Brain and Body
Emotional maturity comes from aligning our intellectual and instinctual selves—closing the gap between strategy (brain) and feeling (body). That April 5, 2025 Character and Competence: The Two Pillars
Trust is forged through a blend of character (who you are) and competence (what you can do). Character reflects integrity and intent, while April 5, 2025 Behavior Rebuilds What Talk Can’t
You can’t talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into—but you can behave your way out of a problem you talked yourself into. That’s the March 31, 2025 Really fascinated with 1940-1980s tech
There seemed to be this surgence of innovation. Even simple mundane inventions like vinyl players with horns or the buzzer in a gym. It was highly March 30, 2025 Thought on Snow White (2025)
Claire and I went to see Snow White on Mar 28, 2025. We were the only one in theaters — a harsh reality my inner kid is still grappling with — and March 29, 2025 Guaranteed Golden Snitch
On a workout day you can’t solely rely on the workout itself to hit your exercise goal, like catching the snitch in a Quidditch game it’s a lot of March 28, 2025 UX Resources
Principles → http://motion.zajno.com Resources → http://motionimo.xyz Inspiration → http://appmotion.design Accessibility → Accessibility for March 28, 2025 Marvel Watch list party
I have had the unique privledge of being alive during every Marvel movie ever made and watching each release in theaters. I remember watching Iron March 15, 2025 It was her habit to build laughter out of inadequate materials.
Source: The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck March 14, 2025 We’re all human on our way to the next commitment
I saw this picture the other day and it struck me how easy we lock into auto-pilot. Too often, we overcommit ourselves and get lost in “rush hour” January 19, 2025 B. Show Your Work
10 ways to share your creativity and get discovered Austin Kleon It’s not about finding an audience, they will find you… but you need to be January 12, 2025 B. Steal Like An Artist
Nothing is original Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started All creative work builds on what came before. Embrace influence and December 19, 2024 B. The Ride of a Lifetime
Optimism - people don’t like working with pessimists Courage - fear of failure destroys creativity Focus - communicate priorities clearly and often December 15, 2024 B. The Speed of Trust
Trust is the most valuable currency which shapes the culture, efficiency, and integrity of an organization through intentionality in every October 19, 2024 UX Principles
Miller’s Law of Cognitive Load September 13, 2024 The search for the best todo app
Choosing the perfect to-do app can feel a lot like searching for the right car. You want something reliable to get you from point A to point B April 4, 2024 Mistakes not to make as a leader
A lesson learned and internalized for every year of life (21) Don’t ever ask your team more than you ask of yourself Be willing to let your team March 28, 2024 Life aspirations & north stars
This is a collection of big, heavy, ambitious goals that I like to set myself. These are aspirations that I would like to happen at some point in my March 24, 2024 B. Creativity, Inc.
Area: Keywords: In Creativity, Inc., Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, explores the principles that foster a thriving creative January 29, 2024 B. Feel-Good Productivity
Author: Ali Abdaal URL: https://a.co/d/hj71LGc Created time: February 3, 2024 Synopsis Feel-Good Productivity is a framework for shaping the way January 13, 2024 B. Building A Second Brain
By Tiago Forte BASB is a framework for offloading information from your brain into a central digital hub My 3 takeaways PARA method is key to September 16, 2023 “My heart says yes but my calendar says no”
Source: Glen Hobbs September 16, 2023 “It’s not the critic who counts”
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. March 18, 2018 Travel for inspiration
You know I always look back on times when I’ve traveled and I wonder what changed, how has it made me different. I generally pick the same thing and February 11, 2018 Mistakes not to make as a leader
A lesson learned and internalized for every year of life (21) Don’t ever ask your team more than you ask of yourself Be willing to let your team April 12, 2017 People say they’re in the same boat, but who’s the captain and who’s the sailor?
 October 27, 2016 Humans shouldn’t just excel in one area. An organization can generalize but a person should specialize. A corporation should consist of people that each have their own unique talents but bring a collective excellence to the company.
 June 14, 2014 Blame is a meaningless excuse for lack of responsibility