Open Loops #123

👋 Welcome to the 123rd issue of Open Loops, a weekly newsletter to help you think, grow, and build momentum.

My name is Reza, and every week, I sift through over 100 pieces of content —newsletters, articles, podcasts, books, and (way too many) tweets—to pull out the most interesting, actionable ideas.

Desire creates a weird paradox.

We chase things - relationships, jobs, achievements - thinking they'll make us happy.

But wanting something too badly just guarantees unhappiness until you get it.

Even when you're after something good, being too attached makes you blind. You miss what's happening now. You overlook the good stuff already in your life.

There's a better way.

Set intentions for what matters, do what you can, then let the rest go.

Constantly thinking about what you want just reminds you that you don't have it yet.

Instead, imagine how you'd feel if you already had what you wanted. Live that way. Appreciate what's here now.

Life isn't meant to be rushed through. Each chapter counts.

Your life is happening today. Not in some perfect future when everything finally works out.

Now, let’s dive into this week’s musings.

Luck =

High energy

In the right place

Around the right people

Producing more than consuming

Avoiding any and all distractions

Able to manage multiple interests

High agency and self-educated

Doesn't quit after one mistake

Luck is a lifestyle

On change: We unconsciously adopt narratives about the shape of our lives from previous generations, movie plots, and our peers. These “scripts” are often useful but tend to outlive their purpose as we age. Much of life is about figuring out which stories to discard as you age.

On work: Finding your “good work,” the work that feels satisfying at the moment and satisfying upon reflection, can take years to find. But once you find it, you’ll be happy you never gave up.

On relationships: I’ve always been fascinated by relationship advice that married people give because it was never useful. “Communicate,” people would say. Sounds great. Five years into a happy marriage I understand why it's hard to give advice on relationships. Everything is unique to the little world that you build with this person. So perhaps the best advice is to find someone who you are excited to world-build with.

Obviously life is about finding who you are….but I’d take it a step further and say it’s about maximizing who you are…reaching for the deepest expression, the most distilled self, and owning it completely in a sea of context because the world needs it and you need to process the world through its specific lens.

Why are you here? The short answer is to be you. You have a place. You play a role. It matters. You matter. And what you present to the world matters so much, because if you are presenting something that is far away from self, the reflections you get back are even more highly distorted…and your understanding of who you are drifts further and further away from who you were meant to become.

People think discipline is about saying no to stuff you want, but it's actually just remembering what you really want.

This newsletter is my creative outlet. When I’m not writing it, or working out, I help founders and their early teams bring clarity and structure to the chaos of building early-stage brands. If you’re a founder navigating GTM, you can lean more here.