Open Loops #117

👋 Welcome to the 117th 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.

Building something meaningful isn't about your highlight reel.

It's about what you do on the hard days.

Take Warren Buffett.

He didn’t build his fortune on picking winners. He built it by following a simple principle: don't lose money. He skipped the dot-com bubble. Passed on crypto. Avoided countless "sure things."

While others chased rockets, he stayed consistent.

Or the world's top chefs.

They haven’t earned their Michelin stars through one perfect dish. They’ve earned it by executing flawlessly, night after night, even when exhausted, even when short-staffed. The mark of excellence isn't in the special occasions; it's in the mundane Tuesday service.

One perfect day is easy.

Crushing it for a week is doable.

But staying consistent for years? That's rare.

You can always spot someone built for greatness:

They train on bad days.

They show up when it's cold.

They stay focused when tired.

They persist when no one notices.

They do the right thing when the wrong thing is easier.

Everyone can sprint. Few can marathon.

Only 20% of podcasts make it past episode 10. Just 10% of newsletters survive beyond issue 20.

The local gym is packed every January.

But by March? Empty.

Moments don't make legends. Consistency does.

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

It’s impossible to fly with your feet on the ground. It’s not up to anyone else to decide what's possible for you or your life. Sometimes, you need to be unrealistic.

The worst prison in the world is having the talent and intelligence to achieve something great but lacking the courage to go out and do it.

There is someone out there living the life you want simply because they took action and you didn’t. They aren't smarter than you. They aren't more skilled than you. They aren't more resourceful than you. They just acted when you didn't. Think about that.

Everyone talks about the "hidden job market" and "creating a role for yourself at a company," but how do you actually do that?

I’m excited to share that my good friend Anthony Nardini is hosting a discussion with recent job-seekers sharing the mechanics of how they actually created roles for themselves – super cool!

This event is from NEXT, a highly-curated community for entrepreneurial mid-career and exec-level people who are intentionally deciding their next chapters.

You must have grown up in a family of wonderful listeners... but the other way to become a wonderful listener is you grow up in a family where no one ever listens, and you crave it. And that was my story.

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.