Just Write the D@mn Thing
Facing My Fears to Give You Something You Don't Need (But Hopefully Enjoy)
Is the juice worth the squeeze? Sorry I didn’t hear your question, I was too busy wringing every last drop out of this unspecified fruit like Lenny with a unsuspecting rabbit. I put in all this effort to pursue a goal — researching which fruits have the highest juice yield, buying all the fanciest funnels and cups, watching YouTube videos on which technique produces the best juice-per-uni-squeeze ratio — just to look down and realize:
I don’t like juice.
Or maybe I like juice, but in the process of squeezing, a single seed has fallen into my cup. And now I have to throw the whole thing out to try again with a different fruit.
If I haven’t lost you with this feeble fruit analogy, great! You’re something like me. Maybe not as handsome or emotionally immature, but you understand my struggle. We are some kind of masochistic breed, a combination of ambition and procrastination. I want to do more, but I always seem to get in my way.
The messed up thing is that I know this about myself. But no matter how many self-help books I read that advise me to “just do the damn thing,” I keep nodding my head in agreement and reaching for another book. Whether it’s fear of failure or fear of judgement, I don’t know, but I’m certain it comes from a place of fear.
So this is me trying to face my fear and get started. I am writing this newsletter because there is stuff I want to learn, and if anyone wants to learn alongside me then I’d love to help. My dad was a teacher, and he modeled for me the power of curiosity and sharing information with others. And if I can entertain a bit along the way — then hey, that will make it more fun for the both of us.
So who am I?
I’m Tom. I’m a Seattle-based (soon to be LA-based) tech strategist. It’s weird calling myself a tech strategist because, while I do work in tech strategy at Salesforce, I’m rather new to the field and don’t plan on writing about tech all that much. Before this role, I worked in economic consulting at Analysis Group. I hold an MA in Finance from Claremont McKenna College and BA in Economics from Haverford College.
While at Haverford, I played collegiate baseball (#WhyD3) and became a more well-rounded individual (#WhyLiberalArts). During that time, I realized I was not going to become a professional baseball player (a guy can dream) and no longer wanted to pursue a career working in baseball (think Moneyball). Instead I went into finance, consulting, and now tech.
But if I’m not going to write about tech, what is this newsletter about?
I’ve already mentioned my Dad, so let me give some love to my Mom as well. My mother is a retired television screenwriter, previously writing for shows such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sister, Sister, Who’s the Boss?, and Major Dad. Growing up around the entertainment industry, I was super proud of my mom and all she accomplished. Today, I am still fascinated by television/film and look forward to writing about the industry as an outsider looking in. This could include commentary, quantitative analyses, and general lessons I learn about how things get done in “The Town.”
Outside of TV and film, I have other interests that I plan on writing about. Sports, fitness, productivity, personal finance, Legos, who knows. I can’t promise that this will be the most focused newsletter. But it will give you a sneak peak into what I’m thinking about, learning about, obsessing over, and/or confused by.
When will I write?
I plan on three types of pieces:
Every Tuesday: Tom’s Top 3 Tuesday
Three pieces of content (Articles, Videos, Songs, Movies, etc.) that I consumed over the last week that I found particularly interesting or noteworthy
Every Other Thursday: Thursday Thoughts
A long(er) form post on a particular topic or question that I am exploring
Ad Hoc: Bookshelf Posts
My Ratings, Takes, and Favorite Highlights from the books in my bookshelf