#41 Values, Velocity & Vibes
"But what does it mean!?"
Last month we sent out the first issue of the Letter1.
I say “we” because about six months ago I realized that, while I love writing, I am not a professional writer. Since, I have hired or partners with people that clearly understand what I am attempting to convey AND are far better writers than I am.
The result?
A far better product.
There is probably a lesson in delegating, letting go or empowering others in there. But we will save that for another time.
Joseph Robertson has taken over move of the writing for the Guardian Academy2 (he writes my stuff better than I ever could) and Lukas Resheske and I have partnered on V3: The Letter.
V3 stands for…
Values, Velocity & Vibes.
Below is an excerpt from the first Letter, explaining the “why” behind V3.
I’m a First Principles guy. So is Nic. There are First Principles for Physics, computing, medicine, fat loss, muscle gain, harmonious relationships…and on and on. First Principles are the fundamental truths that are hard, or impossible, to disprove. And that’s why they’re valuable: you can rely on them. You can make important decisions from them. You can fall back to them when you’re confused or lost.
So it’s fitting that we should define OUR First Principles for this Letter. Luckily, it’s in the name: Values, Velocity, and Vibes. Each one means something, and we put them in that order for a reason. Together, these three principles will help you answer the question: Am I getting closer to what I want? Because, like Dan Nicholson likes to say, “The biggest risk in life is not getting what you want out of it.”
Values
The first aspect of the Letter is what comes first, in my mind. Values. Whether we choose to believe it or not, whether we know it or not, all of us operate from a set of values first…rationality, emotion…even impulse, second.
Don’t believe me? Imagine this scenario:
You are walking down a sidewalk. Suddenly, a tire screeches behind you. You do not have time to turn around. You don’t have time to think. What do you do?You will probably flinch, jump back, and then attempt to figure out what is going on.
Now imagine the same sidewalk. But now, you’re walking with your child, who’s holding your hand. The tires screech, and there’s no time: Is your reaction the same? Is your impulse the same?
For most parents, the answer is no. There are countless videos on the internet showing parents diving into danger to save their child.
Biological response to saving offspring? Maybe. Emotional response to the child in danger? Maybe.
But at the core of the matter is a Value. That value is the safety, protection, and well-being of your child taking precedence over your own life.
Some people become firefighters because their values are aligned with running into danger to save others. Others become soldiers because their values are aligned with defending their nation. Still others become entrepreneurs and build businesses because their values are aligned with creation, production, and growth.
This is not a Letter where we will attempt to persuade you of our values. In fact, you probably won’t hear us talk about them at all. Our values will be evident in the product itself, and the writing itself. Because they are a part of who we are. This Letter, first and foremost, is about helping you find your Values…operate from your Values…and make more decisions from a place of alignment with those Values.
And that’s why it’s first. That’s why it’s in the name.
Velocity
The definition of Velocity is Speed*Direction. It’s not enough just to go fast. You don’t want to be going fast in the wrong direction. You don’t want to be going 100mph if you’re driving in a circle. You don’t want to be redlining the engine if your foot is on the brake.
This Letter is intended to help you better understand where you are, where you want to go, and how fast you’re getting there. The third part is the Velocity with which you’re reaching your end goal.
Once you know your Point A and your Point B, we can start to map the fastest, easiest, most fun path towards Point B.
Speed is also not all important. Speed can kill, and it happens quickly. A car running into a wall at 1mph may barely scratch the bumper. Running into the wall at 100mph will kill the driver instantly.
And yet we all want to go “faster”. We’re impatient, especially the builders and entrepreneurs of the world. We want things done “yesterday”. But that’s not what Velocity is. Velocity is the speed at which you’re moving in a direction, but in our world, it’s also the level of certainty you have that you will even reach your destination.
Imagine another scenario:
Your wife is in labor with your first child. She’s at a hospital that is 2 hours away from where you are. Missing the birth of your child is unacceptable to you. The doctor predicts that she will have the baby in 4 hours. How fast do you drive to the hospital?
I’ve asked this question to a lot of people, sometimes 1:1 and sometimes in a group. I usually get answers like:“As fast as the car will drive”
“I’d move heaven and earth to be there”
Etc.
There is a correct answer, at least in our minds. The correct answer is: As safely and cautiously as possible so that you arrive at the hospital in 2 hours.
Remember, the hospital is 2 hours away. Your wife will have the baby in 4 hours. The biggest risk is that you miss the birth. That means that the biggest risk is not arriving within 4 hours. Driving normally, you will arrive in 2 hours if you leave immediately, giving you 2 hours to spare.
What if you take an extra 5 minutes to inspect the car? Make sure the oil is full and not leaking. Make sure the gas tank is full, and if it’s not, fill it. Make sure the tires are full of air. Check the weather to make sure you understand the potential hazards. Look up a secondary route in case the first route is blocked.
All of those things will take time, but it will increase the certainty that you arrive within 4 hours. Even if you spent a full hour increasing your certainty, you would still arrive with an hour to spare.
But if you hop into your car immediately and drive 100mph like a bat outta hell to try to get to the hospital in 1.5 hours…
You could crash. Now you’ll never make it.
You could get pulled over. Depending on how fast you were going, you could lose your license on the spot and go to jail.
You could damage the car.
You could harm others.
Your speed has reduced your Velocity.
In life, the biggest risk is death. If you die, your turn on this ride is over. But apart from death, the biggest risk is not getting what you want from life.
“Most men live lives of quiet desperation”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Most people do not get what they want from life. Most people die with regret. We believe that is the biggest risk, and for builders like you, we believe you’re not happy with that outcome either.
So after Values, we prioritize Velocity:
Are you going where you want to go?
Do you know where you are?
Are you as certain as possible you will reach your destination?
How can we collapse the time it takes without introducing risk?
You can very technical with these questions, but you can also answer them intuitively and immediately. Either works, the former will be more reliable but slower…the latter will be faster and more flexible.
Vibes
Your conscious mind…the one that is reading this right now…processes about 40 ‘bits’ of information per second. If it were a computer, it would be roughly equivalent to a computer from the 1940s.
Your subconscious mind processes 2 million ‘bits’ of information per second.
Your subconscious mind is 50,000x faster than your conscious mind. For context, it would take your conscious mind 14 hours to process the information your subconscious mind processed in 1 second.
This shouldn’t scare you, but usually, it does scare people. “I’m not in control!” “How will I know what’s going on?”
The answer?
Vibes.
Allow me to put one foot in the river of the Esoteric while keeping one foot firmly planted on earth…just for a moment.
Even the most hardcore, rational, science-minded individual will be forced to admit a few things:
Human perception is limited to what we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.Our instruments for measurement are getting more accurate, but they are not perfect and they can’t see past a certain point.
Many doubt they will ever be perfect. We can see less than 1% of the known universe.
The more we learn about the world, the more mystery is unlocked in the world…often by an order of magnitude. (that means “multiplied by 10”) A new discovery or fact will yield 10x the number of questions or new avenues of approach.
With these facts established, we can safely say the following:
If our subconscious mind is 50,000x faster than our rational mind…
And our rational mind is only perceiving a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the observable universe…
Perhaps we should find some ways to nudge our subconscious mind towards the goals we want to achieve.
This isn’t about “manifesting your reality”, this isn’t about “praying to God/Goddess/Gods” for what you want…unless that’s your thing. Again, you define your Values.
This is about acknowledging uncertainty and tuning in to the thing we can all understand: feelings. Gut feelings. The tingle on the back of your neck, the flush of excitement, the dread of another day doing something you hate doing just to pay the bills.
This Letter will be sharing lots of intellectually challenging concepts. You might be experiencing that already. Paradigms are hard to shift, and what seems “rational” in one moment might seem insane in the next. But from each of these Letters, you’re going to get a feeling. Maybe that feeling is boredom…the topic might not be relevant to you at the moment. Maybe that feeling is dread…the topic might be bringing up fear or uncertainty about something that you’ve been avoiding. Maybe that feeling is excitement because something finally “clicks”.
All of those things are valuable. Your gut is pretty good at helping you get what you want. The trick is listening to it, separating it from other things like Fear, Pain, and other immediate, intense feelings.
When I say “Vibes”, I mean the subtle nudges of intuition and perception that are normally outside our conscious awareness. There are lots of ways to build this up, but those are probably topics for another Letter. For now, it’s enough that you’re now aware that this might exist and be helpful for you.
The best part is your experience of finding and then trusting your ‘gut’ will be totally unique to you. There’s no ‘right’ way to do it. But it is right to start trying to do it.
Values, Velocity, & Vibes
You’ve got some homework from this section if you want to get full value from it:
See, great writer.
Here’s the summary:
If you want to become your best self, live your best life and do both without compromising who you are you must start with:
Values to guide you. These are yours and yours alone. You must stay clear on them, be open to them changing over time, more on that shortly.
Velocity. Speed does more harm than good if you are moving fast in the wrong direction. Values give you direction, but you must maintain the systems, heuristics and filters to maintain it as you move through life.
Vibes. This is cultivating and maintaining a high level of receptivity to the world around you. Training yourself to stress test and ultimately trust your “gut” instinct. Vibes will dictate your values which will dictate your direction.
Of course, there are strategies, tactics and tools to aid each step, driving up the probability you get what you want and driving down the risk of failure…
…but if you’re unclear on your Values, can’t maintain Velocity or tap into Vibes - the tools won’t help you at all.
Lukas will be sharing one of the most powerful tools I’ve ever seen - a filter or compass of sorts - to systematically determine the most efficient course of action for you in a forthcoming issue of the Letter.
I’ve seen him present it, I can’t wait to read it.
Here’s to Values, Velocity & Vibes,
Nic
PS. If you made it this far, you probably like to read stuff. Here is a link to get on the waitlist for the Letter:
https://www.v3letter.com/checkout
The Guardian Academy (I actually can’t wait to read the weekly articles. It’s hearing my own stuff in a completely different way)