Be Your Best in 2026 🧵 The most important lessons from this year's...
Farnam Street@farnamstreet
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Dec 23, 2025
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Be Your Best in 2026 🧵
The most important lessons from this year's conversations with founders, coaches, and thinkers who have completely mastered their craft.
Here are the moments that stuck with us. Link to the full 'best of' episode is at the end👇
The most important lessons from this year's conversations with founders, coaches, and thinkers who have completely mastered their craft.
Here are the moments that stuck with us. Link to the full 'best of' episode is at the end👇
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Alfred Lin (@Alfred_Lin - Partner at Sequoia Capital, former Zappos COO)
On cutting through the noise:
"Often we can create a very, very long to-do list, and then you've got to pop up a level and just look at the to-do list. What's the most important thing I have to get accomplished? Because if you just list all the to-do's, you probably will not be able to get to all of them."
On cutting through the noise:
"Often we can create a very, very long to-do list, and then you've got to pop up a level and just look at the to-do list. What's the most important thing I have to get accomplished? Because if you just list all the to-do's, you probably will not be able to get to all of them."
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Bret Taylor (@btaylor - Sierra AI, OpenAI and former Salesforce Co-CEO)
On the danger of mimicking great leaders:
"I remember after Steve Jobs passed away... a lot of founders were mimicking that, down to wearing a black turtleneck and yelling at their employees. I'm like, 'I'm not sure that was the cause.' I think Steve Jobs's taste and judgment, executed through that packaging, was the cause of Apple's success."
On the danger of mimicking great leaders:
"I remember after Steve Jobs passed away... a lot of founders were mimicking that, down to wearing a black turtleneck and yelling at their employees. I'm like, 'I'm not sure that was the cause.' I think Steve Jobs's taste and judgment, executed through that packaging, was the cause of Apple's success."
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Logan Ury (@loganury - Hinge Director of Relationship Science and Author)
On matching momentum:
"The slight tweak that I would have is not 'I like you. Can I see you tomorrow?'—that does feel a little bit intense—but being clear about 'Hey, that was a really great date. I feel like we really connected. I'd love to see you again' and then working together to come up with the next date.
A lot of dating that people miss is that it's about matching somebody's momentum and matching somebody's speed. It's a dance where I take a step forward and then you need to take a step forward. If I take 10 steps forward, you might feel overwhelmed and take a step back. So just pay attention. Are you always the one reaching out? Are you always the one making plans? There needs to be momentum matching for the speed to feel right to both people."
On matching momentum:
"The slight tweak that I would have is not 'I like you. Can I see you tomorrow?'—that does feel a little bit intense—but being clear about 'Hey, that was a really great date. I feel like we really connected. I'd love to see you again' and then working together to come up with the next date.
A lot of dating that people miss is that it's about matching somebody's momentum and matching somebody's speed. It's a dance where I take a step forward and then you need to take a step forward. If I take 10 steps forward, you might feel overwhelmed and take a step back. So just pay attention. Are you always the one reaching out? Are you always the one making plans? There needs to be momentum matching for the speed to feel right to both people."
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Bill Belichick (@Belichick_B - 8x Super Bowl Champion)
On preparation:
"The big thing about preparation and success is that the price has to be paid in advance. You have to put in the work before you get any results. So there's no way to honestly know how good your preparation is or isn't. That's why I always try to emphasize keep preparing, keep working. You don't know what the other guy's doing. He might be working just as hard as you are in that preparation. It can't be after the fact, like 'Oh, I wish I would have studied more.' It's too late at that point. You have to do it on the front end."
On preparation:
"The big thing about preparation and success is that the price has to be paid in advance. You have to put in the work before you get any results. So there's no way to honestly know how good your preparation is or isn't. That's why I always try to emphasize keep preparing, keep working. You don't know what the other guy's doing. He might be working just as hard as you are in that preparation. It can't be after the fact, like 'Oh, I wish I would have studied more.' It's too late at that point. You have to do it on the front end."
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Indra Nooyi (former PepsiCo CEO)
On giving real feedback:
"People don't like conflict. People don't like to deal with issues directly. They like to beat around the bush and then leave, saying, 'I think I gave the person the message.' I had the opposite perspective: give the message, do it in a supportive way, and make sure that whatever you tell them they have to work on, you help them get to that."
On giving real feedback:
"People don't like conflict. People don't like to deal with issues directly. They like to beat around the bush and then leave, saying, 'I think I gave the person the message.' I had the opposite perspective: give the message, do it in a supportive way, and make sure that whatever you tell them they have to work on, you help them get to that."
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Anthony Scilipoti (@ASclipoti - Veritas Investment Research)
On AI and judgment:
"The AI makes me be able to get to the answer perhaps more quickly, but if I don't already know where I want to go, then AI just gives me information. That information doesn't help my decision if I didn't start with where I want to go."
On AI and judgment:
"The AI makes me be able to get to the answer perhaps more quickly, but if I don't already know where I want to go, then AI just gives me information. That information doesn't help my decision if I didn't start with where I want to go."
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Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey - Founder of Rostra)
On the power of showing up:
"Do you ever see online when people are insulting someone or dunking on someone, but then that person shows up and says, 'Thanks for your feedback'? The original person who is insulting them almost immediately folds like a cheap suit. 'Hey man, thank you. No, I totally understand. I would be doing the same thing. I got you.'
What just happened? It's because once you're actually confronted by a person instead of just a concept or some nebulous idea of a person, we behave in a completely different way. One of the things I tell founders to do is just show up and defend yourself, defend your people, defend your companies.
Sam Altman is really good at this. When he shows up, a lot of the time you see the person immediately fold because they're just flattered or they don't want to fight with him directly. One of the most powerful things is just to put a human in their way."
On the power of showing up:
"Do you ever see online when people are insulting someone or dunking on someone, but then that person shows up and says, 'Thanks for your feedback'? The original person who is insulting them almost immediately folds like a cheap suit. 'Hey man, thank you. No, I totally understand. I would be doing the same thing. I got you.'
What just happened? It's because once you're actually confronted by a person instead of just a concept or some nebulous idea of a person, we behave in a completely different way. One of the things I tell founders to do is just show up and defend yourself, defend your people, defend your companies.
Sam Altman is really good at this. When he shows up, a lot of the time you see the person immediately fold because they're just flattered or they don't want to fight with him directly. One of the most powerful things is just to put a human in their way."
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Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf - Shopify President)
On the magical cost of failure:
"I think about this idea of the cost of failure, not just from an entrepreneurship perspective, but in general. You have to basically figure out with anything you're doing, what is the cost of failure here? If the cost of failure is really high, you really have to think about it. Is the benefit of success worth the cost of failure? But I mean for $39 a month, you can build a store. If it works, blow it up. If it doesn't work, try something else.
There are still too many people that are apprehensive, that don't want to put themselves out there because of this fear of failure. And I've long believed that getting really, really comfortable with being uncomfortable is magic. It's totally magic."
On the magical cost of failure:
"I think about this idea of the cost of failure, not just from an entrepreneurship perspective, but in general. You have to basically figure out with anything you're doing, what is the cost of failure here? If the cost of failure is really high, you really have to think about it. Is the benefit of success worth the cost of failure? But I mean for $39 a month, you can build a store. If it works, blow it up. If it doesn't work, try something else.
There are still too many people that are apprehensive, that don't want to put themselves out there because of this fear of failure. And I've long believed that getting really, really comfortable with being uncomfortable is magic. It's totally magic."
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Jim Murphy (@innerexcellence - Coach and Bestselling Author of Inner Excellence)
On discomfort as teacher:
"The most successful people are willing to look foolish; they're willing to make mistakes. And I think a lot of people know that, but how do we get there? In that moment, it's realizing that when I'm the most uncomfortable, that's the moment. That's the key for you."
On discomfort as teacher:
"The most successful people are willing to look foolish; they're willing to make mistakes. And I think a lot of people know that, but how do we get there? In that moment, it's realizing that when I'm the most uncomfortable, that's the moment. That's the key for you."
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These conversations reminded us that mastery isn't about talent. It's about caring more, preparing better, and being willing to look foolish longer than anyone else.
We hope you enjoy.
Listen and learn:
Youtube: youtu.be/Rwo7HvWjDm4?si…
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3OctPG…
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-…
Web: fs.blog/knowledge-proj…
We hope you enjoy.
Listen and learn:
Youtube: youtu.be/Rwo7HvWjDm4?si…
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3OctPG…
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-…
Web: fs.blog/knowledge-proj…