I wasted my twenties...

Hello friend,

Here's what I'm thinking about…

Are you an extremely boring, cold, and anti-social person?

Don't come to this event then.

Every year, I invite 150 interesting people to Victoria, Canada (my hometown) for my aptly named Interesting People event. It's a really unique format (no formal speakers, 100% focused on connecting everyone) and the room is always crazy.

Last year, we had Dan Mangan, Hannibal Buress, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, Josh Johnson, and all sorts of wild people. Scientists. Actors. Comedians. Musicians. Hell, we even had a (mind-boggling) magician.

I always look around and think "how is this my life?"

We allow a small number of people to apply—the randoms keep things interesting.

We don't have many spots, but if you're interesting, warm, and want to make friends with amazing people, you should apply.

I'm a miserable person.

On the third day in Maui, Zoe asked me a question—something innocuous, what time was our dinner reservation—and I snapped.

That night, certain I had cancer, I sat on the patio drinking tea, ruminating about a comment I'd made to a friend two weeks earlier. I was in paradise. My favorite place in the world.

I had stopped taking my medication eleven days before.

By default, I am a miserable person—and after twenty-five years of running marathons to cure a headache, I finally found out that the cure was a little pink pill every morning…

Read the full essay →

I gave $16 million dollars away.

I thought it was simple. There was a formula: make money, get rich, give it away, do good.

It turns out, it's not so straightforward. There's no clean equation where $1 given = $1 of impact.

Early on, I went to a cocktail party with ~100 of the world's biggest philanthropists. I asked everyone the same question:

"What are the most important things I should keep in mind when doing philanthropy?"...

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A stupid but life-changing hack.

I used to wear glasses. I hated them. They'd constantly be covered in finger smudges and made me look like a dweeb.

I'd tried contacts, but they always felt like I had sand in my eyes.

One day, my friend Rajiv told me about a specific brand of contacts: Daily Total One.

They have what they call a silicone hydrogel core, which in non-nerd speak, means that they let oxygen through to your cornea.

I tried them and was blown away. No dry eyes. No sand.

Here's my recipe:

Daily Total One + 1 drop of Systane Ultra in each eye before insertion + 2 drops of Systane Ultra onto the actual contact lens before it goes onto your eye.

I completely forget I'm even wearing them. Magic!

I think of Sahil in the shower.

I dread getting sent stuff by people, because it always feels like there's strings attached. A covert agreement to write about it.

So I was not happy when I received a package from my friend Sahil Bloom.

He sent me a big box of products from his new men's skincare line, Wild Roman.

I've mostly been using the body wash, but MY GOD does it ever smell good.

This is a sad admission, but I actually look forward to the smell that it emits: eucalyptus and bergamot.

Highly recommend for washing your body. Check it out here.

What if you could read people like a lie detector?

Sure, we all kind of get a sense via gut feel. But by going deep on the science of body language, it takes an art and turns it into a science.

Chris and I did a body language workshop about ten years ago, and it was one of the most useful things I've ever done.

For business. For life. For dating. It's one of the most universally applicable skills.

I've got body language expert Mark Bowden coming to Victoria to do a body language workshop for entrepreneurs on May 20th.

There's only 3 spots left. Buy a ticket here.

Are you irrationally terrified of something?

Years ago, when I first started doing public speaking, I felt like I was going to die.

Sweat through my shirt. Clenched hands. Quivering voice.

I was terrible at it. Which was confusing, because in small groups I was a confident speaker. But put me in front of a crowd and something short-circuited. Hundreds of eyes and my brain just…shut down...

Read the full essay →

Random Stuff:

• You should follow me on Instagram. I've been posting more often.

• Who knew a magic show could blow your mind via video? This special by Zak Mirz is incredible and guaranteed to drop your jaw. YouTube.

• I'm a huge Wilco fan. Frontman Jeff Tweedy just put out a solo album and it's 10/10. This is my favorite song from the new album: Spotify / Apple Music.

  PS: If you haven't listened to Wilco, stop everything you're doing and listen to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: Spotify / Apple Music.

• Alain de Botton is one of my favorite authors (he is also the brains behind the wonderful School of Life video and book series). I enjoyed this recent podcast interview.

  My favorite line: "The bad news is you'll marry the wrong person. The good news is there's no right person."

• Speaking of which, this tweet made me laugh:

  "I asked someone 'what's the secret to being married 22 years?'

  She said 'we never wanted a divorce at the same time'"

  –Joanne Jang

Victoria Stuff:

• Do you know a rich old person who wants to retire? I want to buy their business. Please introduce them to my partner Ben.
• Liv Cafe and Bistro in Oak Bay is incredible. I've written about it before, but I'm blown away by the quality of the food at this place. My new favorite lunch and brunch spot.
• This smoothie place rocks. InErG.
• Four Top, the restaurant group I co-own, just re-launched Perro Negro. I'm biased, but the food is incredible. My friend (and incredible chef) Sergio Hernandez redid the entire menu. Check it out.
• Speaking of food: do you know of any cool new restaurants opening? Zoe is reigniting Tasting Victoria and is writing an article about all the spots opening up.

-Andrew