Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap 5/24/2025)

From creative courage to authentic living: navigating the messy evolution of becoming who you're meant to be

Author

Matt Zeigler
May 24, 2025

Let's connect some dots from this week's notes...

But first: Did you know you can now sign up for this weekly email ONLY? That's right. If my dailies are clogging your inbox, I've got you. Open this email in your browser, then click > the profile icon in the top right > manage subscriptions > preferences (on the menu on the left) > select daily or weekly > and it will auto save! Click reply with any questions.

On to the recap…

Using Andy Weir's "Project Hail Mary" as a launching pad, this post explores the fundamental distinction between procedural tools and genuine creative thinking. Through the alien character Rocky's insight that "Math is not thinking. Math is procedure," the piece argues that true creativity mirrors evolution itself: messy, non-linear, and beautifully absurd. Just as evolution doesn't plan the platypus, our best creative insights often arrive unannounced and spectacular. The post challenges our relationship with AI tools, noting that while they can perform procedures and store information, they lack the lived human experience that creates genuine taste and creative leaps.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "Ideas make sense in reverse, but they rarely come together that way. Just as evolution doesn't plan the platypus, our best creative insights often arrive unannounced, in spectacular absurdity, without or at least before we even develop a hunch for what problem they're solving."

This post examines the tension between objective assessment and creative work through the lens of orchestra auditions conducted behind screens. While blind auditions work brilliantly for technical skill evaluation, creativity requires the opposite approach: maximum mixing, full humanity, and subjective connection. Drawing on insights from Nassim Taleb's surgeon selection example and John Candeto's observation that "no great symphony was ever written by a committee," the piece argues that greatness emerges from the agency of others accepting the outcome. Creative processes demand we embrace both flaws and humanity rather than hiding behind screens.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "Whatever you're working on, whatever you're making - know when to judge it purely on skill, and know when to embrace it purely for it's humanity."

Two successful professionals share remarkably parallel journeys of mid-life authenticity awakenings in this powerful conversation. Nancy Burger's bipolar diagnosis at 40 and Julia Duthie's coming out at 50 both represent transformative moments when the cost of hiding finally outweighed the risks of revealing. Their stories illuminate how discomfort with ourselves often stems from trying to protect others from our truth, and how breakthrough comes when we let the world figure out what it will be uncomfortable with about the force of nature that is us. Both women transformed their personal struggles into professional purpose, turning shame into strength and hiding into belonging.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "I'm myself everywhere and therefore I belong everywhere. I don't ever worry about it. It doesn't matter what room I'm in, who I'm with, what situation, I'm comfortable." - Julia Duthie

This networking feature explores three key lessons from Julia Duthie's journey from teenage band frontwoman to respected business leader. First, her approach to trusting herself before over-preparing, demonstrated through her willingness to "get behind a mic and trust that whatever was gonna come out would be all right." Second, her realization that authenticity isn't optional when she decided not to "live inauthentically if I've only got a handful of summers left." Finally, her insight that showing up consistently as yourself across all contexts creates belonging everywhere. Her story offers a masterclass in how presenting the same version of yourself in every room strengthens relationships and amplifies impact.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (As Julia said it) "I decided then on, I was not going to live inauthentically if I've only got a handful of summers left. I want to do them properly. I want to really live honestly and wholeheartedly."

Executive coach Nancy Burger demonstrates how personal struggles can become professional superpowers through three powerful insights. Her first lesson centers on noticing without judging, moving away from creating narratives that cloud clear observation. Her second insight reveals how the fear of regret can be more powerful than fear of failure, as demonstrated when she joined her first band at 40 despite stage fright because she was "so afraid of regretting, of not trying." Finally, her Dorothy metaphor reminds us that we already possess the tools for transformation: "we're all like Dorothy - you've got the slippers." Her approach shows how reframing our relationship with fear can turn it from barrier to catalyst.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "I always use this metaphor: we're all like Dorothy - you've got the slippers. We don't know that if we tap 'em together, we're gonna get to Kansas. We don't know anything, but it's all right here." - Nancy Burger

A reflective meditation on success, fulfillment, and the elusive concept of "enough" emerges from attending Kendrick Lamar's stadium tour. The piece traces Kendrick's journey from the backseat freestyles of "good kid, m.A.A.d city" to Super Bowl halftime shows, questioning what comes next when you've seemingly reached the pinnacle. Through the contrast between his early "All my life I want money and power" and his current "It's not enough," the post explores the existential challenge facing artists at the top: knowing when you have enough to use as a north star for next steps. The reflection becomes deeply personal, acknowledging how we all need role models who "get it right" in navigating success without losing their way.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "I worry about whether or not Kendrick knows what enough is so he can use that as a north star for his next steps. I worry about that because, I'm projecting, and I'm worried about that for me."

Where Else I Showed Up This Week

My Just Press Record (and options market educator extraordinaire) Mat Cashman joined me for a special “teach me like I’m 5” episode of Excess Returns. The rule of 16 is one of those things option traders throw around, but Mat does an incredible job of showing me (and you) how to use it every day.

Jack Forehand and I went back through our prior interviews with top planning academic Wade Pfau to put together a very (very) insightful clip show.

And, while I didn’t show up here, my buddy Dave Nadig just gave THE BEST NEIL HOWE INTERVIEW I’ve ever seen or heard. I’m envious. I’ve written a fair amount of my own (optimistic) views on Howe’s work (like the time I used it to get a high school paper extension in a bar) but Nadig got him to say these ideas out loud and I’m just in awe. 87,000 views and counting - no surprise to me, this is SO good.

Personal Archive Prompts (for you):

What procedural tools are you mistaking for genuine thinking in your creative work?

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN TO JUDGE PURELY ON SKILL VERSUS EMBRACING PURE HUMANITY IN YOUR PROJECTS?

What discomfort with yourself are you currently hiding to protect others, and what would it look like to let the world decide what it's uncomfortable with?

Where in your life are you over-preparing when simply trusting yourself and your experience might yield better results?

WHAT WOULD YOU REGRET NOT TRYING TEN YEARS FROM NOW, AND HOW MIGHT THAT FEAR OF REGRET MOTIVATE ACTION TODAY?

What does "enough" look like in your own definition of success, and how can that serve as your north star?

WHAT INNATE STRENGTHS OR WISDOM DO YOU ALREADY POSSESS THAT YOU'VE BEEN OVERLOOKING OR UNDERVALUING?

As always, I did my part, now it's your turn to write some reflections in your own Personal Archive.

(then, be sure to let me know where you're keeping it, I'm in search of the others too)