Jakob Greenfeld
18 notes in the collection. Writes at jakobgreenfeld.com (opens in a new tab)↗
First saved Big IDGAF Energy on August 3, 2026.
Greenfeld uses the single vote to show how actions too small to matter on their own, like a little junk food or doomscrolling, add up to define who you are.
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Framing a request as a choice between two options instead of yes or no takes "no" off the table, and the same trick works for your own habits.
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Greenfeld argues the secret behind outsized impact is a deep belief that you can make a dent in the universe, since expectations shape reality and self-doubt becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Greenfeld argues junk content compounds like junk food, pointing to Alex Hormozi's finding that viewers of short entertaining videos almost never move on to his deeper long-form content.
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Greenfeld argues life shrinks by default as habit pulls you toward the same places and people, so he expands it on purpose with several workplaces and a weekly mini-adventure from his Living Larger list.
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- NewFollow Curiosity 5 min
Greenfeld argues curiosity beats spreadsheets, prestige, and money as a guide to what to work on, since excitement is information and fuel, as David Perell found when chasing ambition led him into a writing slump.
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- NewHowl with the wolves 2 min
Borrowing improv's offer-block-accept idea, Greenfeld argues that blocking feels safe and high-status but makes life dull, so accept more offers and make interesting ones, the way Californication's Richard Bates does.
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- NewImmediate Retirement 1 min
Greenfeld turns Naval's definition of retirement into a daily practice: hit work, exercise, learning, and social time every day, and bring holiday experiences into ordinary life.
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Greenfeld's notes from two 37signals podcasts, where DHH and Jason Fried argue you learn whether an idea works by shipping it, since the best business ideas can't be analyzed rationally up front.
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Greenfeld balances structure and spontaneity by deciding each evening what tomorrow's deep work and task blocks will hold, since he chooses far better for his future self than in the moment.
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Greenfeld argues that doing more of what kind of works keeps you stuck at the same level, as indie hackers he hadn't seen in two years still were, and that 10x jumps require radically changing your approach.
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- NewThe Mirror 5 min
Greenfeld argues people tend to mirror how you treat them, since popular kids are the ones who like their classmates most, so to stop fearing judgment, mistrust, or rudeness, change your own behavior first.
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Greenfeld argues analytical, left-brain thinking oversells frameworks and plans, so he now sits with problems and leans into the obvious, the way improv pros do, to let intuition contribute.
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- NewTruth is Overrated 6 min
Greenfeld argues that because every piece of success advice has an equally valid opposite, the skill is knowing when to use which, and that usefulness, even useful delusion, matters more than truth.
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Greenfeld argues productivity systems are mostly procrastination, since real output flows upstream from physical health and from working on things you truly care about.
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- NewBig IDGAF Energy 3 min
Drawing on Nate Silver's On the Edge, Greenfeld argues successful people understand probability well enough to treat failures as inevitable, so they shrug them off and keep trying hundreds of times instead of three.
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- NewHigher Vibrations 6 min
Greenfeld treats vibes as a practical lens: things on your wavelength attract and influence you, so raise your state first, then notice which people, food, music, and work feel off.
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- NewSuffering 2 min
Greenfeld collects passages, mostly from John Vervaeke, arguing that suffering means losing agency rather than feeling pain, which is why addiction and even too much joy count as suffering.
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If you like Jakob Greenfeld, try
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