Yo, it’s Luke!

I haven’t publicly shared many of the essays I wrote this past winter. So, I thought to.

This one is about one of my favorite things, habits, and pieces of (life/career) advice: finding future versions of yourself. Hope you enjoy.

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“I want it all: the limelight and the laurels, the cold steel of ambition and the soft hands of love, the honking of cars and the music of birds. I want to press my lips to every experience until my mouth bruises, to stretch myself thin across the surface of the world like too little butter on too much bread, to gather every bright fragment of what’s possible and sew them into a patchwork quilt big enough to cover the sky, twice.” - Sherry

I love learning about humans and learning their stories. I've read plenty of biographies and listened to plenty more interviews. Far too many.

Every once in a blue moon, the person’s story and life approach leaves me with magnetic pull. A sense that they are me, but older. Me, in another universe.

When I find those people, I make sure to write them down. And I try to figure out what about them makes me so interested, because in that pull, in that deep intuitive attraction, I can find a truth about myself.

As I've found more and more of these people, I've come to find a half-baked blueprint of what "the real" is that I'm drifting towards.

Here it is:

  1. I'd like to live my life with the realness that Chris, Brené, and Peter bring to the world around them.

  2. I see myself connecting great people together, like Esther and Ron and Graham have done so well.

  3. Both in the mix of worldly matters, like Ron, and completely out of it, like Yvon - spending half the year off the grid in Patagonia.

  4. I'd like to be generative with all of my interests, similar to Jesse, Shaan, and Tony. To make things with the fluidity of an artist and the usefulness of a craftsman. If people looked at my life and it’s many ventures, they’d see me - personified. Like Joe.

  5. I want to share the things I learn like Shaan and Julian do. Packy too.

  6. I want to be surrounded by great people who grab life by the balls. My hand in a hundred different projects, making them all a reality. The same way Chris did with many of his investments. Cyan, Tony, and Jesse too.

  7. I'd like to drift and dérive and flaneur, allowing serendipity to enter my life in the same way that Peter and Cyan do. An alchemist-type approach to life. With its stories told like Matthew, Derek, and Cal.

  8. I'd like to be illegible like Tim and Yvon. A smattering of interests and accomplishments, none predicting the next. Opposites and randomness that, looking backwards, somehow fit.

  9. 10 out of 10 energy no matter what age I am. Just like Jesse, and Hayes, and Peter.

  10. I'd like to look back at 70 and see a bunch of big accomplishments, and still be able to grab a beer with some random guy at a dive bar and chop it up. Not lose the touch of the common man. Treating everyone with the same level of attention and respect. Like Jesse and Hayes.

It's nice to know there are people out there coded like me who've paved their path. To have few blueprints.

I hope you find your blueprints too. Or make your own.

- L

A bit more about these people

Click on their names to learn more about them.

Peter Barton: Musician & semi-pro athlete → "deal-a-day" media mogul → quit at 46 as he had enough money → lived a fiercely deliberate life documented in Not Fade Away

Ron Conway: The "Godfather of Silicon Valley" → built Altos Computer (IPO) → OG angel investor → uses his massive network for civic reform + fostering startup ecosystem

Cyan Banister: Homeless at 14 → self-taught engineer + founder + goated angel investor → lives a magically weird, serendipitous life

Tony Robbins: Hard upbringing → janitor → self-taught NLP expert → best-selling author + serial entrepreneur + performance coach (Presidents, CEOs, GOATs) + funding 1 billion meals → ultimate energy guy

Chris Sacca: Lawyer → successful investor & advisor → awesome network → lives by lakes & mountains → investing in important problems → quit the rat race, lots of crazy ultra-race experiences, has good head on shoulders

Yvon Chouinard: "Dirtbag" climber + blacksmith + outdoorsman → invented "clean climbing" gear → founded Patagonia + pioneered corporate activism → lives half the year off the grid

Jesse Itzler: Record label owner + producer + artist → private jet company founder → lived with Goggins and monks + does big physical challenges → chased discomfort, awesome wife/family, & shared knowledge

Tim Ferriss: Successful founder w/ awesome network → pro tango dancer + pro martial arts + multi-lingual → great investor + advisor → shares knowledge thru pod & writing → always learning & growing

Julian Shapiro: Successful founder → hacker + marketer → startup investor & growth advisor → awesome writer

Shaan Puri: Serial entrepreneur → shares knowledge thru pod & blog → angel invests → always experiment & has fun

Joe Rogan: Comedian + martial artist + hunter + sports commentator + awesome podcast + awesome network → intertwined the shit he loved with his work

Matthew McConaughey: Regular joe → famous actor → philanthropist → wrestled African villagers + swam in Amazon + played the bongos + lived in an RV → authentic, mindful, alchemist-type approach to life

Packy McCormick: Combined his love of technology x startups x writing into a beautiful investment fund

Hayes Barnard: Successful entrepreneur → authentic, high-energy, treats everyone with genuine respect and attention

Esther Coopersmith: Legendary political host → connected presidents, diplomats, and cultural icons → built bridges through genuine relationships and hospitality

Brené Brown: The GOAT thinker on vulnerability, shame, & leadership → taught millions how to form deep, meaningful relationships by being authentic & vulnerable

Derek Sivers: Musician, entrepreneur, author, circus performer → writes in a simple yet thought-provoking way → challenges conventional beliefs and lives a life driven by curiosity and active exploration

Thanks for wanting to know more today than you did yesterday! If you liked this edition, send it over to a friend who would like it too 🤝

Cheers,

Luke

PS: you can find more rabbit holes here & my writing here.

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