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Commitment Issues
I stumbled across a video last week that fired me up. Sam Parr announced he’s going all in on his company Hampton. He’s got a knack for digging up stories about the people he finds interesting.
Life update: Joe and I are now the CEOs of Hampton
It was actually a quote from Palmer Luckey that made me want to go all in…
(I talk about it in the video below if you want to hear it)
Palmer's basically saying something that hit me hard: in business, life, and romance - you
— Sam Parr (@thesamparr)
2:50 PM • Apr 16, 2025
He referenced a Tablet interview with Palmer Luckey. Palmer had a quote that has stuck with me for days:
At some point, in business and in life and in romance, you have to commit to a path, A lot of my peers in the tech industry do not share this philosophy … They’re always pursuing everything with optionality. ’Oh, I need to be able to raise money from anybody. I need to be able to sell my business in any way. I need to have liquidity in any way. I need to make sure that I’m not closing myself off to future romantic partners. I need to make sure I’ve got my options open. I need to make sure that I’m not going to buy a house and settle down in one place and lock myself down. Oh, having children. I don’t know. Maybe I’m not ready to commit to that path.
In keeping their options open, they ensure that they’re going to jump from option to option. If you don’t commit to a path, you’re going to fail at it … You have to commit to it to make it work, and I think marriage is the same way. You just have to commit to it. You have to say, ’This is the path I’m on. For better or for worse, I’m going to double down on it.’
This newsletter leans business-heavy, but I’m also a sucker for mindset. I believe it’s over half the battle of when it comes to success. That’s why I think this quote is beautiful.
Last November I committed to a new path. I committed to building a business that I’m excited by and proud of. I was horrified when I made that call. I had no investment dollars or “idea” I wanted to pursue. But I knew it was time to commit to a new path—my own.
I recorded a 40 minute conversation with my friend Martyn on my last day at Dexcom. We talked about “what’s next” and where my head is at.
After I left, the questions came pouring in—from others, and from myself: Should I post TikToks to make money on the TikTok shop? Sell knives online? Pick up contracting gigs? Apply to the hottest startup in health tech to get more start-up experience? Maybe contracting will help with that. You know — non-committal, easy money. A couple bucks here and there. Just in case I run out of money...
I was keeping my options open. I knew where I wanted to go. I wanted to walk the path of building a business. All of those were side quests to make money. None of them were actually doing the damn thing.
Step 1 was leaving my job. Step 2 was harder: now what? Honestly, I was afraid to commit to a path.
After 2-3 months of waiting for the “idea” to hit me… nothing came. I was sitting on top of two opportunities I didn’t even realize were right in front of me. I was building a health & wellness community and people turned to me as the “health guy” when they had questions.
At a party last night in SF.
Everyone in the room were building companies, talking AI, and going through prestigious accelerators.
Then there was me... I throw cold plunge parties.
But everyone was interested to hear my story and ask about health.
Know your edge, and lean
— Jared Seidel (@Jared_Seidel_)
9:10 PM • Feb 21, 2025
Looking back, it seemed like a no-brainer. But I was afraid to declare that as my path. It took dozens of conversations to get it through to me that the path I was going to take was in health, wellness, and community. Once I made the decision everything was clear after that. The only option was forward.
Your commitments don’t have to be as audacious as starting a company. It can be: “I’m going to produce music.” But if you got this far and are going to take away only one thing from today it would be to pick something, or even someone, and commit to it. Not for a couple weeks. Not a month or two. At least a year…
You’ll be shocked how far you’ll get just by doing it—again, and again, and again
Now, reread that quote by Palmer, and tell me what you’re going to commit to.
I’m rooting for you,
Jared
Things Worth Clicking
A few gems I found on the internet this week - no digging required
Jessie Itzler on how you’re not really behind. The average age of a millionaire is 57 years old.
Some wisdom by Seth Godin
Procrastinating your to-do list isn’t the problem. There will never be a right time. On brand for today!
the worst thing you can procrastinate on isn't your to-do list, it's your life. waiting for the right time. waiting for permission. waiting for somebody else. you'll be waiting forever. take responsibility. find something that won’t let you wait. and do it. you can't cram life.
— Jay Alto (@theJayAlto)
9:50 PM • Apr 11, 2025
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