Buster Benson
Hi.
👋 Hello! I'm Buster.
I'm taking a 6-month break from the VC-funded tech world to finish a book and answer a single question once asked by Elle Luna: "What if who we are and what we do become one and the same?"
Oct
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Today
Sept 22nd
About this 6-month experiment
Hit space bar or the down arrow
I quit my tech job. My mental and physical health is on the decline. My book is going slower than I want it to. My relationships are strained. My side projects are severely neglected. Life in the Bay Area with a family of 4 is expensive, savings are limited, and our income is about to be cut in half.
This 6-month experiment isn't born out of luxury and ennui. To be honest, it feels a bit existential. Something has to change or many things probably won't hold. So, with the help of my family and friends, I'm gonna change some things and see what happens.
And, um... yes, I am about mid-life... why do you ask?
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Rocketship or rickshaw?
Between October 1st, 2018 and March 31st, 2019, I'm going to be giving myself space to explore an alternate timeline for my life.
Instead of continuing my career as a product manager in the tech world, taking coveted seats on rocketships like Amazon, Twitter, Slack, and Patreon, I'm gonna try making my own puttering rickshaw filled with my own creative dreams and pursuits, and see if I can get it moving fast enough to sustain itself in some form or another.
🚀
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Map or cautionary tale?
Every day during this experiment, I'll be adding a slide to this deck, as a public record and breadcrumb trail.
After this is over, my hope is that others will be able to either use this as a helpful map for driving your own rickshaw or as a detailed cautionary tale to avoid at all costs.
🗺
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I'M NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO DO THIS, THANKFULLY...
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Take a seat and enjoy the ride.
Sept 23rd
What's at the heart of what I love to do, what I'm good at, what I can be paid for, and what the world needs? What's my ikigai?
Ikigai
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My ikigai chart
Sept 23rd
Ikigai
What I love
What I am good at
What the world needs
What I can be paid for
Passion
Mission
Vocation
Profession
Ikigai
As a writer and curious explorer of systems
As an explorer of tools for fruitful disagreements
As a builder of tools and systems
As a builder of tools for fruitful disagreements
Sept 23rd
5 whys of the day
| Question | Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | What's at the heart of what I love to do, what I'm good at, what I can be paid for, and what the world needs? What's my ikigai? | To seek out tools for depolarization, test them, and socialize them in a ways that land well and are effective and sustainable. |
| 1 | Why is this at the heart? | Mostly because I believe that polarization is at the heart of most of the world's problems right now. |
| 2 | Why is polarization the heart of the world's problems right now? | Because the internet and globalization have increased the flow of communication beyond our capacity to manage productive conversations. |
| 3 | Why are we beyond our capacity to manage productive conversations? | Because our imaginations can't create empathy for everyone in the world. |
| 4 | Why can't we have empathy for everyone? | Our mental models don't scale to those numbers. |
| 5 | Why don't our mental models scale? | Because brainpower is expensive and until now that energy was better used in other ways. |
Sept 23rd
Ikigai
How To Chart A New Course For Your Life With 3 Simple Diagrams
- Michal Korzonek
Sept 26th
4 whys about risk and timing
Hit space bar or the down arrow
Sept 26th
Hit space bar or the down arrow for the 2nd why
#1: What took you so long? This is riskless.
It’s not about mitigating risks necessarily, but more figuring out what I really want to do. We were only thinking about the choice between working at a tech company, or leaving the Bay Area. We didn’t see creative pursuits as viable option.
4 whys about risk and timing
Sept 26th
3rd why
#2: Why not?
The cost of living in the Bay Area for a family of 4 is ridiculously high, which means we'd burn through savings fast without lots of income. Creative pursuits are not known for their high salaries.
4 whys about risk and timing
Sept 26th
4th why
#3: Why would creative pursuits be viable now?
I think I gained some confidence in the creative pursuit of exploring ways to have more fruitful disagreements. Part of it was finding a publisher, and getting an advance. Part of it was Louie turning 2. Part of it was the volatile state of the world and feeling desperate enough to gamble savings on a moon shot.
4 whys about risk and timing
Sept 26th
Related reading
#4: Why is this an antidote to a less certain world?
For me, it's a process of elimination. Will being in the tech world fulfill me, even if the world continues to polarize and go crazy? No. Will creative pursuits that I'm interested in fulfill me in that case? Yes. Even a small chance of fulfillment will win out against not even trying.
4 whys about risk and timing
Sept 26th
4 whys about risk and timing
This will be updated most days starting Oct 1st.
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🐉
Buster Benson
By Buster Benson
Buster Benson
My map/story about trying to leave the tech scene to write books and pursue other creative projects.
