2 quick ideas to change your week
Missed last week? — Catch up on the archive here
Hey Reader,
Got two quick thoughts worth sharing with you. We’ve done this in the past, and most seem to dig these bite-sized newsletters.
See you at the end, enjoy.
The Shopping Cart Test
I saw a YouTube short talking about this thought experiment, and it stuck with me.
You know that moment when you’ve loaded all your groceries, it’s raining, and your cart’s just sitting there next to your car?
Of course, the cart return is like a hundred feet away. Nobody’s watching. Nobody cares. There’s zero consequence if you just leave it.
That’s the shopping cart test… and apparently, it’s one of the simplest ways to tell whether you’re a good person.
Because think about it:
It’s not illegal to abandon your cart.
You don’t get rewarded for returning it.
It’s technically someone’s job to collect them anyway.
It’s mildly annoying and takes thirty seconds you’ll never get back… but returning it is right. It helps the underpaid worker, prevents cars from getting dinged, and adds a bit of order to a tiny patch of chaos.
But here’s what hit me: life is full of invisible shopping carts.
The text you don’t have to send.
The dish you could leave for later.
The corners you could cut at work.
No one would ever know.
But you would.
It’s who you are when there’s no credit given. The test was never about damn shopping carts, it’s about how you treat the world when it owes you nothing.
Also, me at costco with my $500 checkout:
Dunbar’s Number
(a.k.a. Why You’re Exhausted Keeping Up With Everyone)
There’s a reason you can’t “stay close” with everyone… it’s called “Dunbar’s Number.”
Humans can only juggle about 150 real relationships before our brains check out. Beyond that, faces blur, names fade, and everything turns into small talk. It’s basically leftover wiring from when we lived in small tribes.
But social media tricks you into thinking you can keep up with everyone. You can’t. In reality, you’re just maintaining surfaces: likes, comments, and the annual “happy birthday” post.
Think of your relationships in layers:
Here’s the part most miss: every person you add multiplies communication lines. Two people = 1 line. Ten people = 45 lines.
When I ran a large team, I realized I wasn’t managing people anymore.. I was managing relationships between people. That’s where all the energy went.
Same thing in life. Every new connection adds noise.
So yeah, audit your circle. Prune the extras.
Fewer people, deeper conversations. That’s where the peace lives.
LIFE NEWS
Quick favor:
Thinking about launching a small group for entrepreneurs who want to grow on YouTube. Everything I’ve learned getting to 1M+ subs as a one-man operation.
Before I build it, I want to gauge interest. Mind filling out a quick survey? takes less than 180 seconds.
You rock.
Coming this week on YouTube:
The Problem with New Age Thought (And Why I Deleted 10M+ Views)
I’ve wanted to make this video for a while. Breaking down the biggest issues with the law of attraction, how buying into fringe new age thought quietly ruins lives, and why I’ll never teach new age content again.
What I’m Reading:
Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
Damn. I can’t put this thing down. It’s about a broke college kid who commits murder to prove he’s above morality… and quickly learns he’s not. The first 100 pages are a “trust-the-process” grind, but once it hooks you, it hooks you. Easily one of the most psychologically real books I’ve ever read.
See you next saturday,
CK
