change is coming
a weekly newsletter for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind.
Welcome back to the Antifragile 🔥 . Change is coming.
Something’s been nibbling at the back of my mind and has felt off with this, my beloved newsletter.
Here’s the story.
The Antifragile Origin
The idea for this whole thing started after hearing some peers complain about how fatherhood was ruining their lives.
They didn’t have time to exercise, so they were getting fat and their back hurt. They didn’t have time to read or learn anything new.
It was…
Work until 5.
Golf on the weekends.
Football on Sundays.
Rinse, repeat.
Move to Florida.
Die.
So, whether it was out of a desire to make the world a better place or being utterly terrified to my existential core that fatherhood was going to do the same thing to me, I embarked on this newsletter journey.
Having just read Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Antifragile, the concept of antifragility (which not only uses stressors, volatility & disorder to become stronger but needs them to become stronger) seemed absolutely perfect.
Thus, The Antifragile Dad was born.
Despite being just barely wet behind the ears in my fatherhood journey, it was clear there would be no shortage of stress, volatility & disorder.
Antifragile it was.
And what a wonderful journey it’s been these last 80+ weeks.
For starters, I’ve never done anything for 80+ weeks.
(Except maybe eating Chipotle…ok I’ve definitely done that 80+ weeks in a row. Multiple times. Take your judgment elsewhere, sir!)
But certainly nothing creative.
So the fact that this thing has existed for that long is frankly a New Testament-level miracle.
Does the magic stop there?? Oh no, my dearest reader. It most certainly does not.
The curiosity and intellectual change that this newsletter has sparked has been like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I mean, for goodness sake, I’m reading philosophy and no longer using social media.
Who is this person I’ve become? I love this guy!
Plus, the incredible conversations that have been born of this newfound curiosity. Sure philosophy, but also AI, health/fitness, relationships, business, reading/writing, and of course, parenting.
Nothing warms my heart more than when I get a text or email from someone saying something in the newsletter hit home with them. A few have brought me to the verge of tears.
My life has never been so intellectually rich. And I don’t think I’ve ever been a better dad or husband.
So why in the hell is change coming?
A couple things have happened over these 80+ weeks.
#1 - The Antifragile name doesn’t fit anymore.
Here’s the thing about antifragility—it doesn’t just use stressors, volatility, and disorder to become stronger. It actually needs them.
And there’s something about needing those things in my life that feels downright unhealthy. Sure, as parents of mostly younger children, we have no shortage of stressors and volatility, but do we really want to seek it out everywhere?
That feels like the express lane to a midlife crisis.
Yes, I know lifting weights and doing Sudoku are stressors that benefit the mind and body. I do love a good challenge.
But antifragility goes beyond and truly benefits from a disordered, chaotic environment.
That’s not what I’m going for in this newsletter, nor in my own life.
I don’t want a life built around stress and chaos, even if it’s using them for growth.
I want a life built around peace and love (hippie!).
That is the water I want to raise my boys in.
Not one where I’m performing chaos alchemy.
This is why the name is changing. More on that at the end.
#2 - The newsletters have become interesting… but not impactful
As noted above, I’m curious about a lot of interesting shit these days.
We’ve got Nietzsche mixed with Red Rising. We’ve got bloody knees mashed with AI panic. We’ve got AI therapy with Thoreau.
It’s great—for a hyperactive mind. But it’s also become unfocused past the point of driving any point home or encouraging any deep thought on any particular topic.
And that is something I’m aspiring to cultivate in this newsletter, and in my own life.
This is why, moving forward, the newsletters will focus on one theme each.
#3 - It’s too long
I know this lengthy edition isn’t helping my cause.
But I like to write.
Writing is thinking, and I get weird without it. And I’m not going to stop doing that.
I just don’t think this is the place for my long-form writing.
Both because I think newsletters should be short and encourage deep thought, or inspire action by the reader. Cramming long writing into a weekly email isn’t my best work—and it’s probably not your best reading experience either. Worst of both worlds.
This is why, moving forward, 1.) the newsletter will be formatted in easily digested James Clear-esque fashion and 2.) I’ll be writing long-form articles as standalone pieces every few weeks that get shared as links in the newsletter for those who want to dive in.
What should you expect?
#1 - The focus will remain on fatherhood
In fact, the focus will be returning to primarily fatherhood. Not just things I find interesting.
Life Through the Lens of Fatherhood.
It’s not to say I won’t include Red Rising again. It’s just that Red Rising will now be viewed through the lens of fatherhood.
I still believe, more than ever, that fatherhood is the most incredible opportunity any man has to clarify what is important in their life. That is still the core of this project.
For you nosey behind-the-scenes types, it won’t be all intellectual nipple shocks; low-context “day in the life” type snippets will also be returning. Because there are just too many random gems that paint a portrait of these days with utter perfection.
Like this text to my wife while she was bathing the boys tonight:
Or a T-Rex with chalk-colored toddler hands:
#2 - It will have fewer words with more space for you to think
The best insights are generated by your own beautiful brain, not my ramblings (of course, if you want them the long-form piece will be there).
I aspire to provide higher-quality ideas with fewer words.
Finally—because I don’t just want to be antifragile anymore—I want to raise humans. Both the ones I helped bring into this world and the ones who surround me every day.
This is the role of a father. This is the lens through which this newsletter will see the world.
It will be called Raising Humans: Exploring Fatherhood in the Modern World
See you next week.
With love,
Chris
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