Jason Davis-Cooke: Welcome back everybody. It's been a minute, and if you've been waiting, wondering whether Brainwave Exchange was coming back, here's your answer. We are. And we didn't just come back. We came back with a sharper sense of what this show is actually for. And joining me as always, my co-host, Anthony Torres. Now you all know I usually reach for a superlative to introduce him, but not this time. This time I'll just say you're gonna want to tune in to the new episodes to find out. Trust me on that one. Season four is built around a simple idea.
Anthony Torres: Yeah.
Jason Davis-Cooke: The things that make a life work aren't infinite. They come down to a handful of pillars. Get these right and most everything else follows. And in a way, it mirrors how we live every day at BitHippy. A blend of science and technology, health and wellness, and the work of building a growth-minded company and culture. The same threads that run through our days are the ones we want to pull onto this season. So we're focusing on five pillars. The first, health, because nothing else matters much without it. And almost everyone treats it as something to deal with later. And Anthony, I know health is something that's very important to you.
Anthony Torres: Yeah, that's right. And you know, we'll as we get through these pillars a little bit more, ⁓ you'll see that these they show up in a lot of different a lot of different organizations are you know are trying to optimize a couple of different things and health always seems to show up. So, right, as you said, if if your body doesn't work, everything else is quite a bit harder.
Jason Davis-Cooke: Next up is wealth, not as a scoreboard, but as freedom, the ability to choose. I know that we have been, you know, running the rat race for a long time and at some point it's nice to not have to be forced into that game.
Anthony Torres: ⁓ you said it very well, right? Like wealth isn't about money, it's about freedom. And that's one of those things where if you know you've got enough runway to last forever, right, we'll start talking about being able to like do the things that you wanna do without worrying too much about, you know At what cost am I sacrificing my livelihood? Am I putting my family at risk? Right? Like getting wealth right means how many times have you talked to people like, I really want to do this other thing, but I'm worried about paying the bills first? And that's just a real shame. So yeah, that that's why that one came up.
Jason Davis-Cooke: And third is connection. The relationships that hold us up when everything else gets heavy. And this one I mean that the community that we're trying to build is definitely leaning on this one heavily.
Anthony Torres: And we're stuck in such a polarizing world, but if you like talk to like ⁓ most humans, we're all sorta feeling the same way. So ⁓ I think, you know, how can we put some I don't I'm not even sure what I wanna say here, but like at the end of the day, y you're gonna need to rely on people. Right? Like we've always relied on each other and in whether it's a big emergency or a small emergency, or if you're just like feeling icky, or even if you want to share some great news, right? Like having those connections and nurturing the right ones and letting go of the wrong ones is super important.
Jason Davis-Cooke: Fourth is direction, knowing where you're headed and why instead of just staying busy. I know this one a lot of people tend to sort of just go through the motions and it's not fun. And so trying to just I don't know, find maybe not meaning but you know purpose, something to work towards.
Anthony Torres: ⁓ I heard from the Dad Edge podcast a long time ago that the definition of hell is being on your deathbed and meeting the man you could have become. And that really stuck with me, right? And so that is I mean, in some aspects I would say that's sort of like try and live life with no regrets, right? ⁓ but that's also it's sort of grand. Right. And it could be intimidating, right? Like, how can you project into the future everything you might possibly want to do and come up with like what is my sense of purpose? And then if you can't figure out, it can be sort of self-deflating. And I had a conversation with a guy a couple of weeks ago, and we actually started talking about micro purposes, like micro direction. And really what that could even mean is like, what's today look like? Right? ⁓ we do big blocks at the dev shop. That's what should my week look like. What are the most important things for me to be thinking about? About this week and ⁓ right. So I think there's a spectrum of how involved direction can get. But I don't know about you, but for me, if I wake up in the morning and I'm like, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing today, I feel awful for the whole day. Right. And then it's like, ⁓ if I check these three things off my list, I know that I am ⁓ taking steps towards the future that I hope to have. So You know, I don't want that to scare people away because there's certainly like a low entryway into direction.
Jason Davis-Cooke: Yeah, I the first thing I do every morning when I ⁓ get ⁓ onto my laptop for work is I answer the question, what does success look like today? It's a simple question to answer and like you say, it gives you that small ⁓ small direction. And yet you know, for me it is working towards the the big blocks and then obviously other goals and but break it down one day at a time.
Anthony Torres: Yeah, and I also heard someone say the other day that it is better to be consistently good than occasionally remarkable, right? And so that's just about that one percent sort of improvement every day or you know, it compounding effects. So it's it's sort of about the exercise of setting small goals and achieving them and then seeing those wins and then these compound into bigger bigger things.
Jason Davis-Cooke: And lastly, safety. The foundation underneath all of it. The sense of ground beneath your feet that lets you take real risks everywhere else. And this is safety in all of its formats, physical, mental, ⁓ you know, financial.
Anthony Torres: Digital, right? ⁓ I was watching Yellowstone last night, and ⁓ I know I'm way behind, but anyway, it's on. And the main guy there, I can't think of his name, ⁓ but John, I guess. ⁓ he goes, if you build something worth having, people are gonna want to take it, right? And so when I think about safety, it's
Jason Davis-Cooke: Digital. Yep.
Anthony Torres: when I think about ⁓ safety, it's ⁓ How do you protect yourself from the outside world? What's that interface look like? ⁓ understanding that if you build something of value, right, some people will want to help and some people will want to destroy it. And so, like, putting those guardrails in place and not just, you know, I assume the best in people, but then How do you protect yourself from the outside world? What's that interface look like? ⁓ understanding that if you build something of value, right, some people will want to help and some people will want to destroy it. And so, like, putting those guardrails in place and not just, you know, I assume the best in people, but then Sometimes reality like slaps you in the face and then you just start you need to build a little bit of resiliency. Sometimes reality like slaps you in the face and then you just start you need to build a little bit of resiliency. ⁓ and I I actually pulled this one from thinking about biological systems and we have an immune system, right? And like why? a business has an immune system or should, right? ⁓ so you get the safety right, as you said, you'll be able to take like prudent risks.
Jason Davis-Cooke: Yep. So here's what we're promising you this season. We're bringing in guests who actually live in these spaces, people with real insight and more importantly, insight you can act on. Not theory, not platitudes, things you can take from episodes into your week. Every conversation we're asking the same question. What can someone do with this? Because a great idea you can't use is just entertainment and we want to give you more than that. So if you've been gone a while, welcome back. And if you're new here, you picked a good time to show up. Brainwave Exchange Season four Five Pillars Science and Technology, Health and Wellness, and a Growth Minded Culture, Real Guests, Insight You Can Use Coming Soon. So hit that follow button and make sure you don't miss the first one.
Anthony Torres: Yeah.
Jason Davis-Cooke: The things that make a life work aren't infinite. They come down to a handful of pillars. Get these right and most everything else follows. And in a way, it mirrors how we live every day at BitHippy. A blend of science and technology, health and wellness, and the work of building a growth-minded company and culture. The same threads that run through our days are the ones we want to pull onto this season. So we're focusing on five pillars. The first, health, because nothing else matters much without it. And almost everyone treats it as something to deal with later. And Anthony, I know health is something that's very important to you.
Anthony Torres: Yeah, that's right. And you know, we'll as we get through these pillars a little bit more, ⁓ you'll see that these they show up in a lot of different a lot of different organizations are you know are trying to optimize a couple of different things and health always seems to show up. So, right, as you said, if if your body doesn't work, everything else is quite a bit harder.
Jason Davis-Cooke: Next up is wealth, not as a scoreboard, but as freedom, the ability to choose. I know that we have been, you know, running the rat race for a long time and at some point it's nice to not have to be forced into that game.
Anthony Torres: ⁓ you said it very well, right? Like wealth isn't about money, it's about freedom. And that's one of those things where if you know you've got enough runway to last forever, right, we'll start talking about being able to like do the things that you wanna do without worrying too much about, you know At what cost am I sacrificing my livelihood? Am I putting my family at risk? Right? Like getting wealth right means how many times have you talked to people like, I really want to do this other thing, but I'm worried about paying the bills first? And that's just a real shame. So yeah, that that's why that one came up.
Jason Davis-Cooke: And third is connection. The relationships that hold us up when everything else gets heavy. And this one I mean that the community that we're trying to build is definitely leaning on this one heavily.
Anthony Torres: And we're stuck in such a polarizing world, but if you like talk to like ⁓ most humans, we're all sorta feeling the same way. So ⁓ I think, you know, how can we put some I don't I'm not even sure what I wanna say here, but like at the end of the day, y you're gonna need to rely on people. Right? Like we've always relied on each other and in whether it's a big emergency or a small emergency, or if you're just like feeling icky, or even if you want to share some great news, right? Like having those connections and nurturing the right ones and letting go of the wrong ones is super important.
Jason Davis-Cooke: Fourth is direction, knowing where you're headed and why instead of just staying busy. I know this one a lot of people tend to sort of just go through the motions and it's not fun. And so trying to just I don't know, find maybe not meaning but you know purpose, something to work towards.
Anthony Torres: ⁓ I heard from the Dad Edge podcast a long time ago that the definition of hell is being on your deathbed and meeting the man you could have become. And that really stuck with me, right? And so that is I mean, in some aspects I would say that's sort of like try and live life with no regrets, right? ⁓ but that's also it's sort of grand. Right. And it could be intimidating, right? Like, how can you project into the future everything you might possibly want to do and come up with like what is my sense of purpose? And then if you can't figure out, it can be sort of self-deflating. And I had a conversation with a guy a couple of weeks ago, and we actually started talking about micro purposes, like micro direction. And really what that could even mean is like, what's today look like? Right? ⁓ we do big blocks at the dev shop. That's what should my week look like. What are the most important things for me to be thinking about? About this week and ⁓ right. So I think there's a spectrum of how involved direction can get. But I don't know about you, but for me, if I wake up in the morning and I'm like, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing today, I feel awful for the whole day. Right. And then it's like, ⁓ if I check these three things off my list, I know that I am ⁓ taking steps towards the future that I hope to have. So You know, I don't want that to scare people away because there's certainly like a low entryway into direction.
Jason Davis-Cooke: Yeah, I the first thing I do every morning when I ⁓ get ⁓ onto my laptop for work is I answer the question, what does success look like today? It's a simple question to answer and like you say, it gives you that small ⁓ small direction. And yet you know, for me it is working towards the the big blocks and then obviously other goals and but break it down one day at a time.
Anthony Torres: Yeah, and I also heard someone say the other day that it is better to be consistently good than occasionally remarkable, right? And so that's just about that one percent sort of improvement every day or you know, it compounding effects. So it's it's sort of about the exercise of setting small goals and achieving them and then seeing those wins and then these compound into bigger bigger things.
Jason Davis-Cooke: And lastly, safety. The foundation underneath all of it. The sense of ground beneath your feet that lets you take real risks everywhere else. And this is safety in all of its formats, physical, mental, ⁓ you know, financial.
Anthony Torres: Digital, right? ⁓ I was watching Yellowstone last night, and ⁓ I know I'm way behind, but anyway, it's on. And the main guy there, I can't think of his name, ⁓ but John, I guess. ⁓ he goes, if you build something worth having, people are gonna want to take it, right? And so when I think about safety, it's
Jason Davis-Cooke: Digital. Yep.
Anthony Torres: when I think about ⁓ safety, it's ⁓ How do you protect yourself from the outside world? What's that interface look like? ⁓ understanding that if you build something of value, right, some people will want to help and some people will want to destroy it. And so, like, putting those guardrails in place and not just, you know, I assume the best in people, but then How do you protect yourself from the outside world? What's that interface look like? ⁓ understanding that if you build something of value, right, some people will want to help and some people will want to destroy it. And so, like, putting those guardrails in place and not just, you know, I assume the best in people, but then Sometimes reality like slaps you in the face and then you just start you need to build a little bit of resiliency. Sometimes reality like slaps you in the face and then you just start you need to build a little bit of resiliency. ⁓ and I I actually pulled this one from thinking about biological systems and we have an immune system, right? And like why? a business has an immune system or should, right? ⁓ so you get the safety right, as you said, you'll be able to take like prudent risks.
Jason Davis-Cooke: Yep. So here's what we're promising you this season. We're bringing in guests who actually live in these spaces, people with real insight and more importantly, insight you can act on. Not theory, not platitudes, things you can take from episodes into your week. Every conversation we're asking the same question. What can someone do with this? Because a great idea you can't use is just entertainment and we want to give you more than that. So if you've been gone a while, welcome back. And if you're new here, you picked a good time to show up. Brainwave Exchange Season four Five Pillars Science and Technology, Health and Wellness, and a Growth Minded Culture, Real Guests, Insight You Can Use Coming Soon. So hit that follow button and make sure you don't miss the first one.
