Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth
01:20:45 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:20:45] S0: Here's my reading tip that has changed my reading habits. Brian Johnson, the longevity guy, he has this advice for better sleep, which includes before you go to sleep, read for ten minutes [01:20:58] S1: in bed. Does put you to sleep. Part of like I retain anything that I read that close to bed, Do you feel like you retain it? [01:21:05] S0: I do. I do. I'm reading fiction. Like, it's nonfiction. You wanna... Sorry. Yeah. You wanna read something calm, not like I'm learning. So I'm reading I'm reading fiction, and it's really nice. And knowing that this is gonna help me sleep better makes me motivated. It's actually [01:21:18] S1: There's an incentive. There's a reward there. Yeah. They're about rewards and creating behavior change. [01:21:23] S0: Yeah. Exactly. And the the reason to do it is this whole thing is you wanna get to low resting heart rate, and then help slow your resting heart. [01:21:29] S1: So I've got some other sleep tips on that front if you wanna go down that path, but we'll save that [01:21:33] S0: for you. That'll be for the third podcast. Okay. Next question. Do have a favorite recent movie or TV show that you really see... Recently enjoyed?
01:21:33 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:21:33] S0: for you. That'll be for the third podcast. Okay. Next question. Do have a favorite recent movie or TV show that you really see... Recently enjoyed? [01:21:41] S1: It's not new, but I just rewatched Silicon Valley, that I hadn't watched in a number of times. And it's, it's painful because, like, the first few seasons, I went through almost every one of those moments in my first startup, like, hiring the gray haired CEO, the funding falling through at the last second, like, all the crazy stuff. But kinda going back and watching that, I... Like, there is just some extra nuances and stuff that I feel like they wrote really well that, that, you know, that I thought was that I thought was really good. So I've I've really been, watching that. The other thing is that I've watched is just more of, like, a just pure entertainment kind of calming thing, kind of turn the brain off is Owen Wilson's new show on Apple TV, Stick, which is about him as a former professional golfer and all that. You know? I I won't ruin the show and stuff, but it's a nice... It's a very nice, calming, little bit fun type type of show. [01:22:41] S0: I've been seeing that on my Apple TV. Maybe I should check it out. Good tip. Do you have a favorite product you recently discovered that you really love? It could be a gadget. It could be a app on your phone. It could be something in your computer. It could be nothing at all. You can't see
01:22:41 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:22:41] S0: I've been seeing that on my Apple TV. Maybe I should check it out. Good tip. Do you have a favorite product you recently discovered that you really love? It could be a gadget. It could be a app on your phone. It could be something in your computer. It could be nothing at all. You can't see [01:22:56] S1: it, but I do have, I just changed my whole setup. So now I have a, UltraGear super wide curved, screen Oh. With a very nice standing desk from, I believe, it's called Ergonofis. Yes, it's a... Yeah, I think it's Ergonofis, E R G O N O F I S. And it's a very nice, sleek, standing desk, very stable, very quiet, very much enjoying. Excellent tip. [01:23:31] S0: And the and the curtain monitor. Very cool. Okay. Two more questions. Do you have a life motto that you often come back to and find useful in work or in life, something you share with folks, something that you think about when times are hard or just generally?
01:23:31 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:23:31] S0: And the and the curtain monitor. Very cool. Okay. Two more questions. Do you have a life motto that you often come back to and find useful in work or in life, something you share with folks, something that you think about when times are hard or just generally? [01:23:43] S1: Look. It's a little cliche at this point, but I used to, somewhere around here, I used to have the quote, printed out about, you know, the man in the arena. Right? It's just like, just lots of lots of rare... You know, especially in times like this where so many things are changing and, there's so much competition, but so much opportunity for great. I just I really both respect and enjoy, you know, the game and spending time with folks that are kind of in the arena figuring this stuff out, tinkering with things, and, and just... Yeah. That's that's kinda... A lot what I come... Keep coming back to, especially, you know, been out at Reforge for ten years. That's a that's a good portion of my life, and we've gone through some great periods and some tough periods. And, so I I tend to come back to that. [01:24:30] S0: And that's what's always separated Reforge from so much other content and advices. It's people in the arena sharing their wisdom, not just bunch of influencers. And it's sad that Chamath made that [01:24:41] S1: quote so cringey. I know. I know. That's why I know. That's that's why that's why I said it's a little cliche cringe right now.
01:24:41 · Brian Balfour, Lenny Rachitsky
[01:24:41] S1: quote so cringey. I know. I know. That's why I know. That's that's why that's why I said it's a little cliche cringe right now. [01:24:48] S0: Yeah. Screwed it up for everyone. Yeah. Final question. Brian, you don't know this, but your parenting advice on Adam Fisherman's Podcast really impacted my parenting philosophy, specifically this line you had about independence. Oh.
01:25:02 · Brian Balfour
[01:25:02] S1: And I'd love for you to just share that insight about how you think about raising kids. Yeah. And I wish I could remember where I grabbed this from so I could attribute it properly. So... But, basically, the philosophy is like your job as... If you think about going from when they're born until they're essentially 18 and, you know, leave the home, your job as a parent is to essentially make them more and more independent. And so what that involves is continuously looking for opportunities for them to make even bigger and riskier decisions, for themselves as they grow up, and you're there as, support to those decisions, but letting them make those decisions on their own so that by the time they're 18, they are a fully independent person able to think through those decisions themselves. Now look like my sons are young. Right? They're five and three, so it's not like I'm having them make, you know, life and death decisions or where we might buy our next house or or stuff like that. But it's even small things at this age of, you know, my my oldest, like, and a half is really starting to learn and get curious about, like, money and how you spend money and where new things come from and how you you earn money. And and, and so rather than just, like, buying things for him, you know, we've... He's got, like, money from his grandparents and stuff saved up, and we're trying... We can be like, okay. Like, you can buy that thing, but you're gonna spend this and try to, like, teach him the consequences and, like, all that kind of stuff. And then when he breaks something... Right? Like... So it's just small things like that, but thinking about the time from zero to 18 as the spectrum of independence and being, a supporting role in what you're essentially doing, you're you're trying to move as many decisions... You... As many... The percentage of decisions you make for them down to zero by the time that they're 18. Like, and that's that's kind of something that, I've kinda... I've kept in the back of my head since since really seeing that.