Justin Bieber was all the rage at Coachella because he zagged when everyone else zigged.

Everyone else did choreographymaxxing (← did I use that right?), and he grabbed his laptop and pulled up YouTube.

Bare stage. Microphone. YouTube clips.

I’m no Bieber, but I feel like I’m having a zag moment myself.

I bought 1000 notecards

While everyone’s in Claude “Lock-In” mode, I’m going the opposite way.

It’s been a bit of an obsession in the last few months when I heard that a book is the author’s argument…You should argue back.

I’ve been arguing a lot.

I’ve gone from treating books like sacred objects to writing all over them.

In the library today, my carbonated beverage spilled on the table.

In the absence of a towel, I wiped it up with Descartes’s Discourse On Method.

It took me this long to realize they aren’t sacred, they’re tools.

I’ve been putting what I learn on notecards to commit them to memory.

In a week, I filled up 100 and needed more. 1000 just arrived yesterday.

Zagging = play

I can’t speak for Justin, but my guess is he wanted to make it fun. To play. To do it his way.

Hell, that’s how he got discovered. A laptop, a singing voice, and pure expression.

Dope.

I’ve already seen people online say “zagging” is the secret to success.

Can. They. Shut. Up?

They’re trying to LinkedIn-ify expression. Saying, just be the opposite to blow up your business.

The point isn’t “do the opposite for the sake of it.”

The point is express yourself.

I can tell you this notecard thing is the last thing these lock-in Claude bros would see as useful.

And that’s cool. It’s not their’s to express.

Don’t look for what works

If you’re thinking you should zag because it’s what will work, you’re already dependent on a result.

The beauty of zagging for play is because you’re doing it for the fun of it.

It doesn’t matter if it works. It’s fun.

In the end, Justin was just singing because he loved it.

The thing that works, never starts as something that needs to work.

If it needs to work, it’s someone else’s.

If it’s play, it’s yours.

-Colby

P.S. Need help making space so you can think cleaner and trust yourself?

When you’re ready, give this a read.