#475 - VO - Shane Parrish - Farnam Street - Clear Thinking: The Decision-Making Expert

Génération Do It Yourself

Retrouvez l'épisode en version française ici : https://www.gdiy.fr/podcast/shane-parrish-vf/

The ex-spy who now advises Wall Street.

Shane Parrish used to work for the Canadian intelligence services. A cybersecurity specialist, he joined the agency just two weeks before 9/11, an event that would trigger a lifelong quest:

How can we make better decisions?

At the time, Shane wasn’t even allowed to have an online presence. But when a media outlet exposed his identity, he left the agency and poured his energy into his blog, called Farnam Street.

Fast forward to today: his newsletter is read by over 850,000 people, and he has built one of the oldest paid communities on the web.

The problem? There’s no formal training on decision-making despite being one of the most powerful skills you can learn.

So Shane went all in. He documented everything he was learning and eventually launched one of the top podcasts in the US: The Knowledge Project.

From cognitive biases to behavioral psychology to investment strategies, he immersed himself fully. Over time, he even caught the attention of Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s longtime right-hand man, who became his mentor.

At first, it was Wall Street insiders who tuned in. Then word spread, and his audience exploded far beyond the finance world.

His book, Clear Thinking—a New York Times Bestseller—has helped thousands reclaim control over their decisions and move past ego, anger, and anxiety.

In this episode, Shane shares the rules that shaped his journey—how to think clearly, decide wisely… and live better.

A must-listen for anyone who wants to regain control and truly thrive.

TIMELINE:

• 00:00:00 : How to get in trouble as an intelligence agent
• 00:11:45 : The cheat code for decision making: automatic rules
• 00:22:32 : System 1 and System 2 — counteracting our biases
• 00:36:37 : How to stick to our goals and create a great life
• 00:41:17 : The 3-project rule and the COVID era
• 00:48:30 : Spying on meetings at a Canadian Intelligence Agency
• 00:56:47 : Let the HiPPO speak last to avoid blind spots
• 01:02:40 : How to inspire people to do their best and go beyond average
• 01:12:53 : Stop stuffing your calendar — you’re not thinking enough
• 01:23:09 : How to position yourself so that you always win
• 01:32:25 : Be ready to pay the price to chase your dreams
• 01:40:19 : Ego and life balance
• 01:48:08 : How he became one of the OGs of content creation

We referred to previous GDIY episodes :

• #463 - Nicolas Spiess (Running Addict) - Campus - L’expert du running : transformer sa communauté en business rentable
• #416 - David Corona - GIGN, In_Cognita - Devenir expert de la négociation et prédire les comportements
• #158 Edgar Grospiron - Athlète et conférencier - Avance, fais-toi confiance.

A few recent episodes in English :

• #473 - VO - Brian Chesky - Airbnb - « We're just getting started »
• #452 - Reid Hoffman - LinkedIn, Paypal - “We are more Homo technicus than Homo sapiens”
• #437 - James Dyson - Dyson - “Failure is more exciting than success”
• #431 - Sean Rad - Tinder - How the swipe fever took over the world

We spoke about :

• Join Shane Parrish community
• The Knowledge Project Podcast
• Brain Food (Newsletter)
• Syrus Partners
• Naval Ravikant: The Angel Philosopher [The Knowledge Project Ep. #18]
• Campus Coach
• Be Too Busy to ‘Do Coffee’ (Naval’s article)
• Ray Dalio: Life Lessons from a Self-Made Billionaire [The Knowledge Project Ep. #23]
• Charlie Munger (Berkshire Hathaway)
• Outliers: Henry Singleton—Distant Force [The Knowledge Project Ep. #225]
• Kevin Kelly: Advice for Living [The Knowledge Project Ep. #166]
• Morgan Housel: Get Rich, Stay Rich [The Knowledge Project Ep. #195]
• Shane Parrish with Tim Ferriss
• Ret. Gen. Stanley McChrystal: The Essence of Leadership [The Knowledge Project Ep. #132]
• Rey Flemings: A Different Definition of Success [The Knowledge Project Ep. #174]
• Jim Collins: Relationships vs. Transactions [The Knowledge Project Ep. #110]
• Andrew Wilkinson (Tiny)
• Esther Perel: Cultivating Desire (2019) [The Knowledge Project Ep. #199]
• Garry Tan: Billion-Dollar Misfits — Inside Y Combinator’s Startup Formula [The Knowledge Project Ep. #226]

Reading Recommendations :

• Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results
• Clear Thinking (French : Penser avec clarté)
• The Great Mental Models
• Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman)
• Système 1, système 2
• Ego is the Enemy
• L'ego est l'ennemi
• Poor Charlie's Almanack
• Meditations (Marcus Aurelius)
• Pensées pour moi-même (Marc Aurèle)

You can contact Shane on LinkedIn, Instagram, X.

Interested in sponsoring Generation Do It Yourself or proposing a partnership ? Contact my label Orso Media through this form.

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