Hello! I hope you've had a good weekend. I'll cut the the chase on this one:
Recently, I learned about Daniel Pink's American Regret Project, a quantitative survey, where he was able to slice up the responses by demographics: Do men have different regrets than women? Do older people have different regrets than younger people? He found, for instance, that people with greater degrees of formal education had more career regrets than people with less education. You can even participate in his global version here.
This GQ interview by Clay Skipper with Pink pinned the study & subsequent book's (The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward) big thesis to be that "negative emotions are scary, but instead of running away with them, we should engage with them and use them to learn."
Pink's reply?
"Bingo. The trouble is nobody ever teaches us how to do that. If we do that, we’re going to end the bullshittery of “no regrets.”" - Daniel Pink
According to Pink, there are four core regrets: foundational, boldness, moral, and connection:
- 🏗️ Foundational regrets are about stability. "If only I’d done the work. If only I’d done the things that allow me to have some stability in my life."
- 💪 Boldness regrets are about meaning: "I’m not going to be alive forever, when am I going to do something? If only I had taken the chance. You’re at a juncture in your life, you can play it safe, or you can take the chance. When people don’t take the chance, they often regret it. And even in follow-up interviews with people who took a chance and it didn’t work out, they’re generally okay on that. Because at least they did something."
- 🧭 Moral regrets are partly about: "In my limited time here, it’s important for me to be a decent human being because part of what gives me a sense of meaning is that I am trustworthy, I am honest, I am a contributor."
- 🔗 Connection regrets are all about love. "We want people who we love and who love us."
These four core regrets are, according to Pink, ultimately about meaning, purpose, and love. Pretty visceral stuff, if you ask me.
This week's attention-grabbing & rhyming as ever headline has been floating in my mind for some time. (It was introduced to me by my friend Hahn Rossman in the context of tough decisions as we worked on my bike.)
I included it this week as I felt it applied to Pink's opinion to regret as I see looking back and confronting your previous regrets — i.e. staring them in the eye rather than faking a false bravado of “no regrets” and cutting them loose as to not wallow in them. I agree with Pink and see this as a path to a life where in the future you have fewer regrets and a better sense of what really matters and what doesn’t.
Of course, the cold steel allegory could be applied to any painful cut to removing anything impeding healing but in this case, maybe regret is keeping that old wound open.
Interested to hear what you think & if you're compelled to participate in the study. (bonus: here is a 20min video by Daniel Pink discussing the 4 kinds of regret -- and what they teach you about yourself)
thank you, as always, for reading & sharing this newsletter,
Jon
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Cycling
trail.camp shows Kindernay's potential at Cycling World Düsseldorf & Kolektif Berlin
Twotone client trail.camp is proud to announce collaborations with high-end rim manufacturer Lilienthal CoPro, ebike brand HNF Nicolai and framebuilder Drust Cycles to show the full potential of Kindernay's internal gear hubs.
At Cycling World Düsseldorf next weekend, trail.camp will showcase the VII 7-speed Kindernay hub laced to a Lilienthal CoPro wheelset rolling on an HNF Nicolai XD-3 prototype.
A week later, a Kindernay hub will complete the build of a handcrafted Drust on display at Kolektif in Berlin.
Say hello if you'll be at either show!
Ampler e-bikes expands reach with model upgrades and new showrooms
A few weeks ago, we helped Ampler with their store pre-opening event, launching their new bikes (the Juna & Axel) and inviting media to attend in-store near our office. Thank you to Jan-Willem of Bike Europe for this nice write-up!
Tune in Tuesday for even more news from Ampler!
Ukraine Peace Wheel Shirt
Rivendell is raising money for UNITED HELP UKRAINE. So they made a Ukraine version of their classic Peace Wheel. This is a great way to support & show your solidarity.
Russ from Path Less Pedaled also recently visited Grant at their HQ. Worth a watch! : )
Ideas
Six Spokes Theory: Strategy For An Optimal Life
Six Spokes Theory shows that we can’t neglect important areas of life if we want to live optimally. This requires making tough choices
Hat tip to Peter for this one!
Wait until Elon Musk hears about bikes
lol. I'm tired of hearing about solving traffic with self-driving cars. This article on Cycling Tips made me laugh because the answer to traffic is easy! Bikes!
Supply Chains for the Outdoor Industry Are in Shambles
People have been aware of these for some time already and it doesn't look like it will improve any time soon...
Friends
NIGHT OF ULTRA | March 18th at Ride Out
Several friends of mine will be on stage later this week talking ultra-distance racing:
- Bart Verheijen - on improvising
- Henriette Lauridsen - on riding your first ultra
- Thomas Ettema - on packing lists, cue sheets, and preparation
- Quinda Verheul - on riding as a woman
- Martin Lukasse - on training
- Bas Rotgans - on equipment
- Rob Hermans - on route building
--
Photo of Quinda by Jonny Hines at the 2020 inaugural Atlas Mountain Race from an interview in ridersguide.nl
p.s.
Next week on Wednesday the 23rd is another rad long-distance riding event: Fatpigeon's Gran Guanche Route & #Crazy500 films premiere in Tilburg. Ride to the show & train back home!
Moth Attack Moves to Tucson
Megan Dean of Moth Attack builds custom bicycle frames. The Radavist recently featured a visit to her new shop space in Tucson for an interview.
Hope to see you in London this October, Megan!
A series on communication - Mark as read
My friend Mark has begun a written series on how we (mis)use technology to communicate and ultimately on how to try to make things better.
Check it out!
Radness
Corsa Interviews Kyle Kelley
I came across this interview with Kyle via his insta and immediately not only learned about the Corsa brand but became a fan of their newsletter style & content. Click through for a convo with Golden Saddle's co-founder!