No #164 | April 13, 2025

by Matthew Boyd

Good morning, welcome to the weekly Lead It Cool newsletter.

The other day, I casually mentioned that maybe—someday, possibly, conceivably—I wouldn't mind getting a dog. Thirty minutes later, my daughter showed me a 10-slide presentation she created on why we should get one🐶.

She loves making presentations... I've never been prouder in my life😊.

In this week's Lead It Cool newsletter:

• 🧟‍♀️The Last of Us
• 🐌Slow Down
• 😁Spring Cleaning
• 😎Cool Links

🧟‍♀️The Last of Us

Warning: Very minor spoilers

Season 2 of The Last of Us starts tonight (on Crave!).

Inspired by the video game with the same name, the HBO show is a post-zombie-apocalyptic drama that follows the two main characters (Joel and Ellie).

In an episode in season one, Ellie, who was born after the zombie-apocalypse and therefore unfamiliar with modern amenities, is introduced to a working escalator for the very first time.

“No way, electric stairs!” shrieks Ellie with excitement as she goes up and down, up and down.

Through Ellie’s eyes I was reminded of the modern marvels we often take for granted and the importance of living in the moment.

I’ve always been terrible at living in the moment.

This Asher Perlman comic below is about the extent of my abilities.

Furthering this, I believe that our smartphones have made it increasingly difficult for us to be in the moment, as we’ve become obsessed with capturing every experience.

Take, for example, a photo capturing Lebron James scoring his NBA record-breaking points a couple years ago.

Instead of fully experiencing the moment, the fans are busy trying to capture it on camera (except for Phil Knight at the bottom who appears to be relishing the experience).

The flipside of this is at the Masters golf tournament, where using smartphones during the competition is prohibited. Look at all these attentive fans from yesterday's round!

So how do we improve our ability to live in the moment and enjoy that sense of amazement that Ellie had with the escalator?

Arlin Cuncic at VeryWellMind has this advice:

📱Disconnecting: Taking a break from technology and social media can help you focus on the present moment and reduce distractions. Put your phone down and just watch the moment.

🐢Slowing Down: Try to slow down and take your time with everyday activities like eating or walking, and be mindful of what you’re doing in the present moment. Stop worrying about what’s going to happen next.

🙏Gratitude: Practicing gratitude can help you appreciate the present moment and the good things in your life.

In conclusion, let’s all take a cue from Ellie and make a conscious effort to embrace the present moment, savoring each experience as it unfolds (except for that whole zombie thing🧟😜).

🐌Slow Down

I always love stumbling across new content by really smart people. A friend of mine passed along the work of Grant Williams, and I've been consuming it all week.

Here is a particularly poignant bit of advice for our current times (slightly paraphrased).

😁Spring Cleaning

Happy Spring Cleaning.

😎Cool Links

💡Five Ways to Cultivate Curiosity and Become a Better Leader. A CTO in the high-tech sector found their team stuck in a cycle of diminishing returns during a critical product launch. Instead of defaulting to conventional troubleshooting, they asked a provocative question: “What would this look like if we started from scratch?”

⛳14 Questions About the State of Golf and the 2025 Masters. For any strategy wonks out there, the current state of the PGA and LIV golf tours is a case study on strategic planning and Porter's Five Forces.

👕Walmart AI Tool Speed up Fashion Trends. The Trend-to-Product tool analyzes trends by pulling information from the internet and social media. It then creates mood boards, which designers and merchants use to create the pieces.

🥚Cadbury Unveils World's Largest Cream Egg. The photo is worth the click😂😲.

😂Moving a photo in Microsoft Word so, so true.

💌Tell a friend to subscribe​

Thank you!

Let’s connect! 💬 You can find me on LinkedIn and Twitter