June 13, 2026

You Don’t Have To

You don’t have to floss your teeth or stop at red lights or pay your taxes.

You COULD choose not to do these things.

There might be consequences, but you still have a choice.

This might seem like a meaningless distinction, but I filter virtually all of my conscious decisions through this lens.

“What happens if I DON’T do this?”

When you ask yourself this question, your brain flips from subconscious robotic obligation to conscious risk assessment.

When it comes to something like paying your taxes, you’ll probably end up doing the same thing either way.

But there are probably loads of decisions you make every day that live in a much grayer area.

(Keep this in mind the next time you triage your email inbox.)

Yours,

—J

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