I’m not sure how he does it but Eric Barker seems to suck up business and self-help books like a vacuum cleaner. Man’s gotta have a code.ĩ. Barking Up The Wrong Tree by Eric Barker And if any real human delivering super value is insidiously dropping in ads (and tons of the big ones do), they’re out on my list. No Ads: “I feel monetized” is the new “I need a shower.” I’m not recommending any clothing companies with pics of sexy people wearing $800 rainboots traipsing through orchid swamps.Super Value: Time is precious so the emails I’ve recommended need to offer a depth and richness that jars my brain with incongruent ideas I can thoughtfully apply to ultimately living a more intentional life.(Sidenote: If you want to see why I think “humans over algorithms” is crucial, check out my SXSW Speech “Building Trust In Distrustful Times”) Real Human: The email must come from a real human with a real name and a real face who I can actually reply to and (ideally) get a response back.And then, just before you raise the drawbridge, make sure you invite only your most interesting friends - the fascinating, provocative, enlightening ones - to join you for a celebratory feast in The Great Hall.īelow are the nine people I’d invite to my Great Hall feast.Īnd all nine pass my 3 key principles of: And if you don’t get it? Vamoose!ĭig a moat around it. Bunkers! Last vestiges of quiet in this loud, loud, loud world. I feel like these days we need to make sure our personal email inboxes become even more of a safe haven. Detergent jingles blare before YouTube videos, podcast hosts can’t stop yapping about sweat-whisking undies, and spammers are even weaselling their way into our text messages.

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