Aspire to Inspire Your Present Self
By Listening to a Podcast of Your Future Self
Earlier this week I asked myself: “Why do I listen to so many podcasts?”
This led me down a mental rabbit hole of reflection while I sought an answer to: “What is the source of my intrinsic motivation?”
I came to the conclusion that if I were to listen to a podcast (or read a blog) of myself five years in the future, I want to be inspired by it today. Today, at 32, I’m hoping my 27-year-old self would be inspired by this blog, just as I currently seek inspiration from him. It’s how I know I’m achieving my full potential at every step along the way.
If you’re curious about how I got to this conclusion, read on. If not, feel free to stop here and I won’t hold it against you. :)
But first, I’m going to share some notes on how and why I listen to podcasts.
How I Listen to Podcasts
I’ve been using the Snipd app to listen to podcasts for a couple of years now. It is easily my go-to recommendation when someone asks for a somewhat esoteric app that’s part of my daily routine. It’s truly a game changer.
I’ve been a premium user since day zero and am proud to say I’ve become a Power user:
One of the app’s killer features is the ability to capture — with the simple double-click of a headphone— key moments that stood out to me. I use their export feature to automatically sync everything to Notion, which I visit on a regular basis to attribute quotes and ideas I come across.
This past December was packed with too many good podcasts to list, so I’ll just drop a screenshot. I’ve made the Notion page publicly accessible if you’re curious to see what I’ve been listening to:
This might seem like a lot, but I take the effort people put into creating this content very seriously.
I process information deeply but slowly. I usually listen to podcasts at either 0.7x or 0.8x speed and find myself rewinding 5 minutes back very frequently. I compensate for this by taking advantage of various opportunities throughout the day to listen. Whether I’m on a walk, at the gym, driving somewhere or doing errands around the house, I’m extremely grateful for the abundance of insightful content and conversations that are so readily available.
It often feels like I’m a fly on the wall listening to the world’s most brilliant minds share ideas and thoughts. 🧠⚡️🧠 🪰
Why I Listen to Podcasts
Listening to podcasts is great, but why?
During one of my recent silent (podcast-free) walks, there was a thought floating around that wanted to reflect on why I’m listening to podcasts all the time.
I caught it, focused on it, and answered it for myself. As with most things, it’s never just one reason, but writing it down helps distill what the core reasons were.
1. It’s a source of knowledge
I might be listening to the latest episode of the All-In-Podcast to stay up to date with what top of the economic food chain is looking at when it comes to economic, tech, politics or ur-anus.
Alternatively, I might be listening to The Theories of Everything, where Curt is discussing A Radical New Vision of the Conscious Cosmos, merging ancient wisdom with modern science through the lens of philosophy.
It’s an opportunity to learn broadly and deeply every day, and I'm Lovin' It.
2. It’s a window into an individual
I’ve found that a long-form interview by a good prepared interviewer results in unparalleled insight.
not planned or choreographed in advance.
It’s more than just a long call or dinner with a close friend. These conversations are between two or few people whose experience, depth and insight far exceeds my own. The conversations are not planned or choreographed in advance, but a lot of preparation goes into them. There’s no pressure to “perform”, but there is a lot of inherent focus and energy because both parties know that a large audience will be listening.
These seem effortless when led by individuals like Joe Rogan, Tim Ferris, or Lex Friedman, but it’s only because they’re masters in their craft.
3. It’s direct uncensored access
There are no walls, no censors, no barriers and no limits.
The conversation is as transparent as the participants choose, and today’s platforms enable direct, global distribution.
For example, Dharmesh, the CTO of HubSpot, doesn’t even know I exist. Yet this snippet from a recent episode of My First Million showed me that we’re the same type of introvert:
And this is why I don't do one-on-one meetings because it doesn't scale, right? This is one of the reasons I'm here and not elsewhere. It's not just because I like you guys, it's because I can have an impact. […] What's the best way for me to use this time so that if I look back on it, are the people that are spending an hour and a half-ish listening to this [thinking] “was that a good use of my time?” Did Dharmesh deliver on the promise of at least marginally increasing my probability of making my first or next million?
- Dharmesh Shah
If you know, you know.
4. It’s easy and convenient
I’d be remiss if I didn’t call this out.
A smartphone, a pair of earbuds, an internet connection and an app is all you need to have access to this knowledge anytime and anywhere.
5. It’s a source of inspiration
Podcasts are one of the core sources of motivation, inspiration and idea generation for me today.
Aside from capturing snippets, I often find myself frantically reaching for my phone to write down a new idea or a reflection that was triggered by something I heard.
It’s analogous to reading, and this snippet from a recent 20VC episode sums it up well:
“If you want inspiration, read.
If you want clarity, write.”
- Guillaume Moubeche
Advice to your younger self
One of my favorite podcast questions looks harmless, but it’s not an easy one to answer: “What advice would you give to your younger self?”
In particular, when the interviewee is in a more mature stage of their career and life — you can define that for yourself — the answers can be really eye opening. It spans from meta and philosophical to practical and tangible.
“So the advice was along the lines of chill out, don't stress so much, not so much anxiety. Everything will be fine and be more to yourself.”
- Naval Ravikant
“You sort of have to have some financial sure model of how you're going to pay for all of this. […] I actually like Disney's formulation of that, which is: We don't make movies to make money. We make money to make movies.”
- Danny Hillis
Advice to Your Future Self
“Advice to your younger self” is very abstract and contextual. Are we referring to my 10, 20, 30 year old self? Am I 50, 60, 70 or 80 when I’m providing this advice? There are too many permutations, and my perspective continues to change every single day.
Reflection is great, but I’m still at the stage where I spend most of my time thinking about the future rather than the past. Similarly to reflecting on how and why I listen to podcasts, I do the same in other areas of life before deciding on actionable takeaways.
Over the last few years, I’ve taken part in a few public X spaces, conference panels and public presentations. I started keeping a YouTube playlist of some of them. Looking back at videos I created on the Android team in 2013 is fun, but what should I create today, tomorrow and a year from now?
With Inspiration being one of the biggest reasons of why I listen to podcasts, the framework is quite simple. If I were to do a podcast today, at 32, I hope my 27 year-old self would find it inspiring. Same goes for a podcast I would have done at 27 and listened to at 22. Looking in the other direction, I think of what a podcast would capture when I’m 37 if I were to listen to it today. Or, what a conversation with 42-year-old me would sound like when I listen to it at 37.
“Aspire to be inspired by your future self.”
- Daniel Olshansky
It also doesn’t have to be a podcast. It could be a blog, project or any other artifact I leave online. The moment when I was inspired to actually start olshansky.info was after reading one of Simon Willison’s blogs:
“Having your own little corner of the internet is good for the soul!”
- Simon Willison
If I’m going to be on a podcast in 2030 talking about anything and everything, I want the Daniel Olshansky of today to listen to it and think: “Damn Daniel. I’d really love to work, be friends or just go on a hike with that guy.”
Is this an evergreen framework? It could be.
Will it change in a few years? Subscribe to find out.
A Short Note to Myself
Imagine recording a podcast at 30 that would blow the mind of your 25-year-old self. Then at 35, you create a podcast that inspires the 30-year-old you. It’s a simple but powerful idea: if you’re constantly doing things that your younger self would find exciting, you’re on the right path.
To 27-year-old Olshansky:
Be intentional with how you consume podcasts.
Seek inspiration from your future self.
Apply the ideas you learn (through writing, projects, or speaking).
To 37-year-old Olshansky:
I can’t wait to see what you’ll achieve.
Fun fact
This piece from The Guardian (2004) was the first (to my knowledge) recorded piece that suggested the term “Podcast”:
With the benefit of hindsight, it all seems quite obvious. MP3 players, like Apple's iPod, in many pockets, audio production software cheap or free, and weblogging an established part of the internet; all the ingredients are there for a new boom in amateur radio.
But what to call it? Audioblogging? Podcasting? GuerillaMedia?