2️⃣ TREE 702: Tell the truth

This week I’m sharing five rules that govern how I make a TREE post.

1. Say one thing

2. Tell the truth

Here’s what I mean by ‘tell the truth’:

• I write from my own experience. I am not a psychologist, counsellor, historian or scientist. I pay attention to what has worked for me and share it with you. If I go beyond my experience, my ideas can easily become unreliable, unless…

• I check my facts. When I write about any kind of science or history, I use reliable sources, preferably more than one. It’s no good asking you to trust my ideas if you can’t trust my facts. But also…

• The truth lives in stories. John Wick: Chapter 3 is not even slightly factual but it tells the truth about the divide between the people who do the work and the people who have the power. When I write stories, I am 100% trying to be true to good storytelling. I’m 90% hoping something that something true about life will make its way to you.

---

Three ways to undermine your credibility: 1) speak outside your circle of competence, 2) relay false information, 3) tell stories badly.

Jarrold waves goodbye to Nadine every morning when she leaves for work. Every one of his 613,000 tiny neurons burns with love for her alone. She never notices because he is only four millimetres tall and lives in the gap under her doorstep.

Spotify greeted me Monday with this song. Thank you, Spotify! (Good news: It’s not a Justin Timberlake cover.)

You can probably tell stories better than you think you can.

Grow slowly
Jeff

P.S. My book is nearly devoid of facts but contains several truths.