Welcome to the Great Imagination Sale (Everything Must Go!)

Author’s note: In contrast, I’m begging you to not spend 100% of your time fixated on a better future. You’ll miss living your life… and possibly forget where you left your car keys. Coming from a recovering imagination addict.

Have you ever noticed how easily we dismiss day‑dreaming?

We treat it like a clearance‑bin habit. Something you buy only when it’s 70 % off and you’re already at the checkout.

Imagination lets you prototype alternate futures with no raw materials. Why then, does so much of society price it like a thrift‑store trinket while overpaying for productivity tips that amount to gluing rocket fins on a lawn chair — and then wondering why we didn’t achieve liftoff?

What if the most valuable asset in your portfolio isn’t visible in your investment account because you keep calling it “just an idea”?

Obviously, this ties in with what we talked about 2 weeks ago about just doing things. Your ideas are like sand — hard to hold all at once, frustrating to sweep up later and somehow always end up stuck in hard to reach places.

Imagination only matters if it’s followed by action.

If you’re anything like me you have a million thoughts a week about how to improve your life for your family. Some feasible, others not so feasible.

Imagination is where the asymmetric positives come in. It unlocks exponential growth.

Ironically, the people on the tail end of the normative distribution in life — the people with the top 1% outcomes in any area — get there by playing games that aren’t limited by normative distribution.

This is obvious in the domain of wealth. The richest people are all entrepreneurs, people who imagined something and then created it. You can’t be the richest person in the world even by being the best neurosurgeon in the world (a career that falls on the top end of the normative distribution). It’s also where most people, myself included, spend a lot of their time thinking about possible creative successes.

What if this newsletter hits 200,000 readers, earns $250K a year, and I retire to write full-time from a cruise ship, or a chalet in Whistler, or just my backyard — yelling at squirrels like a guy who peaked too early in niche internet fame.

We get this when it comes to money. But imagination isn’t just the domain of startups and side hustles. It's the same fuel that makes dinner dates memorable, friendships sustainable and bedtime stories legendary.

Here are a few places in life where a little creative leverage goes a long way:

• Romantic Relationships

  • Default path: Dinner + Netflix on repeat.

  • Imaginative pivot: Turn each month into a “story arc” with a pilot date, a plot twist and a season finale.

  • Why it works: Creates novelty, shared language and anticipation. Also drastically reduces the odds of falling into the dreaded "What do you want to do tonight?" loop, which science has confirmed is the #1 romance killer after IKEA arguments.

• Friendships & Community

  • Default path: Occasional texts, RSVP’ing to others’ plans.

  • Imaginative pivot: Invent a weekly micro-tradition (e.g., “Waffle Walk Wednesdays”) and let attendance be open, fluid and low-pressure.

  • Why it works: Becomes a social anchor point that attracts depth and new connections over time.

• Parenting / Family Time

  • Default path: “How was school?” met with “Fine.”

  • Imaginative pivot: Use the school commute to build an ongoing story together (“The dragon hates math homework”).

  • Why it works: Gives your kid narrative control, emotional access and an outlet for creativity — plus it becomes a family classic.

• Nutrition & Home Cooking

  • Default path: Rotate the same five recipes until someone stages a revolt.

  • Imaginative pivot: Build a “flavor grid” with mix-and-match components (protein × base × spice combo) and let the family roll dice to create meals.

  • Why it works: Adds variety and agency with minimal extra effort — and gives your kids something to blame when their curry-bacon-tortilla combo backfires.

• Mental Health & Self-Talk

  • Default path: Journal or ruminate until the page feels heavier than your brain.

  • Imaginative pivot: Rewrite stressful memories as absurd comics or alternate-universe movie scenes.

  • Why it works: Humour and narrative distance reduce stress. It trains you to see creative exits even when you’re mid-crisis.

Other Practical Ways to Go Long Imagination (Without Quitting Your Day Job)

1. Schedule a “Speculative Hour” — One 60‑minute block per week where output is optional; thought experiments required.

2. Idea Futures Market — Keep a simple doc of half‑baked notions. Review monthly; double‑down on any whose excitement-to-effort ratio stayed high.

3. Risk‑Reversal Reframe — Ask: What’s the worst that happens if this vision flops? Usually: mild embarrassment and a recycle‑bin file. Cheap tuition.

You don’t need to be a genius to imagine a better life. Try making one tiny thing in your week 10% more imaginative and see what happens.

Words I Wish I Wrote

Links & Learnings

• Social media use is still a big problem. TikTok is the worst offender.

• Nominative Determinism

• The best salesperson never looks like a salesperson.

Psst… DSTLLD has a podcast now, too. I know — like the world needs another podcast, right? But here’s the thing: if you can tolerate my written rambles, you’ll probably find my in-person yammering… well, moderately tolerable. It’s basically me and a guest chatting about the same offbeat stuff you read here, except now you get to hear me stumble over big words in real time. I’m not saying it’s the greatest thing in the universe (trust me, I’ve listened to it), but if you like DSTLLD, there’s a good chance you won’t hate it. Win-win! Subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast platform:

• Youtube

• Spotify

• Apple

Did you learn something new? If you enjoyed this, you can support DSTLLD by taking a moment to:

1. ❤️ Like this post to get it in front of more curious people.

2. 💬 Reply or comment to share your thoughts or ask a follow up question.

3. 📤 Forward this post to someone who’d benefit from it.

PHOTW: This.