JETS JOURNAL - 25th February 2025

angels advocate, what i wish they taught in school, about me, wear your cologne, magazines

Author

Jet Williams
February 24, 2025

JETS JOURNAL
Issue #070 · 25th February, 2025

Hi All!

Here is your weekly round up of what I’m pondering and exploring. Feel free to forward along to a friend if you think they might enjoy.

Playing angels advocate

The other day I found myself slipping into some negative beliefs and instead of feeding into these thoughts, I quickly realised in that moment, the weeds of my mind had to be taken care of. To do this I did a quick exercise in my journal where I wrote down all the things I was worrying about and then responded to each of these concerns as what I call, angels advocate with reasons why what I was thinking wasn’t entirely true.

This type of reasoning process is called steel manning, which is typically done to spot flaws in our own subjective point of view. It’s really hard challenging your own beliefs, which is what makes steel manning so effective. By thinking of the completely opposite perspective and finding flaws in our own thinking, we can instead find somewhere in between both views that is closer to the truth.

Steel manning diagram

What I wish they taught in school

Last week while I was in Brisbane I caught up with a friend who is now a teacher. While we sat there at the all you can eat yum cha, we discussed the current curriculum being taught to the leaders of tomorrow.

And although, I had a great experience at school, and managed to develop a set of core skills that have taken me this far already, there are several areas which I think are lacking in our school system, at least here in Australia.

Inspired by our conversation I thought of 5 subjects I wish existed when I was at school:

  1. Digital media literacy—so kids understand how to navigate the internet in a safe and productive way.

  2. Critical thinking and reasoning skills—this one goes hand in hand with the one above, and is important for creating independent thinkers who can come to their own conclusions and find their own signal in such a noisy world.

  3.  Personal finances / life admin—I wish I learnt about taxes, bills, car registration, and everything else in between leaving school and becoming an adult.

  4. Generalised problem solving—when I was at school I felt like I was taught what the answer was, and not how to actually solve the problem.

  5. Interpersonal communication—AKA, how to be a normal human being and maintain a conversation.

Now, regardless of if the school system ever implements any of these subjects, I think it was a great exercise in what I’d want my own children to learn one day, even if it has to be taught at home.

New about me page

I’ve always struggled with writing about me pages an defining myself, but I finally managed to put one together for my website you can check out below:

Hi, my name is Jet Williams and I’m a 24-year-old writer, artist, developer, and music producer human being.

I was born in Sydney, Australia and spent most of my childhood at Maroubra Beach, riding scooters, jumping off cliffs, and bodysurfing. Maroubra is where I learned how to shoot and edit some of my first videos at the skatepark filming alongside my younger brother.

I also spent a short period of my life living in the Northern Territory with my family around the time I was 8 years old. Here we spent our time swimming in natural waterholes, inspecting termite mounds, and escaping cyclones.

Being introduced to Australia’s natural landscape at such an early age had a profound impact on me, inspiring me to continue travelling not only around Australia but the world.

I’m obviously still a huge fan of the outdoors, and often find myself somewhere on a hike, either with a friend or by myself. But I also love being inside, at the computer, mid-winter, preferably with the rain pouring outside, so I can focus on whatever idea has struck me that day.

I love that I can just push buttons on the computer and out comes magical internet objects that can connect you with strangers on the other side of the planet, before all of a sudden, you’re crashing on one of your new internet friend’s couch in New York.

However, the one thing I don’t love is boxes, and I’m not talking about the cardboard ones. I’m talking about labels.

I was reluctant about defining myself above using labels like writer, artist and developer, because I am so much more than that. I’ve been a bartender, a fishmonger, a disability support worker, a labourer, a dog-sitter, an ice block and sticker reseller, among many other things.

The point being, what I am today, isn’t necessarily who I’ll be in ten years’ time. I am always changing, learning, and evolving. At the end of the day I will always be a human being. And although I’m only 24-years-old at the time of writing this, I feel like I’ve been given the privilege to live so much life already.

What I’ve told you is just the tip, of the blade of grass, that is me, on the garden that is Earth.

Wear your cologne

I’ve had the same Maison Margiela, By The Fireplace cologne for the past five years. During that time I’ve probably used only a quarter of the bottle. This is because I’ve reserved it only for special occasions, like date nights, or any other serious events.

But lately I’ve been thinking… isn’t everyday a special occasion? So why not, wear your favourite shoes, or your favourite shirt, or in this case a fifty dollar scent I bought at the airport on the way to New York for the first time.

Why not feel good about yourself everyday? Why do you have to save yourself for the big moments to look and feel nice about yourself?

You could make a case for how this would actually make the things you love less special, but I argue the opposite. Everyday is a blessing and is a miracle in itself, so why not treat it as such?

Climbing mountains

Here’s a great quote I pulled this week from a book I’m currently reading.

“Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn’t just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here’s where things grow.”

-Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Feel free to give me feedback on Twitter. What did you like? What do you want more of? What do you want less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @JETLRWILLIAMS and put #JETSJOURNAL at the end so I can find it.
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Hope everyone enjoys their week!
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Love,

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