Welcome to Verstreuen - meaning “to scatter” - where I unpack the ideas I’ve collected this week in my 🗃️ Zettelkasten, “note box,” personal knowledge management system. Here, I’ll share the highlights, insights, and stories I find interesting - and think you will too!

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🗃️ This Week’s Highlights

This week's notes come from 13 new additions to the Zettelkasten - here’s the three that stood out most to share with you:

🟨 Hold space for the greatness you can’t yet see.

🟦 If people can’t explain what you do in one sentence, your brand’s broken.

🟥 Want to win more often? Play games where you’re the favorite.

I’m currently sat writing this looking out at the mountains of Ashland, Oregon - not from a planned retreat or a dream destination, but from my girlfriend’s parents’ house. I met her completely by chance at a Halloween party. No master plan. No five-year strategy. And yet, here I am, in a life chapter I couldn’t have predicted - and wouldn’t trade.

That contrast - between what I planned and what simply happened - has been on my mind. I did plan this newsletter. I’ve been intentional about growing it, writing consistently, pushing it forward. That structure has helped keep me focused.

But some of the best things in my life so far have arrived without meticulous planning not as the result of execution, but exploration. They emerged from being open and following the energy, not just sticking to the map.

Planning is powerful and necessary - it has given me direction and helped me preserve my energy when executing multiple projects at once. But being too attached to how things should go, risks missing out on what might actually be better.

I still have big, audacious goals. I’m still aiming high. But I’m also learning not to cling too tightly. To hold space for the greatness I can’t yet see. Because sometimes, what you don’t plan turns out to be the best part.

—🗃️—

Humans are naturally lazy, wired to take efficient mental shortcuts. It’s the only way we can manage the information overload that is modern life.

One of the most powerful tools we’ve developed for managing this complexity is labeling: assigning names to concepts so we don’t have to explain everything from scratch.

We say “gravity,” not “the phenomenon by which masses attract one another.”
We say “Uber,” not “an app that lets you hail a ride from your phone in under five minutes.”

Labels are compact containers for complex ideas. They help us quickly reference a concept - and just as importantly, they help us share it with others.

This is what a brand really is:
A label that carries your concept.

Your brand isn’t just a name, logo, or color scheme. It’s the mental tag people use to remember what you stand for - and how they can explain it to someone else.

If the label is vague, the concept gets lost.
If the label is clear, the concept gets shared.

I was reminded of this recently while trying to explain a project. It took me a whole paragraph - and I realized, if I’m struggling to explain it, there’s no way others are doing it better. Your brand is working hardest in the conversations you’re not there to explain.

Whether someone is recommending you to a friend, mentioning you in a meeting, or name-dropping you in a group chat, they’re not telling your full story. They’re reaching for a label. And that label has to do all the heavy lifting.

So if people pause, ramble, or hesitate when trying to describe you - that’s not their fault. It’s a sign your label isn’t doing enough.

Think about the brands that are instantly clear:

• Slack = workplace messaging

• Stripe = online payments

• Notion = docs + wikis + collaboration

These aren’t full definitions. They’re short, sharp labels that unlock a bigger idea in just a few words.

That’s your brand’s job:
To be a clear, portable label that others can use to carry your concept forward.

Great brands create a specific mental image that’s easy to repeat. That’s how you earn trust, word-of-mouth, and referrals: by giving people language they can actually use.

So, let’s put this into practice:

How would you describe Verstruen to a friend?

Seriously, hit reply and tell me in your own words. What would you say if someone asked you what we do?

Your feedback helps sharpen the brand - because if it’s not easy to share, it’s not working hard enough.

—🗃️—

We all love an underdog story - gritty, emotional, cinematic. But in real life, especially when you're building something that needs to last, playing the underdog comes at a cost: variance.

Variance isn’t just randomness. It’s invisible friction. It’s the tax you pay every time you operate in a game where you are relegated to chance instead of utilizing the skills you’ve developed - where success hinges on luck, timing, or brute force instead of differentiated advantage.

Variance means even great players can lose to weaker ones over short runs. But they minimize this by playing more hands, longer hours, and only sitting at tables where they have edge.

That’s the strategy: Don’t just work hard - work where you have an advantage.

Hustle culture glorifies being outmatched, like struggle is a badge of honor. But constantly being in rooms where you have to claw for every inch doesn’t build leverage - it wastes it.

Your skill compounds best in the right setting - one where it can stretch, show up, and shape outcomes. In the wrong place, your best ideas sit idle, your instincts go quiet, and your impact gets lost in the noise.

But in the right environment? Skill becomes a flywheel. Every smart move sharpens the next. Feedback is faster. Reputation grows. You stop grinding and start gliding - not because it’s easy, but because the terrain fits your strengths.

It’s not about being the biggest. It’s about being best-positioned to win.

Being the favorite means playing where your experience, insight, or talent gives you a real edge - not just a slim shot.

Winners aren’t luckier. They’re just better at picking games they’re built to win.

Stop romanticizing the grind. Seek out where you have an edge.

—🗃️—

Closing Thoughts

If there’s a unifying theme in this week’s ideas, it’s this:

Success doesn’t happen in isolation - it happens through alignment.
When your plans, your message, and your environment work with you, not against you, progress gets easier.

🟨 Letting go of rigid plans isn’t giving up - it’s creating space for the right opportunities to reach you.
🟦 A strong brand doesn’t just express your values - it gives others the words to share your vision.
🟥 Choosing games where you have an edge isn’t playing it safe - it’s setting yourself up to contribute fully and be seen.

Whether you’re growing a project, building a team, or staying true to what matters, momentum builds when you stop pushing alone - and start designing with alignment in mind.

Shape your work to fit how the world really works.
Speak so others can carry your message.
Play where your strengths give you leverage.

Because when everything around you starts amplifying your efforts
That’s when things click.

Thanks for reading Verstreuen! 👋 Until next week

-GH