The other day I wanted to give some sage advice to a friend. I said, “Trend carefully.” Did you catch that? I said trend instead of tread.

So much for sounding wise and experienced. But then I remembered the Billy Joel song about Brenda and Eddie who “peaked too soon” and I realized that I had actually been very wise.

I once did some very good work at a company I had just joined. So good, in fact, that the CEO wanted to promote me. My boss vetoed that idea by explaining that being promoted too quickly could harm my career. He was right. (Although I did not like him being right.)

It is much better to trend yourself. Aim for steady growth, not radical leaps.

Go for slow burn, not burn out, in your career, your start-up, your business plan, your relationships and so on.

And pay attention to your Freudian slips. Sometimes they can teach you to sound wiser than even you thought you were.

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.