A Weird Way I Made My Life 1% Better.

A Small Example with Surprisingly Big Learnings!

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Note: I said this one would be weird, but it’s also good: you’ve been warned.

When I was leaving Vancouver to head to University in Toronto, I was not really an Adult, and I was still rather foolish, so while I appreciated some of the “going away” gifts I got, a gift of a pair of heavy, sort of scratchy wool socks sat in the bottom of a bag and then a drawer for years.

I do sort of think starting to appreciate getting basic clothes as a gift is one of those decent indicators of a transition into adulthood.

Because I was an arrogant youth, I let those socks sit way too long, but at some point I found a hole in another pair and realized I’d need to get ol’ scratchy out, lest I go sock-less, which even I knew was a no-go.

It turned out when I put those socks on that my whole world changed what felt “scratchy” on my fingertips felt fine on my feet, and better yet the rather thick socks kept my feet amazingly comfortable in the freezing Toronto winter. What was even more mind blowing though was how when I proceeded to spend the next several hours in a hot library trudging from spot to spot up and down stairs to get books, my feet didn’t get the damp, uncomfortable sweaty feeling that they sometimes did inside of a winter boot. My life would never be the same.

Seriously though, those socks (from a company called Smartwool) are amazing, and over the years I’ve slowly migrated to ~90% Smartwool socks. They legitimately keep your feet warm in winter, comfortably dry in summer, and they don’t feel damp and smell when you take them off — it’s not some marketing spin, it’s real and amazing (I sometimes give them to people and most people seem to really like them!). They also generally feel a lot denser and more robust than other socks I’ve tried. The only non-Smartwool socks I have left were gifted, I think from Lululemon; I actually don’t dislike some stuff from that brand, and I like that it’s Canadian — especially in 2025, but over the years like half of the socks I’ve had from them have developed holes, and they are kind of thin and poorly-made, and they don’t have all the nice wool properties.

Now, Smartwool is not perfect: most of their socks are not 100% wool (though I think from my understanding 100% wool would have some downsides) and they do use polyester (which is just… plastic), but at least from my understanding they use it recycled. That being said, for the price of admission I’m still wearing that pair from university like 10 years later, and they are still great. I’ve got all kinds now as well, from short to long and thick to thin. And to be clear, there are other companies like Darn Tough that I’ve heard good things about, but honestly I’m not in a rush to change because I’ve had a good experience with Smartwool. Nonetheless, these socks, while pricey, last a long time and definitely embody the spending on high-quality everyday goods that I preach.

I laugh at this revelation looking backwards, because wool (especially merino) is all the rage now in 2025, and I clearly would have come across the idea of having some wool stuff (which I never had growing up) at some point. But, I do feel good knowing a bit about it as I get hit with the marketing onslaught to know that the fundamental are actually good. I’ve only tried these wool socks, and also underwear (from Icebreaker, which I also really like), but I probably will give shirts and the like a go in the future just because I’ve been really happy.

Now, there are a few lessons I think you can learn from this.

• One is that it is worth considering if there are things in your life — be it socks, routines, whatever, that you don’t change because they are habitual, and what you might be missing out on. I let those socks sit for years, but if I hadn't, I’d have years more of comfy dry feet! Be open to new things, and get familiar with what you don’t know.

  • Most people are experts in some things, but project their expertise more widely than they should, and sort of expect to be expert in areas in which they are not. Be humble! If someone asks “have you heard of…” it’s almost always massively advantageous to be honest, you might learn something fantastic — and people will know you’re being genuine.

• Another element of the story is that wool products are actually kind of amazing, and while it is often the case that all the marketing we hear around all kinds of products is just meant to sell us crap we don’t need, it is obviously the case that some of it is true, and some products just really are good. It turns out wool is just to clothing what hardwood is to furniture or what metal is to other homewares — an expensive but durable and high-quality material!

• You should also be open to the idea that when someone gifts you something, it isn’t always the type of gift so many young people are used to getting — it might be really good! When you’re young, you often get people gifts (not always) because you feel you need to, and these type of gifts — a card with some generic drug store chocolate, a knick knack from the internet — are at least somewhat thoughtful; adults often use gift giving to share things they enjoy and think their friends or family might also enjoy. For example, one friend with a kid send us some (ironically also wool) sleepsacks for our kid a month after we had them, and we ended up getting a bunch more because we liked them!

I’ll probably write more posts like this in the future, when I’m inspired by something good that I have in my life. People have rightly become very critical of consumerism and materialism, but the reality is there is something nice about the idea of something high quality that lasts a long time and brings you a lot of utility, especially in this world where consumerism seems to increasingly be about spending untold amounts of money on nearly anything recommended to us on the web. I think people broadly underrate how much better and less stressful life can be when our things work for us (as opposed to the reverse), and the fun challenge of the modern era is finding out what things those are.