Note-taking systems | Quitting Job | Train Your Brain | Successful Relationship - Best Links of the Week
Hey :) How are you doing today?
**Announcement**
1) I published a new video “How to Upgrade Your Mind | mymind Review”. It’s about an app I use for saving inspirations for my videos and this newsletter :)
2) I added more notes to my mind garden. Check it out if you haven’t yet. I’m adding new notes every week :)
Anyways, here are the best articles, books, podcasts, tweets I found this week in Mind | Money | Relationships | Health.
It’s a long list, so I’d recommend using a read-later service like Pocket and Instapaper.
Save them 👉 Read them later 👉 Take notes 👉 Create your own content!
Mind
1. Be a Fast Tortoise by Khe Hy
I really enjoyed reading this piece by Khe where he shares what he learned from writing newsletters and blog posts for 250 weeks!
On saving inspirations (This is pretty much what I use mymind for):
Collecting string is hearing a new phrase for the first time and wondering where it came from. It’s a digging up an old anecdote that you’re convinced will resonate with your tribe. It’s the intuition that a “fleeting thought or observation” could someday lead “lead to another story, whether that’s a quick blog post or a book.”
On being heroically consistent:
Albert Einstein reportedly called compound interest “the 8th wonder of the world.” And over the past five years I’ve learned that showing up is way more important than being spectacular.
This is one of the best lessons I learned about content creation.
2. Why Note-taking matters by Deepu Asok
I loved this Twitter thread about why you should develop a good note-taking system.
Taking smart notes is the No: 1 way to compound your knowledge and remove writer's block.
Without a note-taking system, your ideas get lost in the chaos of your mind.
As they say, "The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory"
Happy Note-Taking! https://t.co/O16WyeIH4Y
Money
1. What You Build Becomes Your Resume by Norman Chella
The idea of your content as your resume is something I’ve been pondering about this week.
As Leo says in this tweet, producing content/learning in public lets you create a signal that reflects positivity on you, your abilities and your potential.
Producing content replaces pedigree. Traditionally, the biggest signal your first employer has is which school you went to. Producing content lets you create a much better signal that reflects positively on you, your abilities, and your potential. https://t.co/9cXvT8OyiS
Truth: What I built became my resume.
If I want to connect with a business, I show them a show I built and proved myself.
If I want to connect with someone, I show them my shows and explained the benefit of them getting on one.
Your content is a golden ticket to opportunity. https://t.co/9pfjCao0eY
2. 1-Hour SEO Course for Bloggers by Nat Eliason
If you have a blog and want to get more traffic to your website, you might find this free course by Nat helpful.
I don’t write on my blog as often as I post videos on Youtube, but reading Nat’s new post on how starting a blog can transforms your life made me want to take it more seriously!
3. I quit my job at the start of the pandemic to launch a company. Here’s what I’ve learned in the first 90 days by Polina Marinova
I love Polina Marinova’s essays. She has a fantastic newsletter “The Profile” where she writes long-format essays on successful people and companies.
In this one, she shares some lessons she learned after quitting her job.
Consistency is the best way to earn trust.
Name a relationship in your life where you trust someone who is inconsistent. You can’t. That’s because we don’t trust people — whether it’s in work, business or relationships — who constantly break their promises.
I’ve learned that the only way you can earn people’s trust is by consistently keeping your word and delivering on what you’ve promised.
Improve your content diet.
It’s easy to fall into a spiral of consuming what I call “junk food content,” which plunges you into crazy thought patterns and anxious feelings.
We claim we invest in our health, but we neglect our content diet. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Create an environment that facilitates falling into intellectual rabbit holes.
Relationships
1. Fight Smarter: Avoid the Most Common Argument Patterns by Esther Perel
I’m a huge fan of Esther Perel and her podcasts “How’s Work?” and “Where Should We Begin?”
But I recently discovered her Youtube channel which is as just good as her podcasts.
In this video, she talks about how confirmation bias affects us and leads to the most common argument patterns such as “why are you always late?”, “why do you never clean your room?”, “why are you always texting?” etc.
2. 100 Couples Share Their Secrets to a Successful Relationship by Polina Marinova
Another fantastic essay by Polina Marinova!
In this essay, she talks about why love is a skill that you can improve over time and how to do that based on the advice from 100 couples.
On consistently making an effort to make your relationship even better:
“If you do nothing to make things get better in your marriage but do not do anything wrong, the marriage will still tend to get worse over time,”
“To maintain a balanced emotional ecology, you need to make an effort—think about your spouse during the day, think about how to make a good thing even better, and act.”
On applying the 80/20 Rule to your relationship:
The 80/20 rule goes like this: In your marriage, you should each recognize that your relationship is 80% about the other person and 20% about yourself. “For him, it needs to be 80% about you, and 20% about him,” E.R. tells me. “For you, it needs to be 80% about him, and 20% about you.”
It’s about putting your ego aside and being curious about the other person’s needs. A.W., whose marriage ended after 26 years, shares this learning: “Find out what makes your spouse feel loved, and do that every day.”
There are tons of other great pieces of advice in this post. I strongly recommend reading it :)
Health
1. Your First Cup of Coffee Does These 5 Surprising Things for Your Brain Each and Every Day by Inc.
I drink coffee every morning while writing my morning journal. But apparently, the timing to drink the first cup of coffee matters a lot for your productivity for the day.
Right about the time you finish your first cup of coffee, you have achieved a state of peak performance.
So now you have a decision to make. Do you want to use that peak-performance state to, say, get the most out of the podcast you’re listening to while you drive to work? Or do you want to use that peak-performance state to do something creative like brainstorming, taking an essential call, writing a perfect email, or performing your best at an important meeting?
Here’s my best advice: Time your first cup of coffee so that it has the most positive impact on your day and therefore on your career and your entire life.
2. Train Your Brain: Mindfulness Meditation for Anxiety, Depression, ADD and PTSD by Daniel Goleman
In this video, Daniel Goleman explains how we unconsciously multi-task, which reduces our attention span and productivity.
The solution he suggests is a 3-10 mins daily meditation. By focusing on one thing - your breath - for a few minutes, you can train your brain to maintain focus.
Sketch of the Week
So, I secretly started practicing sketching and posting on my blog because it seems like a vital skill for knowledge workers nowadays.
While I absolutely suck at drawing, I do enjoy it. Hopefully I get better over time :)
Link: https://www.shuomi.me/idea-sketch/mess-vs-structure
Latest Video: How to Upgrade Your Mind
How to Upgrade Your Mind | mymind Review
Share This Newsletter
If you liked this newsletter, please share it on Twitter or Facebook :)
I’d be eternally grateful!
Have a great week!
Shu