10 Ideas For The Interested This Week - For The Interested

10 Ideas For The Interested This Week

“Luck is a dividend of sweat.” — Ray Kroc

When author James Patterson was an advertising executive, he learned a lesson about negotiating.

His agency worried he might go work for a competitor so they offered him three possible packages to stay.

Patterson asked a friend who represented Hollywood talent like Tom Cruise which package he should take and the friend said, “All three. If they put it on the table, they’re willing to give it.”

His friend was right — Patterson asked for (and got) all of it.

Now, on to this week’s ideas…

1. A MANIFESTO FOR CREATIVE PEOPLE

“Create things that create value for others. Be talented. Be lucky. Be persistent. And not necessarily in that order.”

Creative work is hard. I wrote this Manifesto for Creative People as a reminder of what it takes to bring valuable, original, creations into the world.

It’s a quick read designed to inspire, motivate, and remind you what it takes to get what you want out of your creative pursuits.

2. FIVE WAYS BUSY PEOPLE PLAN THEIR DAY

“If you want a job interview with Li Fan, head of engineering at Pinterest, you’ll need to wait until Friday. Fan categorizes the types of meetings she takes by days of the week. Mondays are for large group meetings and Tuesdays are for speaking with people one-on-one. Wednesdays and Thursdays are for ad hoc requests or various monthly meetings.”

There’s only so much time in the day and it’s interesting to see how various successful people choose to use it.

The BBC shares five ways busy people plan their day including to purposefully leave gaps of unallocated time in their schedule, to maximize meal times and commutes, and to schedule breaks between meetings.

3. HOW TO GET 25 MILLION VIEWS AND 25,000 NEW FOLLOWERS ON LINKEDIN IN FOUR MONTHS

“When people look at your profile, they decide whether you’re worth connecting with in several seconds. These are the questions that go through their head when making this decision: Do they look like a domain expert? Do they look like a leader? Can they help me?”

Reading this may not get you 25 million views of your posts on LinkedIn, but it will definitely help you get more out of the platform.

Joshua Fechter shares the exact system he used to get 25 million views on LinkedIn (and grow his following from 1,500 people to 26,000).

He breaks down how to optimize your profile, connect to prospects at scale, craft posts that lead to relationships with people, and turn all your new LinkedIn connections into something valuable.

And speaking of connecting on LinkedIn, let’s do it — you can find me here.

4. GARY VAYNERCHUK ON HOW TO START CREATING CONTENT ONLINE

“Everyone who ever did anything had to start. Most people don’t begin with a grand vision. They start with an idea and an action. Through the process of doing they build something greater.”

Gary Vaynerchuk is a content producing machine so it’s worth paying attention to his thoughts about how to do it.

He breaks down how to start creating content online including what to talk about, where to post it, how to get it seen, and how to ensure the time you put into it actually creates value for you in return.

5. FIVE THINGS TO DO WHEN SOMEBODY CRITICIZES YOUR WORK

“When somebody criticizes our work they give us a gift. Their perspective — especially if it’s a perspective shared by multiple critics — can help us discover opportunities we otherwise may have missed. Criticism may hurt our ego, but it often helps our creations.”

Nobody likes to be criticized, but it comes with the territory of doing great work.

In this post I share five ways to handle criticism including to see it as an opportunity, consider the big picture, and do what Steve Jobs used to do.


A Quick Reminder…

On Friday, I’m sending a special email to members of THE INVESTED, featuring exclusive ideas not available in this newsletter.

The latest issue includes what you can learn from how Google trains its managers, a cold email template designed to get you a meeting with anybody you want, and a lot more.

Want me to send it to you?

Go here to join THE INVESTED (you can also check out a free sample issue on that page).

Now, back to the newsletter…


6. HOW TO GET LUCKY

“Luck can’t be controlled, but it can be nurtured.”

Ask anybody who you think has good luck to read this post and I bet they’ll tell you they completely agree with it — I know I do.

Jocelyn K. Glei explains how you can increase the chances you get lucky and suggests opportunities come as a result of being open and alert, through helping people, and through telling people what you’re doing (or want to be doing).

7. THE BEST WAY TO CHANGE A HABIT IS TO BET ON IT

“People who risked $150 of their own money to win a $650 bonus prize were dramatically more likely to quit smoking than those who used traditional smoking cessation methods. Surprisingly, this group also beat out those who were offered an $800 reward with no deposit for staying smoke-free.”

It turns out one of the most effective methods to change your habits is also one of the methods people are most hesitant to try — gambling.

Nir Eyal breaks down research that shows the best way to change a habit is to wager on itand points out wagers introduce consequences for both doing or not doing the new habit, which makes us more likely to change.

8. 20 WAYS TO BECOME A BETTER MARKETER

“You can learn a lot about the future by better understanding the past. By understanding the things that haven’t changed or will never change. By recognizing behaviors, attitudes or ideas that withstand the test of time.”

This post is designed for marketers, but you’ll find it helpful in almost anything you do because it’s really about how to adopt a successful mindset.

Doug Kleeman shares 20 ways to become a better strategist including to debunk your own opinions, follow creative visionaries like you follow sports teams, analyze the anatomy of stories, and “Bourdain yourself” — yes, as in, Anthony Bourdain.

9. HOW BOREDOM LEADS TO BRILLIANT IDEAS

“A decade ago, we shifted our attention at work every three minutes. Now we do it every 45 seconds and we do it all day long. The average person checks email 74 times a day and switches tasks on their computer 566 times a day.”

When you watch this TED Talks from Manoush Zomorodi, you’re going to WANT to be bored.

She explains how boredom leads to brilliant ideas and how our current approach to life and work actively prevents us from being bored.

10. A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DRAWING

“The basic craft of drawing is about two things: you learn to control your hand and to see.”

This one probably isn’t going to change your life, but it’s the kind of interesting bit of information this newsletter exists to share. Plus, it’s kind of fun.

Ralph Ammer shares six simple drawing exercises you can do regardless of your artistic ability.

The exercises not only improve your ability to draw, but also give you a better understanding and appreciation of how drawing works.