“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” — Bob Marley
When was the last time you just sat and listened to music? Highly recommended.
I tweeted that statement earlier this week and it resonated with a lot of people.
Turns out I’m not the only one in need of a break from the news, the news feed, and everything else draining our energy.
Here’s my suggested remedy: Find time this week to hit the pause button on your life and the play button on your stereo.
You might be surprised how good it sounds.
Now, on to this week’s ideas…
1. HOW TO EARN PEOPLE’S ATTENTION
“To earn somebody’s attention we must speak to their needs, goals, and fears — not just our own. We shouldn’t expect to earn the attention of others for things we only do for ourselves.”
More than 125,000 people read my writing on Medium last month. That amazing number made me think about how I earned that attention and led me to share four keys to earning attention.
In the post, I discuss why it’s important to value people’s time as much as their attention, how to make it easy for them to give you their attention, and more.
2. THE 25 BEST HABITS TO HAVE IN LIFE
“Approximately 45 percent of everything we do on a daily basis is driven by our habits.”
We spend a lot of time on habits we develop — some on purpose and others by default.
This Entrepreneur article suggests making a conscious effort to develop these 25 habits can lead to a happier and more successful life.
The suggested habits include everything from walking 10,000 steps a day, to setting daily goals, to learning something new.
3. HOW TO HAVE AN AWESOME INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
“Cats, food, fashion, nature, portraits, sunsets, selfies. Whichever you select, your photos need to be centered around that topic. Consistency is key.”
I’ll admit it — this post didn’t make me feel great about my own Instagram account.
But, it features great advice from Instagram influencer Allan Dixon about how to kick ass on Instagram.
Dixon’s suggestions include what not to upload (random and low-quality photos), what kind of username to choose (short and memorable), what photos to upload (only the best and only one or two a day), and more.
4. PATTON OSWALT ON PARENTING
“You will never be prepared for anything you do, ever. Not the first time. Training and practice are out the window the second they meet experience. But you’ll get better.”
Comedian Patton Oswalt became a single father when his wife tragically passed away earlier this year.
In this powerful GQ essay, he shares what he’s learned about parenting as a single father of a 7-year-old daughter including some inspirational words for others in similar situations.
5. THE AVERAGE 29-YEAR-OLD’S LIFE IS DIFFERENT THAN YOU THINK
“Most people born between the early 1980s and late 1990s didn’t graduate from college, aren’t living in a city, and generally hate being called ‘Millennials.’”
It turns out the image we see of a typical 29-year-old in pop culture and the media is far from the reality.
This Atlantic article breaks down a series of statistics to show what life is like for an average 29-year-old, including that most went to some college but didn’t graduate, only 40% are married but another 20% are co-habitating, and that many have flocked from cities to suburbs.
6. CHANGE THINGS EVERY DAY
“We have to learn to scare ourselves a little bit every day and embrace that.”
In this video excerpt from an episode of the Unmistakable Creative podcast, energy drink company founder Dave Vanderveen explains why it’s important to change things in your life every day.
He points to the impact of simple changes like driving home from work in a different way in order to “keep changing those channels in our brains, because if we don’t do that we’ll get stuck in rhythms that we don’t necessarily want.
7. HOW TO USE GMAIL TO GET A BETTER DEAL ON YOUR NEXT CAR
“Let the dealerships compete against each other to offer you the lowest possible price.”
You should read this Ajay Goel post before you buy your next car because it can save you a lot of time, aggravation, and money.
The post explains how you can use a simple Gmail extension to automate your car search and negotiation. Essentially, you can easily mass email all the dealerships in your area with what you’re looking for and allow them to compete for your business.
8. FACEBOOK IS INHERENTLY INCOMPATIBLE WITH NEWS
“On Facebook, what you click on, what you share with your ‘friends’ shapes your profile, preferences, affinities, political opinions, and your vision of the world. The last thing Facebook wants is to contradict you in any way. The sanction would be immediate: you’d click/share much less; even worse, you might cut your session short.”
As I mentioned in a previous edition of this newsletter, Facebook isn’t going to be the one to solve its fake news problem.
This Frederic Filloux post goes a step further and offers a smart explanation of why Facebook’s platform is incompatible with news.
News isn’t about just giving people what they want, but Facebook is entirely about giving people what they want.
9. YOUR VITAMINS MAY BE KILLING YOU
“The incidence of lung cancer increased by 16% in the group given vitamin supplements.”
It turns out those vitamins you take may not help you. And, even worse, they might hurt you.
This BBC article chronicles the history of vitamin supplements and research which suggests vitamins are not effective and potentially may be dangerous.
Various studies have found people who took vitamins had increased risks for lung cancer and breast cancer.
10. HOW TO GET MORE RESPONSES TO YOUR EMAILS
“Emails written at a 3rd grade level were optimal. They provided a whopping 36% life over emails written at a college reading level and 17% higher response rate than emails written at even a high school reading level.”
If you get frustrated when people don’t respond to your emails, here’s an article that can help.
This Boomerang post features 7 tips for getting more responses to your emailsbased on data. The tips include to write short emails (75–100 words), use short subject lines, write with emotion and more.
FLASHBACK!
In the June 26th edition of this newsletter, I shared ideas about what questions to ask yourself when you start a new project, why you should build an army instead of an audience, what you can learn from the head of Google’s innovation division, and more.
BTW, HAVE YOU HEARD THIS?
Whatever ails you, this will help heal it.