10 Ideas For The Interested This Week - For The Interested

10 Ideas For The Interested This Week

“You don’t take a good photograph, you make it.” — Ansel Adams

Astronauts. Funny girls. Embarrassing stories.

These unrelated topics somehow fit together in the context of this newsletter.

They fit because this newsletter’s niche is its audience. It’s you.

You recognize the value of learning what empowers women even if you aren’t one.

You know you don’t have to go to space to be inspired by the sacrifices of those who do.

You’re willing to embarrass yourself for the sake of a better idea.

Because you’re one of The Interested.

Now, on to this week’s ideas…

1. BORED WITH YOUR LIFE? DO THIS.

“I bet you say yes to things you know are not good for you. We all do. Don’t do that. Stop saying yes to things that waste your time, or out of a false sense of obligation or guilt.”

The four minutes it takes to read this post can make your next week a memorable one.

I share nine ways to shake up your life when you feel stuck in a rut including to change your inputs, ban your “regular” places, and do something you haven’t done in 10 years.

2. HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR VACATION

“Look for ways to isolate people who are emblematic of the place you are in. You’ll capture more of the essence of where you are through that one image of that one person than you will with a hundred random shots of strangers intermixed with others.”

This will make you want to take a vacation and take up photography — or at least go on a vacation with the guy who wrote it.

Josh S. Rose explains how to photograph your vacation and shares tips on everything from how to take an establishing shot, to how to take family candids and how to get great shots by looking up (and down).

The post also features great images from Rose’s own vacations (one of which is featured at the top of this newsletter) and includes a vacation video he shot of his recent trip to Kauai that’s going to make you want to book a flight today.

3. WHY YOU SHOULD START YOUR NEXT BRAINSTORM WITH AN EMBARRASSING STORY

“Candor led to greater creativity. Thus, we propose a new rule for brainstorming sessions: Tell a self-deprecating story before you start.”

The way you kick off a group brainstorming session can have a huge impact on what you get out of it.

Harvard Business Review shares a recent study that found brainstorms are more productive when participants tell an embarrassing story before they start.

Specifically, brainstorms that opened with embarrassing stories generated 26% more ideas across 15% more categories than ones that didn’t.

4. YOUR LIFE IS A REFLECTION OF WHAT YOU THINK YOU DESERVE

“The first step, then, to using your time in the best possible way, is to elevate what you believe you deserve. If you don’t believe you deserve to spend your time on amazing things, you’ll continually sabotage yourself. You’ll continue to act in ways to PROVE TO YOURSELF you aren’t worth more. You’ll try to keep yourself small.”

There’s been a lot written about the importance of finding your purpose and optimizing your time to get what you want, but this post explains how to actually do that.

Benjamin P. Hardy points out your life is a reflection of what you think you deserve and shares recommendations for how to get clear on your purpose every day, prevent yourself from getting distracted, and examine your current use of time.

5. HOW TO STOP WORKING SO MUCH

“We can work less and not feel bad about it. We can work less and become more successful. We can work less and be more productive. It’s possible. It’s not magic, it’s a mindset.”

It’s easy to allow your work to overrun your life — especially if you like what you do.

In this post I share how I stopped working so much and how you can too.

The lessons I’ve learned include that work expands to fill the time we give it, that working less actually leads to increased productivity, and that being busy isn’t a sign of success.

6. WHAT HAPPENS TO AN ASTRONAUT WHEN THEY COME BACK FROM SPACE

“I use the bathroom and shuffle back to bed, wondering what I should do. Normally if I woke up feeling like this, I would go to the emergency room. But no one at the hospital will have seen symptoms of having been in space for a year.”

Not a lot of people have spent a year living in space and that means we really have no idea yet what happens to people when they return to Earth.

Astronaut Scott Kelly shares a fascinating look at what it’s like to come home after a year in space.

It will give you a whole new appreciation for astronauts, their willingness to allow their bodies to be used for science, and what it’s like to be a “test subject” for the rest of their lives.

7. READ THIS BEFORE YOU QUIT YOUR JOB

“There are ways to work at a job you don’t like without complaining every day. Try and seek the advantages and the lessons you can learn.”

Simon Sinek has a lot of smart things to say about work and company culture, so his advice about how to handle a job you want to quit is worth your attention.

He shares 10 things to do before you quit your job including to treat your boss like a person instead of a problem, become the leader you wish you had, and put your energy into growing instead of griping.

8. TO RAISE AN EMPOWERED GIRL, ENCOURAGE HER TO BE FUNNY

“One of the things that happens to girls is that they are encroached upon by the world. And one of the things that humor can do is…help girls stand up for themselves in ways that people don’t retaliate for.”

I don’t have a daughter, but if I ever do I’d love for her to be hilarious.

The Washington Post explains why encouraging girls to be funny is great for their development and points out the ways in which they’re too often discouraged from developing a strong sense of humor.

9. HOW THE SHIFT FROM SEARCH TO SOCIAL CHANGED MORE THAN JUST THE INTERNET

“You no longer enter the Internet the way you would a public library, where you browse and pick out what you want to read in peace, it’s more like the Las Vegas strip, where you’re bombarded with demands for your attention and need not exert any effort to be entertained.”

In 2006, eight of the 10 most popular websites on the Internet were search-driven sites like Google and eBay. This year, six of the top 10 are social media platforms.

Nat Eliason explains how the destructive switch from search to social has had far-reaching implications on everything from our attention span, to the rise of junk food media, to the way TV news and other content is presented.

10. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO SAY NO TO THE WRONG MONEY

“Most people are making the ‘wrong’ kind of money right now. The wrong money is any money earned while doing tasks that are irrelevant to your Big Goals.”

All money is not created equal.

Anthony Moore explains why it’s important to say no to the wrong money and breaks down how to determine which opportunities to pursue and which to turn down.

It’s a nice companion read to my article about how to decide which ideas to pursue.