“Anything that doesn’t stand out will eventually become irrelevant, commoditized and ignored. There will always be a faster, better, or cheaper option for everything.”
Why Standing Out Is Essential to Survive as a Creator, Brand, or Business
How to Do Less and Achieve More
“Consider every project you’re left with after you’ve stripped the nonessentials, and then weigh their value based on their potential for achieving your larger goals. This shift will force you to get comfortable with the fact that you’ll have to say ‘no’ to a few great opportunities.”
How the Hustle Reached One Million Email Subscribers
“Email is the only universal platform. We think about Facebook being huge, but it’s the one platform that has more users than Facebook, Twitter, or any of these things. Every single person has an email address.”
10 Ideas For The Interested This Week
“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” — Benjamin Franklin
How To Give Yourself Permission To Try
It’s easier to come up with excuses not to do things than it is to summon the courage to try.
But Annie Franceschi’s book Permission To Try: 11 Things You Need to Hear When You’re Scared To Change Your Life can help you overcome those excuses.
Following is my interview with Annie — who runs the small business branding agency Greatest Story Creative and is a For The Interested newsletter subscriber — about what it takes to give yourself permission to try and what happens when you do.
How to Configure Your Iphone to Work for You
“Practically every iPhone setup decision has tradeoffs. I will give you optimal defaults and then trust you to make an adult decision about whether that default is right for you.”
The Scientific Benefits of Boredom
“The paradox of boredom is that it makes you feel tired, sluggish, and just disinterested. But it may actually spur you to action. It may get you to make changes that would be positive for your life.”
Prioritization Is More Important Than Hard Work
“Successful people focus on only a few priorities — they go all in working on those. So if you’re a salesperson, for example, you shouldn’t just cold call everyone in the book. You should focus on a few great prospects and work obsessively hard on those.”
How To Pare Down Your Life
“It’s understandable that we overfill our lives — we are usually acting on desires, and not giving full contemplation to what we want in our lives and what we don’t want.”
Why Silent Meetings Are Effective
“Picture this: a room full of senior Square leads, gathered for an important review meeting. Everyone is looking at their computer, in complete silence, interrupted by bursts of clickety clack. 30 minutes later, the conversation starts.”