Reading & Thoughts from July
Issue #10 // *|DATE:F j, Y|*
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Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. — Og Mandino
#READING
Why Being Bored Is Good (12 min read)
//thewalrus
Summary: Boredom is common human experience, but we don't truly understand it. Why does it happen? Today we have a challenge that stems from a new paradigm, we are overstimulated.
Boredom —> Wonder. Boredom inspires creativity. As a child, when I was bored, I would simply pour all my legos on the ground and see what I would come up with. Social Media, Phones, TV are all numbing our brain in order to trick us into believing we are not bored. This leads to us becoming zombies of the attention economy, rather being the creative beings that we are meant to be. Attention isn't creative, doing things is.
Where do you find your creativity? I personally find mine by doing something routine such as walking a standard route and letting my mind wander.
Get your work recognized: write a brag document (5 min read)
//jvns
Summary: When you do great at your job, you will be automatically recognized for your work, right? Wrong. Some work is memorable, and some is not, especially to others it doesn't directly affect. Your manager doesn't remember everything you did, nor do you, this is why you should create a document listing all of your accomplishments.
I’ve been writing “brag documents” for some time now and I’m surprised how many people don’t do it. It really helps me what I did and why it was beneficial. Additionally, it helps me decide where I spent my time and if I reaped the rewards in that project, if know, I am more aware for the future. If you decide to start writing your own “brag document”, I suggest doing it all at once when starting, and then slowly adding to it. After that initial draft, send it out to people! The social aspect keeps you accountable for keeping it updated.
#PODCASTS
Bill Gurley: All Things Business and Investing – Invest Like the Best
//investlikethbest
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Bill Gurley is a general partner at Benchmark, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm in Menlo Park, California. He is listed consistently on the Forbes Midas List and is considered one of technology’s top dealmakers.
To get a marketplace or a user-generated content business off the ground, you need to do things that are unscalable
“One of my rules for getting a marketplace off the ground, or a UGC (user-generated content) play, is do tons of unscalable things”
In the age of the internet, it’s easy to know more about a particular subject matter than anyone else
Concerned because the money is available to do things like fund payables/receivables or write loans, entrepreneurs are using the capital in those ways
On mentorship, most of the time, if you approach someone in a reasonable way and ask them to respond to an email or have a 5-minute call with you – you can pretty much get in front of whoever you want. You know they'll make a good mentor if they make themselves available for you.
They should be taking pride in your successes
Dave's Killer Bread: Dave Dahl
//howibuiltthis
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Listen on Apple Podcasts
Dave Dahl is an entrepreneur, known for co-founding Dave's Killer Bread. Prior to it, he had served a total of over 15 years in prison for multiple offenses including drug distribution, burglary, armed robbery, and assault.
The Tim Ferriss Show: Seth Godin on How to Say “No,” Market Like a Professional, and Win at Life
//thetimferrissshow
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Seth Godin is a bestselling author and former Yahoo! business executive.
Seth doesn’t go to meetings, he doesn’t watch TV, and he doesn’t scroll Facebook or Twitter
Find areas in your life, where you can make one decision, that will prevent you from having to make hundreds or thousands of decisions in the future
We can’t outwork other people. We have to become more creative and actually create. Think. Be Creative.
“People will pay for trust, experience, something to talk about, scarcity, and the way it feels to be part of something”
“If you put enough bad ideas into the world, sooner or later your brain will wake up, and the good ideas will come”
#RANDOM
12 Mental Models to Help you Become Smarter (infographic)
//visualcapitalist
Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?
//ted
Athletes aren't really getting better, but rather it is because of: 1) The democratization of athletics 2) Athletes have better technology 3) We're putting people with specific builds into the appropriate sports
How to speak Silicon Valley: 53 essential tech-bro terms explained
//theguardian
What's Salesforce?
//retool
Training Your Brain So That You Don’t Need Reading Glasses
//nytimes
The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery
//theatlantic
Organize Your Spotify Music Automatically
//playlistmachinery