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Your weekly dose of awesomeness
Hey, <<First Name>>!
How have you been? My busy days seem to be coming to an end at least temporarily. Slight vacay mode coming up in a few weeks. However, we first have to earn it!
Speaking of earning things - a couple of readers earned themselves 30 minute Skype calls with me and while I will respect their privacy and won't reveal details - I wanted to share the two key productivity insights we brainstormed about together to help them with making better use of their time.
1. Batching - Paul Graham (YC founder) - talks about Maker days vs Manager Days - The basic funda is that you should set aside large chunks of uninterrupted time if and when you are working on tasks that require focus and creativity. Writing content, programming, and similar tasks come to mind. The "managerial" tasks like emails, phone calls, meetings etc also ought to batched together so that people know when they can interrupt you and when they can't. Maker time slots times when you are no accessible and the manager slots times when you can be reached easily if need be.
2. Waking up earlier - If you're reading this email, it's highly likely that you're not the kind of person who wakes up in the morning and watches TV. So if you want to start waking up sooner, while the obvious solution may seem to be to cut off things from your to-do list during your morning routine - what truly works is a counter-intuitive tip - add one more exciting item to your morning routine. It could be hitting the gym, a book, a new hobby, a class - something that makes you look forward to waking up.
Over to the good stuff!
Here's a quote I've been pondering all week:
We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than in reality." -Seneca
What I enjoyed reading this week:
1. Farnam Street Principles - Farnam street is a blog I read regularly. I love the principles Shane and his team have listed. Direction over speed. Live deliberately. Thoughtful opinions held loosely. Principles outlive tactics. Own your actions.
2. Life lessons learnt from a 10 day silent meditation retreat - Amit is a product leader and investor I've interacted with a lot over the last couple of years. Vipassana meditation is something I've been meaning to try and I will have to take permission from at least 3 people before I can cut myself off from the rest of the world for 10 days. This post was a good primer from a real person on what to expect.
3. Useful Hacks - We're always looking for "hacks" that lead us towards success. This post is a good and witty reminder to shut up and put the work in.
4. How to get rich (without getting lucky) - When Naval does a tweet storm, I read the tweet storm. This one is particularly relevant to me. I have not been making enough time for my writing and a podcast project is something I have been mulling over for too long. Enough about me though. Go read this 40-tweet thread. You deserve to be rich. We all do. It's not a zero-sum game. He also went live on Periscope about this thread.
What I enjoyed watching:
1. 10 secrets to achieve financial success - This is more of a documentary than a video. Anton Kreil is a superb trader and an even better teacher. In this no-bullshit video, he teaches us 10 timeless tips to financial success and independence.
2. Bill Gates on Leonardo Da Vinci - Short video by Bill Gates on what he finds fascinating about Da Vinci. This has convinced me to pick up the Walter Isaacson book. Soon.
What I enjoyed listening to:
1. Alex inc - Zach Braff talks to Alex Blumberg - If you're anything like me, you still send Scrubs gifs to your best friend who stays several thousands of miles away. Alex inc the show was disappointing to me personally, but this conversation between Zach and Alex was very entertaining.
2. Freelancers - Seth Godin - This podcast episode is a crash course in how to be a freelancer by the master himself. It's something I've become serious about ever since we got FabReach off the ground. Below are some of the notes I made while listening to this episode:
[ ] The core work must be done by you if the client hired you to do the work
[ ] Don't race to the bottom by playing the low pricing, volume game
[ ] " You'll pay a lot, but you'll get more than you paid for."
[ ] Being for everybody is a trap
[ ] Build and invest in tools. Always be investing in skills . Have emotional skills. Have the ability to calm down a panicked client. Have practical skills
[ ] Pick an industry where you're welcome. Get out of the mindset of wanting to please the maximum number of people. Choose the smallest viable market. Enough to keep you busy and rich all the time. Specialise and overwhelm your niche with your expertise.
[ ] Your customers should talk about you and wait in line when you're busy.
[ ] Commit to the discipline of prospecting - set time aside to keep finding new clients by getting better and getting noticed by being the only person in your category. Do quirky work. Do unique work. Do work that people don't like to do. Be unique.
[ ] Understand the role of free - sell what you sell, what you do for free should be a different service from the stuff you sell. Seth's blog posts are free but his speeches are expensive.
[ ] Be comfortable with advocating for yourself. Learn to say no. State prices and costs and pride.
[ ] Get better clients.Happy to pay. Don't ask for mediocre work. Etc.
Help Nikhil section:
What are some topics you'd like me to cover? Please specify if you'd like a blog post or via an email.
I found an amazing handle on Twitter - Gideon is a 9-year-old boy who pets dogs and posts pictures of them with him along with a short story or description.
That's it for this week. Thanks again for making the time to read this. I am, as always, open to suggestions.
In case you received this as a forward from a friend, please thank them for me. If you have friends who might enjoy this kind of content, ask them to sign up sign up here.
Love,
Nikhil
P.S: I may not be able to promise 30 minute slots this week, but will try to make time for at least one reader next week. If you want to convince me, go ahead.
