Copy
Hey friends,

As cheesy as it sounds, I'm feeling thankful this week. I reached out to a lot of the unfamiliar faces who read this newsletter and learned just how cool of a community this project has grown to be.

You all range from high schoolers to CEOs based everywhere from Peru to India. I'm so excited to continue to get to know everyone. And I'm grateful you're here.

Let's get caffeinated!

🥛Cream & Sugar

Ideas and current events about living a more intentional, innovative life. The kind of stuff that makes the internet (and coffee) good.

In America this past week, we celebrated Thanksgiving, a holiday where we give thanks to the things we care about. However, it's a holiday rooted in the European exploitation of the Native people who were living in America long before "Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

As a result, Friday was Native American Heritage Day. Native Americans are credited with some of the most fascinating inventions. Today's Cream & Sugar is a tribute to their innovation.

Let's start with an idea.
 

The Obvious and the Amazing

Have you ever observed someone and thought, I could have never thought of that?

At the same time, you've probably thought that your own ideas are pretty obvious.

The problem is that most people feel this way. Our ideas feel obvious to us, because we came up with them. By nature of thinking through them and experiencing them every day, they become mundane. 

The bottom line: we are bad judges of our own work. Famous artists routinely confess that their hit songs were ones they considered not even recording. The chapter of my book that I hated the most was the one my editor couldn't stop talking about.

The solution, according to Derek Sivers, is to document and share everything. Let the world do the judging. More from Sivers here.
 

Case Study: Rubber

Mexico Picks Up 3,000-Year-Old Ballgame – National Geographic Education Blog
Native Americans are credited with many inventions, from syringes to bridges. But the most obvious invention to them then was one of the most fascinating to us today: rubber.

None of the European explorers who came to America documented the indigenous formula for rubber in great depth. Native Americans themselves didn't bother documenting it—it just seemed so obvious. When one scientist went looking for the process, he spoke to an indigenous family, who casually explained, “Oh, yeah, we used to do that when we were kids, to make balls to play with.”

The nonchalance many Native Americans had for rubber, as the material of their childhood game, contrasts the scientific community's excitement for it, as one of the most versatile materials of our time. The chemical processes native peoples developed for rubber were revolutionary, especially for their time.

Even more impressively, Native Americans had intricately different formulas for different uses of rubber. While the rubber balls to play games with had to be bouncy, rubber for tools had to be strong and rubber for sandal soles durable.

Despite how poorly documented the formula was, today, rubber forms the foundation for many items, from sneakers to medical devices. 

What ideas seem obvious to you that you can share?

More here.
Based on feedback I received, this week's Cream & Sugar was meant to be more concise. Reply to this email letting me know what you think!

💥Jitters

For that moment when the caffeine hits: a random assortment of resources, articles, and other fun things.

💻What's Brewing at My Desk

Updates on Think Outside the Odds and other projects.


Have you ever wondered what goes into making and publishing a book?

47 people are about to find out.

I spent the last week getting preorders for my book's presale campaign. This week, we raised $2,907 with 47 backers! Each backer will receive access to my community of beta readers, where you'll get to help me pick my cover, read content early, and get a behind-the-scenes peek at the publishing process.

If you've placed your order, you'll be receiving a community invitation later this week. If you haven't already, you can still join in on the fun here.

☕Espresso Shot

All the actionable insights from this newsletter condensed into a few bullet points.

  • Document all your ideas, even the bad ones, so you can continue to work and reflect on them.
  • What seems obvious to you can feel amazing to others, so share everything you come up with and let the world decide what's useful to it and what's not.
  • In times of crisis, it is even more important to focus on long-term goals and the broad wellbeing of the world, as this is what helps you avoid future crises. 
I hope you found something useful here. If you made it to the end, reply to this email and tell me about an idea you have that seems obvious to you. I'll let you know if I find it amazing :).

I can't wait to see you next Sunday. Until then, stay caffeinated!

If you were forwarded this email, subscribe here.
Link
Website
Copyright © 2020 *Vedika's World*, All rights reserved.