Music of the Week
William Harrison Withers Jr. aka Bill Withers was an American singer and songwriter from West Virginia. Withers was active in the late 1960s through the early 2000s with a hiatus in the 1990s. A few of my favorite songs are Ain’t No Sunshine, Grandma’s Hands, Use Me, Lean on Me, Lovely Day, and Just the Two of Us.
Quotes of the Week
Do what you can do today. Don’t worry about tomorrow or yesterday. – Bob Bowman
If you don’t guard your time, people will steal it from you. – Pedro Sorrentino
You don’t need more time. You need more focus. – Shane Parrish
Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not. – Oprah Winfrey
The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength. – Marcus Aurelius
Articles of the Week
“The only way to actually win is to get better each day.” Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead.
“When you say no, you are only saying no to one option. When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option.” The Ultimate Productivity Hack is Saying No
“Sometimes it is more important to consider why people fail in life than why they succeed.” Inversion: The Crucial Thinking Skill Nobody Ever Taught You
“We got a complicated job to do. I’m gonna keep doing this.” Sam Altman on ChatGPT’s First Two Years, Elon Musk and AI Under Trump
“Make a rule to never think twice about investments in yourself. Books, quality food, fitness, and personal development all fit into this bucket.” The Most Powerful Life Hacks
Book of the Week
Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts by Ryan Holiday explores how books, movies, songs, video games, and art thrive over time or disappear shortly after they are created. Holiday goes further into how to develop and market creative projects that stand the test of time. The book explores Holiday’s work with businesses like Google and authors like Robert Greene on how companies and artists create enduring products. Examples of timeliness creations include how musical artists like Adele ground their work in long-term thinking, writers like Tim Ferriss test every element of a new book project with his audience to see what generates the strongest responses, and comedians like Jerry Seinfeld create modern classic shows like Seinfeld. Holiday uncovers that the secret of the success of perennial sellers is that creators do not distinguish between the creation and the marketing of the product. Instead, the creator has the audience or customer in mind at the start of the project. Holiday argues that the creator can improve their chances of success by thinking holistically about the relationship between the work of art and the audience.
Podcasts of the Week
Invest Like The Best With Patrick O’Shaughnessy are conversations with the best investors and business leaders in the world. Recent episodes I enjoyed include Shane Parrish – Mastering Mental Models, Peter Attia, M.D. – How to Live a Longer, Higher Quality Life, Tim Urban – Grand Theft Life, Chris Dixon – The Future of Tech, and Bill Gurley – All Things Business and Investing.
Bonus: Video of the Week
Mark Zuckerberg: How to Build the Future
Bonus: Film of the Week
Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is charged with selecting the new pope after the death of the current pope. During the diligence process of selecting the next pope in the film Conclave, Lawrence uncovers a treasure trove of secrets from the candidates of potential next popes including Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) of the United States, Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) of Nigeria, Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow) of Canada, and Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) of Italy.
Bonus: TV Show of the Week
The Night Agent follows FBI agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso). Sutherland is thrown into a conspiracy about a mole in high levels of the United States government. His goal is to save the nation by hunting down a traitor. Simultaneously, Sutherland must protect former tech CEO Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) from terrorists who murdered Larkin’s aunt and uncle.
