Hi All!
Below is your weekly dose of a list of things I’m reading, watching, listening to, or thinking about from my No. 230 May 17, 2024 newsletter. If this message was forwarded to you, sign up for this newsletter using this link.
Quote I’m Re-Reading
We are what we repeatedly do, therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle
Video I Posted
A demand charge is a component of an electricity bill that is based on the maximum amount of electrical power consumed by a customer during a specific period. The primary purpose of demand charges is to help cover the utility’s costs for maintaining the capacity to supply the maximum power that all customers may require simultaneously.
Imagine you’re throwing a party and need to hire a catering service. The catering company charges you based on the maximum number of guests that show up at any given time during the party, rather than the total number of guests throughout the entire event. This is similar to how a demand charge works for electricity bills. Just as the catering company needs to be prepared to serve the maximum number of guests at once, the electric utility needs to maintain the infrastructure to meet the maximum electricity demand at any given time.
Article I Read
120 Years Later, Gelato Legend Angelo Brocato’s Still Rules Summer in New Orleans is an incredible story about entrepreneurship, perseverance, and hard work that we can all learn from.
Podcasts I Listened To
Deep Questions with Cal Newport discusses the “impact of technology on society, and the struggle to work and live in a deeply distracted world increasingly mired in digital distractions.” Newport is one of my favorite authors with books like A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love, and Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. It’s no surprise this new-to-me podcast is slowly becoming one of my favorite podcasts. Here are a few episodes I recently enjoyed:
Our Love/Hate Relationship with Personal Productivity, Rethinking Attention, Artists Revolt Against Social Media, A Tactical Assault on Busyness, Can A.I. Empty My Inbox, Do Better, Do Less, Financing the Deep Life with Noah Kagan, The Email Catastrophe, Confronting Your Phone, The Productivity Paradox, How To Organize Your Life, and Slow Distractions
Book I Read
Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be by Dr. Becky Kennedy shares her philosophy on parenting and provides actionable strategies to become a more confident parent with your kids. Good Inside is now my resource for how to raise my son to set him up for a lifetime of confidence and resilience. Hat tip to Ryan Holiday for recommending this book.
Bonus
Film I Watched
American Fiction directed by Cord Jefferson is a comedy-drama that “follows a frustrated novelist-professor (Jeffrey Wright) who writes an outlandish satire of stereotypical “Black” books, only for it to be mistaken for serious literature and published to high sales and critical praise.” This film is hilarious giving off incredible good vibes.
TV Series I Watched
The Reluctant Traveler is a “travel documentary comedy television series that follows Canadian actor Eugene Levy, who travels to remarkable hotels around the world and explores the places and cultures surrounding them.” Levy is a goofball that helps you see parts of the world you otherwise might not come across.
