what am I thinking about
Category: Jay Reads and Recommends
Seasoned Nuts Quotable
“In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard’s vote.” — David Foster Wallace
“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” — Edmund Burke
what am i thinking about…
what am i thinking about…
Like limericks?
what am i thinking about
Top 10 Creepiest Places On Earth (That You Probably Don’t Know) – Listverse
There is more to the experience of wine than its taste alone | Psyche Ideas
Top 10 Images Of Invisible Things – Listverse
what am i thinking about
First moment of the day…
Sleeping in the car..?
Failories newsletter courtesy: nico
| 👋 Hey Failories! It’s Nico over here. I have two content ideas. You have the power to decide if I work on them by clicking on the links on each one (you can click on both links):Our article on Y Combinator-backed failed startup has done it really well (+60k people have read it in the last two weeks). We can create similar articles for other startup programs like 500 Startups and Techstars. If you would read this content, click on this link (it’ll r-direct you to the YC article).Yesterday, the US streaming platform Quibi shut down, only 7 months after it’s launch. Their failure story is super interesting; it includes burning +$2 billion from investors. If you would like to read an in-depth research of their shut down, click on this link (it’ll redirect you to a WSJ article about Quibi’s shut down). This newsletter is sponsored by Formlets and Starkflow. The first tool will help you validate your startup idea quickly and cheaply. The second one will help you build a dev team for that validated startup idea 😉 |
| INTERVIEW+$6,000/mo Automating Video EditingPaul is the CEO of Kamua, a cloud-based SaaS that lets customers use AI to create and edit videos really quickly. The business idea came from a problem he was facing on a Netflix-for-x startup he had created before. After validating the idea through an MVP, the SaaS started growing fastly and nowadays makes +$6k in MRR.Read More + |
| SPONSORSHIPWant to quickly validate your ideaDon’t let software be an issue. Create simple online forms that do the work for you. Be it selling products, accepting payments, capturing large file uploads, automation and much more. We do custom requests as well in an agency account. To make it better, Just for failory users, Flat 50% OFF on all yearly plans. Click on the link below and offer will be activated.LINK |
| ARTICLEFind & Hire Developers for Your Startup [2020 Guide]Here’s a detailed guide and infographic on the steps you should take in order to find and hire the best developers and CTOs for your startup. — This article was originally published last year. We have completely re-written it.Read More + |
| SPONSORSHIPHire top development teams for your project within hoursBrowse through a directory of highly curated talent, and hire someone who has experience building an idea just like yours. Get tailored matches based on your project, and get them onboarded in as little as 24 hours. More human, less resources. Leave all the mindless stuff like payments, payroll, and taxation to us and focus on what matters the most to you- your business.Check us out + |
| Hope you enjoy this week’s content and sponsors. Quick recommendation: If you frequently consume online content, you may have seen the rise of paid newsletters lately. Several writers are making a living through them nowadays. Dru Riley, Trends.vc‘s founder and Failory’s consultant, has written a great article about paid newsletters (in which I contributed). Make sure to check it out if you’re in the online world as it’s a trend that seems to be here to stay. — As every week, I’d love to hear from you. Anything you’d like to talk about is well-received! – Nico |
first and last steps… or next step…
‘Lovecraft Country’ is haunted by the ghosts of real places
How to nurture an orchid child | Psyche Guides
Stanislavski’s revelation: we’re more than the parts we play | Psyche Ideas
The welder-turned-poet who fell in love with words in a Glasgow shipyard | Aeon Videos
Karma doesn’t work how most people think it does – Big Think
Videos of GM’s Driverless Cars Show Several Near-Crashes
New and…
art quote of the day
| “My eyes were made to erase all that is ugly.” via Art Quote of the Day https://ift.tt/2MzHgqu |
Scientist: Please Stop Laughing at My Research About Placing Earthworms on Loudspeakers
Hero or scoundrel? An iconoclastic biography of Winston Churchill | Aeon Videos
terrine – word of the day
| WORD OF THE DAY |
| 1A meat, fish, or vegetable mixture that has been cooked or otherwise prepared in advance and allowed to cool or set in its container, typically served in slices. | 2A container used for a terrine, typically of an oblong shape and made of earthenware. |
| Examples of Terrine in a sentence “The special of the day was a salmon terrine served with rice.” “The chef carefully arranged the vegetables in a ceramic terrine.” |
The challenge of reclaiming the commons from capitalism | Aeon Essays
“That’s not what I meant”. – by Seth Godin
Disagreements among people who mean well usually begin with that emotion.
You meant to say something or agree to something, but the “other side” didn’t hear it that way.
That’s enough for a customer to walk away forever. That’s enough for a lawsuit. Because denying the experience of the other person doesn’t open the door for re-connection.
Forward motion is possible if we can extend the sentence to, “That’s not what I meant, but that must be what you heard, how do we fix this? Will you help me make things right again?”
If we can agree on intent, it’s a lot easier to figure out how to move forward.
courtesy: Seth Godin Newsletter
ethical alliance newsletter
today’s quote
| “Of all human activities, man’s listening to God is the supreme act of his reasoning and will.” via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/33RVh94 |
did you know
Did you know…
… that today is Typing Speed Record Day? On this day in 1918, Margaret Owen set a typing speed record of 170 words per minute on a manual typewriter. Can you imagine what her speed would’ve been if she’d had access to an electric one?!
~~~
Today’s Inspirational Quote:
“One tree can start a forest. One smile can begin a friendship. One hand can lift a soul. One word can frame the goal. One candle can wipe out darkness. One laugh can conquer gloom. One touch can show you care. One life can make the difference. Be that one today.”
— Author Unknown
Did you know…. and today’s inspirational quote
Did you know…
… that today is First Passenger Train Day? On this day in 1825, George Stephenson operated the first locomotive that hauled a passenger train. The engine, later called Locomotion, took 450 people 25 miles from Darlington to Stockton at 15 miles per hour. The railway age had begun and George Stephenson was its guiding spirit!
~~~
Today’s Inspirational Quote:
“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is, that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.”
— Henry Ward Beecher
Top 10 WTF Reality TV Moments – Listverse
Top 10 Celebrities Cleared Of Serious Crimes – Listverse
True Self-knowledge
To arrive at true self-knowledge is to arrive at God-realization. God-realization is a unique state of consciousness.It is different from all the other states of consciousness because all the other states of consciousness are experienced through the medium of the individual mind whereas the state of God-consciousness is in no way dependent upon the individual mind or any other medium.A medium is necessary for knowing something other than one’s own self: for knowing one’s own self no medium is necessary.
——-AVATAR MEHER BABA[GEMS FROM THE DISCOURSES OF MEHER BABA By Meher Baba. An Avatar Meher Baba Trust eBook June 2011. Copyright © 1945 by Circle Productions, Inc. (a New York Corporation), Copyright © Adi K. Irani, 1967 Copyright © 2007, Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.]
Learning Body language from Vanessa van edwards – her newsletter i subscribe
I found Vanessa Van Edwards on Udemy when I was learning and beginning my Toastmasters Pathways journey. In one of the exercises we have there, we have to research a topic and speak. I found Apart from Content, it was Vocal variety, Gestures and Body Language, Personality which had important place in a Public Speaker’s repertoire.
Her focus and Special Expertise lay in BODY LANGUAGE. You can see the newsletter below, go to her website and take her Udemy courses if you are so inclined.
Are you ready for some interesting science facts? Me too!
As you might know, once a month I gather all of my favorite studies and tips into one fascinating, interesting, unique little newsletter. My goal is to share facts with you that you can then share with others. So then they say,
That’s so interesting!
…I also like to make them a game for you. Here’s what I got for you today:
1. Republicans prefer politicians with…
- deep voice and a square jaw
- big eyes and a longer than average face
- above average height
- small ears and bushy eyebrows
Seriously, research looked at this. This study found Republicans prefer politicians with 1. deep voice and a square jaw! I am gearing up for a big US election season. In fact, please mark your calendars to watch the US Presidential debate with me on September, 29th! My Watch Guide will help you look for interesting cues. I also analyzed the last five Presidential Debates for your amusement!
Presidential Debate Analysis + Watch Guides
I also analyzed of Kamala Harris’ body language. It’s going to be an interesting election year…
2. In conversation we tend to…
- Overestimate how much people like us
- Underestimate how much people like us
Does she like me?! Is a refrain I constantly say in my head. Good news! This study finds we tend to 2. Underestimate how much people like us!
Remember: You are likable. You are worthy.
3. Research says you should trust your…
- dog
- horoscope
- aha moments
- nightmares
You have a problem. You have been trying to solve it for hours. You go to sleep. You wake up at 2:00 a.m. thinking….”aha! I know the answer.” Turns out that you should trust that 3. aha moment! If you have taken any of our courses you know I am obsessed with aha moments. So I’m thrilled this study found when a solution to a problem seems to have come out of thin air, it’s most likely right.
From the study:
“A series of experiments conducted by a team of researchers determined that a person’s sudden insights are often more accurate at solving problems than thinking them through analytically.”Bottom line: Trust yourself.
4. Some of Beethoven’s famous works may have been inspired by…
- His cat
- His daughter
- His view of the ocean
- His heartbeat
A cardiologist, medical historian, and a musicologist teamed up to analyze Beethoven’s famous works. They found some of his rhythms may in fact reflect the irregular rhythms of his own heart, caused by cardiac arrhythmia! 4. his heartbeat might be what inspired his work!
…you never know what can be your spark of inspiration! Be sure to check out our post:
40 Productive Things to Do When You’re Bored
5. True or False: How much you worry can change over time.
I have come out publicly as a neurotic. And it turns out science has found that the worrying part of our brain can change over time (true!). AND this is different for men and women.
“Women high in neuroticism tended to have thinner cortex in the anterior cingulate with increasing age, while men high in neuroticism tended to have thicker cortex in the anterior cingulate with increasing age, compared to those with lower levels of neuroticism.”
So… don’t get mad at your partner, friend, spouse for worrying too much–they can’t help it!
To your success,
Vanessa
The Beacon Newsletter I subscribe to
 |
It’s Tuesday, September 15, and a new bill is paving a path to employment for California’s incarcerated firefighters. Inmate firefighters have battled some of California’s most destructive wildfires, including the Thomas Fire, the Mendocino Complex Fire, the Ferguson Fire, and the Camp Fire. But for years, most former inmates who had received firefighting training were ineligible to become professional firefighters; their criminal records prevented them from getting the state license necessary for employment.That changed on Friday, when Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2147 into law. The bill, which was sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Eloise Reyes, makes it easier for former inmates who have received training as firefighters to have their criminal records expunged. With a clean record, former inmates can obtain the emergency medical technician (EMT) certification that is needed to work in a municipal firefighting department.“CA’s inmate firefighter program is decades-old and has long needed reform,” Newsom tweeted after signing the bill. “Inmates who have stood on the frontline, battling historic fires should not be denied the right to later become a professional firefighter.”With the passage of AB 2147, some former inmates have said they are eager to apply to a firefighting job. “The news is huge,” said Michael Gebre, a former incarcerated firefighter, in an interview with NPR. “With me being an EMT, I could do more for the community that I serve.”— Joseph Winters THE SMOGNeed-to-know basisYesterday, in a visit to California to meet with Governor Gavin Newsom and other state officials, President Trump confirmed once again that he does not understand or believe in climate change. After blaming this year’s historic wildfires on forest management practices alone, the president assured them that “it’ll start getting cooler.” When the state secretary for natural resources quipped back, “I wish science agreed with you,” Trump responded, “Well, I don’t think science knows, actually.” A natural buffer that is helping to prevent two important glaciers in Antarctica from flowing out into the sea is deteriorating, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery. If one of these, the Thwaites glacier, collapsed, it could trigger the collapse of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet, which could raise sea levels by about 10 feet.Meanwhile, on the other side of the earth, temperatures in the Arctic have skyrocketed, likely changing the climate there for good. In fact, the Northern Hemisphere as a whole just had its hottest summer on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Monday.— Emily PontecorvoThe post Firefighters beyond bars appeared first on Grist. MORE GRIST FOR YOUR MILL Right-wing conspiracists falsely linked antifa to wildfires. Then the Russian media gave them a boost.How overlapping false claims about the wildfires ricocheted around conservative social media thanks to a bogus story from Russia. What oil executives say when they think no one’s listeningSecret recording shows they still think they can advertise their way out of the climate crisis. Google plans to power your searches with carbon-free energy by 2030Google’s announcement comes as historic fires linked to climate change have burned millions of acres across the Western U.S. ‘Climate arsonist’: Biden slams Trump’s wildfire response with a new insultThe presidential candidates just had their first scuffle on climate. Will the West’s giant fires spark a climate awakening?“If this doesn’t open people’s eyes, I don’t know what will.” |
Fact
Surgeons who play video games at least 3 hours a week perform 27% faster and make 37% fewer errors.
A SPECIAL DAY TOMORROW – 12TH SEPTEMBER 2020.
Return of Myanmar’s smiling turtle is reason to be cheerful | Life and style | The Guardian
My paintings
Atlas of the world’s unusual borders – Big Think
I liked this on Pinterest. sharing. learn faster
The Master serves. Mastery in servitude
The Master serves the whole universe out of the finality of his infinite consciousness, and those who serve the Master and obey him also have their share in his universal work. Their service has the advantage of his wisdom and insight.Willing participation in the work of the Master not only raises the value of service, but creates the best opportunities for spiritual enlightenment. In importance, service originating in the instructions of the Master is second only to the service rendered by the Master himself.-
——AVATAR MEHER BABA
[GEMS FROM THE DISCOURSES OF MEHER BABA By Meher Baba. An Avatar Meher Baba Trust eBook June 2011. Copyright © 1945 by Circle Productions, Inc. (a New York Corporation), Copyright © Adi K. Irani, 1967 Copyright © 2007, Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.]
Beside the point? Punctuation is dead, long live punctuation | Aeon Essays
Photo by Corbis/Getty
is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the School of English at the University of Sheffield, working on parentheses in Renaissance romance. Her first book ‘Refrains in Early Modern Literature’ is forthcoming, and she is currently writing a book called ‘Standing on Points: The History and Culture of Punctuation’.Listen here
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Aeon for Friends
Punctuation is dead – or is it? If you’ve ever texted ‘im here’ or ‘its in the car’, you’re in good company. Most of us have, at some point since the dawn of texting, transgressed the boundaries of good grammar, and swallowed one apostrophe or another in the name of speed or convenience. Studies have shown that such textisms as deliberate spelling mistakes, abbreviations and omission of apostrophes don’t deteriorate language skills, but boost them – provided such texting goes hand in hand with ‘proper’ grammar education.
Suppressing the little typographical hook that is the apostrophe might, however, pose graver issues when it occurs in public, such as in ads or pub signs, or even street names. Is it different if the state flaunts language rules? Enter the international Apostrophe Protection Society, with its attempts to call out misuse and spread good practice. But November 2019 saw the announcement of the society’s demise, and owing not only to the highly respectable age of its founder John Richards (96): it would close, the society said, because of the ‘ignorance and laziness present in modern times’. The announcement made global news, sky-rocketing the traffic on the charmingly old-school website some 600 times, which led to its temporary disappearance from the web, and an outcry against the society’s closure. Punctuation habits might be changing, but we still care.
Are prescribed grammar rules necessary, though, or a relic of some fussy conservatism and elitist era? Do we really need apostrophes (or any other mark of punctuation for that matter) or could we get rid of them for the sake of brevity? Is Princes Street rather than Prince’s or even the formidable Princes’ Street really a sign of our careless inattention to detail today? If punctuation can fall away and the words still make sense, why did we need it in the first place? Punctuation, like any other cultural production, has a tumultuous history full of public good and personal interest.
Check out our free, digital Food Magazine: The Avocado Edition
EU STARTups NEWSLETTER
It’s Charlotte here again, with an update from EU-Startups. Despite Thomas officially being still on paternity leave, last month we’ve been working on some very exciting new projects for you at EU-Startups. Can’t wait to find out? Read on!
Startup PR: In the next addition of the EU-Startups podcast we’ll be interviewing ourselves (!) and bringing you some tips and tricks on how to get press coverage for your startup at EU-Startups, as well as other tech publications. Think of it as a ‘How to get noticed by the press’ edition. Coming soon!
EU-Startups CLUB: Next Monday, 7th September, we will be launching our CLUB Membership programme. Although it’s still in the works, we can already tell you there will be different packages for our readers, startups, and investors/corporates, each with a cool tailored list of benefits. This will be a HUGE step for EU-Startups, and we hope we can count you in when we’ll be finally launching soon. Stay tuned! 🙂
Europe’s Google competitors: Google has too much market power. Would you agree? This week, our contributor Bojana is introducing you to 5 European Google competitors to watch.
Job Board opportunity: Don’t forget that until next Monday you can still upload job postings on the EU-Startups Job Board at no cost. With this little initiative we aim to support startups and job seekers during the current pandemic – we hope it helps a bit!
Italy’s COVID recovery: Our Italian contributor Claudia has been doing some in-depth interviews with startups, hubs, incubators and stakeholders to ask: How will the startups from the South of Italy recover from the pandemic? In this piece she dives into the challenges, possibilities and future startup landscape.
Founder Interview: Our contributor Floraidh has been focusing on the experience of BAME (Black, Asian, Minority, Ethic) founders, and just interviewed Kenny Alebge, founder of Home Hero, on their recent funding round, company culture, diversity and the power of mentoring.
Also, as many schools re-open across Europe and many of you return from summer holidays (maybe even to your real office or co-working space), my colleague Thomas will also start to come back from paternity leave soon (part-time). This means that the next newsletter edition might already be sent out by him again.
If you have any urgent questions in the meantime, please direct them to me for now, as this would help his inbox from overflowing too much! 🙂
Saludos from Barcelona,
Charlotte
Charlotte Tucker
Head of Content
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
EU-Startups.com
Menlo Media S.L.
Calle Encarnació 103, 2-2
08024 Barcelona, Spain
Charlotte.Tucker@EU-Startups.com
Vegetarian baked fried rice – ABC Life
Vegetarian baked fried rice
ABC Life / Hetty McKinnonPREP TIME0:15COOK TIME0:25SKILL LEVELLowSERVES4-6
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Sometime last year, I started making fried rice on a baking tray.
And while a tray will never replace my wok, somehow this pared-back method of preparing fried rice became essential to my days in isolation, when cooking became both a welcome distraction and a daily challenge.
What I love about this recipe is that it’s hands off. You mix cold rice with vegetables, add some seasoning and stick it into a blaring hot oven. From there, the oven does the work for you.
Baked at high heat, some of the rice crisps up, while other pieces remain soft, creating a pleasing melange of textures.
It’s both magical and practical at the same time, and exactly the type of low impact-high intensity cooking we are all looking for nowadays.
While ‘spring’ is the theme of this fried rice, this recipe is specifically designed so you can use any vegetables you want, depending on what’s in season, or what you have languishing in your vegetable crisper.https://www.youtube.com/embed/lzSST8NlkQg?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.auYOUTUBEHow to make fried rice in a baking tray
Tips:
- The veg is flexible: The basic principle is to use vegetables that will roast and become tender in about 20 minutes. I have made this recipe many times and always with different veggies — brussels sprouts, broccoli, mushrooms, carrot, and corn are all excellent veg to use. Aim for about 500g of vegetables.
- More ways to add heat: I often add kimchi to this mix but here I simply use sriracha, which adds an additional layer of spicy flavour.
- Bonus substitutions: In place of the leek, you could use onion, French shallot or a couple cloves of garlic. Use brown rice if you have it. The eggs are optional, of course, but add a lovely heartiness to this meal.
Every month, we publish a new recipe from our New Australian Classics series. Hetty McKinnon is a food writer and cookbook author with a passion for vegetables. She’s the author of three cookbooks, Community, Neighbourhood, and Family. Originally from Sydney, Hetty is currently living with her family in Brooklyn, New York.
MAX Burgers: Creating the World’s First “Climate Positive” Menu | Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland | UNFCCC
MAX Burgers: Creating the World’s First “Climate Positive” Menu | Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland 
Lighthouse Activity 2019Credit: Max Burgers
Lighthouse Activity 2019Credit: Max Burgers
Lighthouse Activity 2019Credit: Max Burgers
Lighthouse Activity 2019
Summary
The Swedish restaurant chain, Max Burgers, launched the world’s first “climate positive” menu in June 2018. Climate positive is defined as “removing more climate gases than the value chain emits while at the same time reducing emissions in line with the 1.5 degree goal from Paris”.
Max Burgers ensures that each item on its menu is “climate positive”, taking into account all emissions from the “farmers land to the guests hand”, while even including the customer’s journey back and forth to the restaurant. This has required extensive efforts by the company to measure its entire footprint.
Each item on Max Burger’s menu includes a CO2e label to empower customers to better understand the climate impact of food and guide them towards options with a lower carbon footprint. The initiative builds on the company’s 2016 launch of plant based “green burgers”, which have a fraction of the climate impact of beef burgers.https://player.vimeo.com/video/414776169?autoplay=0
Key Facts
- Max Burgers has undertaken a range of measures to cut emissions, including: switching to 100% wind power in all of its Swedish restaurants, being the first restaurant in the world to add “CO2e” labels to each menu item, and adopting 92% renewable packaging.
- Sales from Max’s green range of burgers (lacto-ovo and fully plant based) increased by 1000% between 2015 to 2018. In 2022, the company is aiming to ensure that every second meal sold is made without beef.
- Less than 1% of the food in Max’s kitchens is wasted and no palm oil is used in any of Max Burgers’ European operations.
- Max Burgers has been recognized as “one of the world’s most innovative companies in 2019” by Fast Company’s “World Changing Ideas” series.
The Problem
According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), livestock contribute significantly to today’s most serious environmental problems. FAO estimates that cattle-rearing generates around 14% of all global warming greenhouse gases, as measured in CO2 equivalent – an amount similar to the emissions produced by the entire transport sector.
Currently, farmed animals occupy 30 – 50% of the ice-free land on Earth, at great expense to natural habitats and potential carbon sequestration. The livestock sector generates at least a seventh of global greenhouse gas emissions and consumes roughly one-third of all freshwater on earth.
The Solution
As a fast food restaurant chain, Max Burgers aims to be part of the solution when it comes to helping transform our global food system. The company’s green, plant-based burgers have a fraction of the climate impact of beef and have been commercially successful — with sales jumping by 1000% between 2015 to 2018 and increasing from around 2% to 20% of meals sold. By 2022, the company is aiming to ensure that every second meal sold is made without beef.
In addition to reducing emissions, Max Burgers follows the ISO 14021:2017 standard for carbon neutrality. However, instead of offsetting 100% of its emissions as required by the standard, from June 2018 onwards, Max Burgers has offset 110% of its entire value chain’s emissions, making all food served “climate positive”.
Helping the Planet
Since 2008, Max Burgers has offset its entire value chains emission through Plan Vivo-certified tree-planting projects, which support smallholder agriculture and rural enterprise by providing local employment opportunities, as well as sustainable food and energy sources.
In the past decade, the company’s carbon offsetting programme has planted more than two million trees in Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique through the Plan-Vivo certification system — this is equivalent to covering 5,500 football fields with trees or removing 230,000 petrol cars from the road for one year.
Helping People
In 2008, Max Burgers became the first restaurant to CO2-label its entire menu to empower customers to make informed choices. This CO2e menu customers to understand the climate impact of beef burgers and guide then towards more sustainable options. By offering an extensive menu of plant-based “green” burgers, Max Burgers aims to entice customers towards a lower-emission, plant-based diet.
Spillover Effect
According to Sustainable Brand Index Max Burgers is a green industry leader in Sweden, which has compelled the company to join multiple dialogues within and outside the food industry (both in Sweden and internationally). Through these dialogues, Max Burgers has formed new alliances and encouraged other organizations and companies to adopt CO2e labelling to influence daily choices.
Maz Burgers also encourages other companies to become “Climate Positive” and advises them on how to do it. The company registers commitments from these new climate-positive companies on its new website, www.clipop.org. At least 10 companies have informed Max Burgers that they intend to become “climate positive” in 2019.
Toastmasters International -Undeterred, Unwavering, Unstoppable … We Are Toastmasters!
Would you rather
Would you rather spend a week in the wilderness or one night in a haunted house?
What I learned from President Obama | Jon Favreau (speechwriter) | UCD Literary & Historical Society – YouTube
US President Barack Obama’s former chief speechwriter Jon Favreau was presented with the James Joyce Award from the UCD Literary & Historical Society, University College Dublin. Once described by US President Obama as his “mind reader”, Jon Favreau’s words are credited as having contributed to getting Barack Obama elected President. Favreau worked on both the 2008 and 2012 election campaigns as chief speechwriter, and later served as Head of Speechwriting in the White House. Previous recipients of the UCD Literary & Historical Society, James Joyce Award include: Hollywood comedian, Will Ferrell; the Beatle’s music producer and arranger, the man known as the Fifth Beatle, Sir George Martin; Harry Potter author, JK Rowling; Nobel prize-winning economist, Professor Paul Krugman; former Monty Python, Michael Palin; and The Who frontman and legendary rock star, Roger Daltrey. The UCD James Joyce Award is named after the University College Dublin alumni and author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, James Joyce. It is presented by the UCD Literary and Historical Society to individuals who have achieved outstanding success in their given field.
What I learned from President Obama | Jon Favreau (speechwriter) | UCD Literary & Historical Society – YouTube
Toastmasters International -Famous Speechwriters
FOUR FAMOUS SPEECHWRITERS Toastmasters International has celebrated the art of public speaking since its inception, developing educational programs to grow transferable skills in communication and leadership. At Toastmasters clubs, members don’t just learn how to speak; they also learn how to write. And like any type of writing, speechwriting is a form of art. Today, we recognize a few great speechwriters. Jon Favreau The much-talked-about Jon Favreau first gained fame in 2008, when the then-27-year-old was named director of speechwriting for U.S. President Barack Obama. After a chance meeting with the future president while working on the John Kerry presidential campaign in 2004, Favreau began working for Obama the following year, when Obama was still a U.S. senator. Two years later, Favreau was on the campaign trail again, this time leading Obama’s speechwriting team. Favreau is famously credited as the primary writer for Obama’s 2009 inaugural speech. Ronald Miller British-born Sir Ronald Graeme Miller was a World War II veteran, a playwright writing scripts for MGM Studios in Hollywood, an actor, and a speechwriter for three British prime ministers. He is the man behind one of Margaret Thatcher’s most famous lines. In 1980, during a pivotal moment in the prime minister’s career, Thatcher addressed the Conservative Party conference, stating that she refused to perform a U-turn in the face of criticism of her liberalization of the economy. Playing on the title of Christopher Fry’s popular play “The Lady’s Not for Burning,” she said, “The lady’s not for turning.” Graham Freudenberg One of Australia’s most famous speechwriters, Graham Freudenberg has written over a thousand speeches for the country’s Labor Party, including those for Arthur Caldwell, Bob Hawke, Neville Wren, Bob Carr, Mark Latham and Gough Whitlam. While the speechwriter has been recognized for his large body of work, it is Whitlam’s “It’s Time” campaign speech in 1972 that remains his most famous. Peggy Noonan An author and a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan staked her claim to speechwriting fame as a primary writer for former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Her notable speeches include Reagan’s “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” address, given on the 40th anniversary of D-Day—the day Allied troops invaded Normandy in World War II—as well as the former president’s address after the space shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986. Later, while working for then-U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush, Noonan coined the catchphrase “a kinder, gentler nation.” A version of this article appeared in the March 2015 issue of the Toastmaster Magazine tablet app.
Toastmasters International -Famous Speechwriters
https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/articles/famous-speechwriters
Sunday Best Fruit Salad Recipe | Allrecipes
Sunday Best Fruit Salad
- 406 Ratings
- 299 Reviews
- 34 Photos
This is a wonderful and easy fruit salad that is also pretty for special occasions or holidays.By Pattie PriceSavePinPrintShare
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Recipe Summary
Prep:20 minsAdditional:25 minsTotal:45 minsServings:8Yield:6 to 8 servingsNutrition Info
Ingredients
Decrease Serving8Increase ServingAdjustOriginal recipe yields 8 servingsIngredient Checklist
- 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, juice reserved
- 2 medium (2-3/4″ dia) (approx 3 per lb)s apples, peeled and cored
- 1 (21 ounce) can peach pie filling
- 2 medium (7″ to 7-7/8″ long)s bananas, peeled and diced
- 3 eaches kiwis
- 1 pint strawberries
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Directions
Instructions Checklist
- Step 1In a small bowl, toss the chopped apples in reserved pineapple juice. Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Step 2In a large salad bowl, combine the peach pie filling and pineapple chunks.
- Step 3Remove apples from pineapple juice and add to pie filling and pineapple mixture. Add chopped bananas to reserved pineapple juice and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Step 4Peel and slice kiwi and 1/2 of strawberries. Chop the other 1/2 of strawberries and set aside.
- Step 5Remove bananas from pineapple juice and add to pie filling mixture. Add chopped strawberries; toss together.
- Step 6Arrange kiwi slices around the edge of the serving bowl and alternate with strawberry slices. Chill and serve.
I Made It Print
Nutrition Facts
Per Serving:183.5 calories; protein 2.1g 4% DV; carbohydrates 45.6g 15% DV; fat 0.5g 1% DV; cholesterolmg; sodium 15mg 1% DV. Full Nutrition
Quick and Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe | Allrecipes
Quick and Easy Vegetable Soup
- 520 Ratings
- 398 Reviews
- 63 Photos
A low calorie, but filling, tomato-based vegetable soup. I use fresh vegetables when in season, frozen or canned in winter.By Anne VackrinosSavePinPrintShare
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Recipe Summary
Servings:6Yield:6 servingsNutrition Info
Ingredients
Decrease Serving6Increase ServingAdjustOriginal recipe yields 6 servingsIngredient Checklist
- 1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
- 1 (11.5 ounce) can tomato-vegetable juice cocktail
- 1 cup water
- 1 large potato, diced
- 2 carrot, (7-1/2″)s carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped fresh green beans
- 1 cup fresh corn kernels
- salt and pepper to taste
- Creole seasoning to taste
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Directions
Instructions Checklist
- Step 1In a large stock pot, combine broth, tomato juice, water, potatoes, carrots, celery, undrained chopped tomatoes, green beans, and corn. Season with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until all vegetables are tender.
I Made It Print
Nutrition Facts
Per Serving:116.2 calories; protein 4g 8% DV; carbohydrates 24.3g 8% DV; fat 0.6g 1% DV; cholesterol 1.6mg 1% DV; sodium 639.5mg 26% DV. Full Nutritionhttps://429edab549de35ae3803ce0a2fa71b44.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
Chadwick Boseman Inspirational Quotes: He Was a Hero Off-Screen Too
18 Inspirational Quotes by Chadwick Boseman to Remember His Legacy
BY PIPPA RAGA
UPDATED 1 DAY AGO
America has been shaken by the recent and untimely passing of Chadwick Boseman, the awesomely talented actor who brought fictional heroes like Black Panther‘s King T’Challa and real heroes like Jackie Robinson to life.
Just as his career in Hollywood was soaring, Chadwick was privately undergoing “countless surgeries and chemotherapy.” After a stage 3 colon cancer diagnosis in 2016, the actor, who never spoke publicly about his illness, died of it at the age of 43 on Aug. 28.
To commemorate his legacy, here are 18 inspirational quotes by Chadwick Boseman that will empower and encourage his fans.
Chadwick Boseman’s most inspiring quotes
1. “When you are deciding on the next steps, next jobs, next careers, further education, you should rather find purpose than a job or a career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you.”
2. “The only difference between a hero and the villain is that the villain chooses to use that power in a way that is selfish and hurts other people.”
3. “Sometimes you need to get knocked down before you can really figure out what your fight is and how you need to fight it.”https://1e30c8bf5652e4650d6632b0d1cd9b96.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
4. “You’re not free unless you can show the good and the bad, all sides of them. So to me, when I play a character, it’s important that I can show every aspect of them.”
5. “It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history.”
6. “I said yes too much. I said yes to certain projects that weren’t for me. It was somebody else’s vision and somebody else’s dream and somebody else’s artistic endeavor, but it didn’t necessarily fit in my grand scheme.”
7. “I’m not afraid to work.”
8. “The number one rule of acting is: Do not seek approval from the audience. People don’t realize that. You can’t do stuff to get applause. You have to live in the truth.”
9. “When you play characters, you shouldn’t just be putting on their characteristics — you should be finding it inside yourself.”
10. “I try to look at every role the same way, regardless of whether the character is real or the character is fantasy. I always start from myself, because you have to know yourself first.”
11. “I think you realize how much you need to have people that you love. It’s not as much about them loving you — it’s about you needing to love people.”
12. “I’m an artist. Artists don’t need permission to work. Regardless of whether I’m acting or not, I write. I write when I’m tired in fact, because I believe your most pure thoughts surface.”
13. “You have to cherish things in a different way when you know the clock is ticking, you are under pressure.”
14. “The industry looks for white actors and actresses, but it’s not the same for Black actors. We have to really put the work in.”
15. “I truly believe there’s a truth that needs to enter the world at a particular time.”
16. “A superhero movie is only as great as its villains.”
17. “Fearlessness means taking the first step, even if you don’t know where it will take you. It means being driven by a higher purpose, rather than by applause. It means knowing that you reveal your character when you stand apart more than when you stand with the crowd.”
18. “In my culture, death is not the end, it’s more of a stepping off point.” — Chadwick Boseman as the legendary T’Challa
Toastmasters International – body language
Toastmasters International –
Check out our free digital Food Magazine: The Vegetarian Edition
RUMI on Goodbyes
“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”
― Rumi
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Today’s Inspirational Quote:
Today’s Inspirational Quote:
“Never give up, never look down and never look back. Always move forward in life. Don’t let anyone make you feel as if you don’t belong or unworthy of… ever. Those that do are just not strong enough to handle such greatness. Be proud of who you are. Always walk with your head high, you are never alone.”
— Author Unknown
Did you know
Did you know…
… that today is the birthday of Mary Wollenstone Shelley (1797)? Shelley was an English novelist and short story writer best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Seth Godin Newsletter
Date certain
One of the most expensive things a service business or freelancer can do is promise that work will be done by a certain day. Which is something we need to do, of course, but we should charge appropriately. “It’ll be done soon,” should be way cheaper than, “It’ll be done at exactly 11 am on Tuesday.”
And one of the most important things we can do to focus our energy and commitment is be prepared to promise a date certain. It sharpens everything.
Seth Godin Newsletter
Spreading like wildflowers
Often, people encounter ideas that are spreading like wildfire.
The problem with a wildfire is that not only is it out of control, but it leaves nothing but destruction in its wake.
Build an idea that spreads like wildflowers instead.
WORD OF THE DAY
Zen
zen
Part of speech: nounOrigin: Japanese, 12th century1
A Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition.Examples of Zen in a sentence”‘
I have lived with several Zen masters — all of them cats.’ ― Eckhart Tolle,
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment”
“I admire the Zen philosophies and have tried to adapt those principles into my meditation practice.”
(850) The last living members of an extinct species – Jan Stejskal – YouTube
Did you know…
Did you know…
… that today is Gold in the Yukon Day? While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory on this day in 1896, George Carmack spotted nuggets of gold in a creek bed. His lucky discovery sparked the last great gold rush in the American West.
WORLD NEWS AND COVID 19
World News
- A new diplomatic era: Israel’s New Peace Deal Transforms the Middle East (New Yorker, $)
- Why the UAE Made Peace With Israel (Atlantic, $)
- The Israel-U.A.E. Deal and the Beirut Blast Both Box in Iran (NYT, $)
- The Corrupt Political Class That Broke Lebanon (Foreign Affairs). The blast was the symptoms, but Lebanon’s sectarian system was the sickness.
- Why the Mauritius oil spill is so serious (BBC)
- BLM goes global: ‘No Slavery in Australia’? These Pacific Islanders Tell a Different Story (NYT, $)
- Japan’s unknown indigenous cuisine (BBC)
- In hot waters: U.S., South Korea to begin scaled back military drills amid coronavirus spike (NBC)
- Applying Cold War Analogies to the US-Chinese Relationship Is a Misuse Of History—and Shows a Misunderstanding of the Present (Foreign Policy, $). How USSR talking points distort our perception of China.
- Former Deputy Mayor of Paris Accused of Sexual Abuse (NYT, $)
COVID-19
- Obesity Raises the Risk of Death From COVID-19 Among Men (NYT, $)
- Serum Institute of India Is Ready to Produce a Coronavirus Vaccine (Bloomberg)
- What Contact Tracing Data Is Telling Us About How COVID-19 Spreads (NPR)
- COVID-19 symptoms often appear in this order, according to a new study (CBS)
- A Coronavirus Vaccine Requires Medical Essentials Like Vials and Needles (Bloomberg)
- Clorox wipes shortage: The best disinfecting wipe alternatives (Quartz)
- In the Wake of COVID-19 Lockdowns, a Troubling Surge in Homicides (NYT, $)
$760 Mn Worth Venture Capital Lost In Shutdown Of Indian Startups
Reliance Eyes Urban Ladder, Milkbasket To Expand Ecommerce Footprint
Haunting dispatches from the edge of the Roman Empire, just before its collapse | Aeon Videos
What pro wrestling can teach us about the quest for truth | Psyche Ideas
The rest cure challenges cherished myths about a working body | Aeon Essays
Random Acts of Kindness
1. Buy a stranger a free pizza or a dessert
2. Help people move
3. Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a local shelter.
4. Send an interesting article to a friend
5. Slip a bit of $$$ to a person who you know is having financial difficulty. Even better if they don’t know where it came from.
Truth and DAre
-
TRUTH
Do you like anyone in this group more than a friend? -
DARE
Let the group pour ice down the back of your shirt.
Never Have I Ever Questions
-
Never have I ever been to a professional basketball game.
WORD OF THE DAY
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| Examples of Logomachy in a sentence
“A logomachy might seem silly, but it’s important to get your message across.” “We had a bit of a logomachy over what our new team slogan should be.” |
What is beauty if not a jolt that awakens us to the world? | Aeon Essays
Nik’s Book Summaries Newsletter I like
Hi, it’s Nik again with 3 more free and life-changing book summaries just for you!
Do you like audiobooks? We do! It’s an extra way of learning from great books anytime, anywhere. But if you bought 300 full audiobooks, that’d take you 100 days of straight listening – and $6,000.
To speed all that up for you, we put together 300 audio recordings of our short summaries. For just $49, you’ll get 900 great lessons from the world’s best non-fiction books, available through an exclusive SoundCloud playlist and for you to download offline and take wherever you go!
Get 300 Audio Summaries for Just $49 >>
And now, on to our books of the week!
Own Your Everyday by Jordan Lee Dooley
1-Sentence-Summary: Own Your Everyday shows you how to let go of comparison, stress, and distractions so you can find your purpose and live a more fulfilling life by sharing inspiring lessons from the experiences of author Jordan Lee Dooley.
- Always dive deep enough to find the root of your problems if you really want to solve them.
- Let go of the pressure to perform by eliminating the habit of comparing yourself to others.
- To beat distractions, look at their future consequences with the 10-10-10 rule.
If you need some powerful lessons to motivate and inspire you, this book is for you.
Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly
1-Sentence-Summary: Resisting Happiness shows you how to get more joy in your life by exploring the roadblocks you unknowingly put in the way of it, explaining why it’s a choice, and giving specific tips to help you make the decision to be content.
- Remember to read and that money isn’t everything if you want more meaning in life.
- Learn the joy of being alone.
- Practice delaying gratification and make sure you keep good friends close to reach your full potential.
If you want to become happier, this book is for you.
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
1-Sentence-Summary: The Art Of The Start is your guide to beginning a company and explains everything from getting the right people on board to writing a winning business plan and building your brand.
- Your first goal as an entrepreneur must be to create meaning, not make money.
- Prepare your Milestones, Assumptions, and Tasks to have direction and purpose right from the start.
- Set yourself up for success by creating a business plan.
If you want to start a company that gets off on the right foot, this book is for you.
That’s it for this week, have a great weekend!
Happy reading,
-Nik
StrengthsFinder – PDF Drive
StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath – PDF Drive
Random Paragraph
The red ball sat proudly at the top of the toybox. It had been the last to be played with and anticipated it would be the next as well. The other toys grumbled beneath. At one time each had held the spot of the red ball, but over time they had sunk deeper and deeper into the toy box.
Random Acts of Kindness
1. Collect money or items for your favorite charity.
2. Give your partner a massage.
3. Invite children to play with you at recess.
4. Say I love you to someone you love
5. While you’re out, compliment a parent on how well-behaved their child is.
All recipes Newsletter
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What’s Cooking – allrecipes newsletter
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Random Acts of Kindness
1. Admit when you’re in the wrong (it helps other people feel better about their mistakes!)
2. Go caroling.
3. Run errands for elderly/widows in your area.
4. Tell a joke to make someone laugh.
5. leave diapers and wipes at a changing station
Random Paragraph – writing prompt
Sometimes it’s simply better to ignore the haters. That’s the lesson that his dad had been trying to teach him, but he still couldn’t let it go. He latched onto them and their hate and couldn’t let it go, but he also realized that this wasn’t healthy. That’s when he came up with his devious plan.
Random Acts of Kindness
1. Bake cookies for your postman/postwoman.
2. Be generous with compliments
3. Check on your elderly neighbors after a storm.
4. Give a letter of appreciation to your pastor
5. Let your kids stay up an hour later than normal if it is not a school day the next day.
The Beacon Newsletter I like
| It’s Wednesday, August 26, and Senate Democrats have a climate plan, too!
Another day, another plan to address our overheating planet: On Tuesday, the Special Committee on the Climate Crisis — a group of 10 Democratic U.S. senators led by Hawaii’s Brian Schatz — released a 260-page report calling on the government to build “the clean energy future we all deserve.” Compared to recent climate plans released by House Democrats and presidential nominee Joe Biden, the Senate’s climate action roadmap is a little vague on specifics. It calls on the U.S. to cut carbon emissions to “net-zero” by 2050, but, besides putting a $400 billion per year price tag on the clean energy transition, it doesn’t pick many policy favorites. The plan does, however, address one elephant in the room: money. Senate Democrats say that if banks, insurers, and investors continue taking on more climate risks, the economy could face a 2008-style collapse. To avert yet another economic downturn, the committee recommends that publicly-traded companies be legally required to disclose their climate risks. It also calls on the Federal Reserve to incorporate climate change into U.S. monetary policy. The Senate plan also takes aim at the money fossil fuel companies spend to influence elections and spread disinformation about climate change. To prevent elected officials from being swayed by fossil fuel dollars, the senators suggest a set of rules that would pull back the veil on fossil fuel funding of shadowy nonprofits and reform the campaign finance system at the same time.
THE SMOGNeed-to-know basis Hurricane Laura is projected to hit the Louisiana and Texas coast as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm tonight, according to the National Hurricane Center. Twenty million people are in the storm’s path, and half a million have been ordered to evacuate due to the threats of storm surge, extreme winds, and flooding.
Sea-level rise and increased flood risks from climate change have not been incorporated into the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood maps, despite a 2012 congressional mandate. Without information on flood risk, developers will continue to build in flood-prone areas, leading to a dangerous and expensive cycle of damage and reconstruction.
Despite recent attempts to green its image, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce doesn’t include votes for climate legislation in the ratings it gives lawmakers — even in cases where the group publicly endorsed such legislation, according to a new analysis from the World Resources Institute. In fact, the Chamber’s 2019 “How They Voted” scorecard gave congressional climate deniers an average score of 81 percent, and 87 percent of those climate deniers were honored by the Chamber for their pro-business votes.
MORE GRIST FOR YOUR MILL
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Nik’s Book Summaries Newsletter I like
Heyo, Nik here with your free summary of the day.
If you enjoy these, check out our reading guide. It’ll help you learn and remember more from everything you read.
Happy reading!
Want to get just one weekly summary roundup? Switch to weekly.
1-Sentence-Summary: The Art Of The Start is your guide to beginning a company and explains everything from getting the right people on board to writing a winning business plan and building your brand.
Read in: 4 minutes
Favorite quote from the author:
You’ve heard that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This is sound advice, but too frequently we get stuck before we even make the initial push forward.
This is especially true if you’re thinking about starting a company. And who can blame you? With such a momentous task at hand, it’s no wonder you’d get stuck in the planning stages.
But if you don’t ever start, you’re not going to experience the success that becoming an entrepreneur will bring you.
That’s why you’re going to love Guy Kawasaki’s tips in The Art of The Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything. It’ll teach you all the planning you need to do and just what your first steps need to be so you can build a winning company.
Here are the 3 biggest lessons I’ve learned from this book:
- Your first goal as an entrepreneur must be to create meaning, not make money.
- Prepare your Milestones, Assumptions, and Tasks to have direction and purpose right from the start.
- Set yourself up for success by creating a business plan.
Got your winning business idea ready? Let’s jump into these lessons and discover how to make it happen!
If you want to save this summary for later, download the free PDF and read it whenever you want.Download PDF
Lesson 1: Making money isn’t as important as creating meaning.
Before I began my entrepreneurial journey, I was apprehensive about it. I’d see corrupt billionaires and guys advertising their get rich quick scheme with flashy cars and big houses. I wanted nothing to do with any of that stuff. And I definitely didn’t want to become that kind of person.
The reason these things are so tacky and obnoxious is that they go against everything that business should be. It’s more about the money than making a difference, which is what winners focus on before cash.
Your company does this by making a product or service that makes the world a better place. And the more what you do or sell improves the lives of your customers, the more successful your business will be.
This happens because when your primary focus is money, the main motivation is greed. That attracts dishonest people that make your customers feel uncomfortable, just like the guys with sports cars.
Contrast this with a company that focuses on creating value and truly helping people. If you’ve ever worked at such a place then you know the powerful motivation that trying to make a difference brings.
You can build this meaning into your company from the start by identifying a mantra that supports it. This is different than a mission statement but is also a short and powerful phrase that reminds everyone of your why.
Nike’s, for example, is “Authentic athletic performance.” And Disney uses the mantra of “Fun family entertainment” to remind themselves of their purpose.
Lesson 2: If you want purpose and direction from the beginning, prepare your Milestones, Assumptions, and Tasks with the MAT framework.
Have you ever worked at a place that seems like it’s going nowhere? I’ve been there before and it’s not really fun. You don’t want to create this kind of environment for your employees. To avoid this, use the MAT framework to get direction:
- Milestones
- Assumptions
- Tasks
The initial step is to identify milestones, which are the big events on your way to accomplishing your business goals. This is vital because it lets you see clear steps in the path to success and review how well you’re doing at each of them.
You might, for example, set a milestone of establishing a “proof of concept” for your product to make sure it will actually work. A good follow-up step would be to finish the prototype. And last, you’d want to track the milestone of getting funding to make it.
Next, you must review the assumptions you’re making about your business. Brainstorm a list of everything that you think is true about your idea that might not actually be accurate. You want to look specifically for thoughts that you have no data to back up. Keep track of them to see whether or not you were right about them.
Last comes listing the tasks that you need to do on a daily or weekly basis to meet your milestones. These can be anything from setting up insurance policies for your employees to acquiring office space.
Lesson 3: A business plan will set you up for success.
In the words of Benjamin Franklin:
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”
A plan is anything that identifies our objectives and the steps we’re going to take to reach them, and this is no different for a business. Although it might sound formal and even maybe useless for a startup that has a lot of unknowns, but this is a vital step on your path to profit.
Think about your stakeholders, for example. They might not ever read it, but you’d better bet they’ll ask for it. And you’re never going to get funding from investors unless you have a business plan.
Having one is great, but the steps you’ll take to make it are also helpful for many reasons. The process of writing it gives your team a chance to work together more efficiently, for example.
It might even tell you how much you don’t want to work with the people you’ve got on board. That’s a really important piece of information to have as early as possible!
Additionally, the process of reviewing all that you need for a good plan will show you gaps in your thinking. For instance, you might have nobody on your team preparing for customer service.
The trick to making an effective business plan is making sure the executive summary is spot on. It’s a four-paragraph abstract of the entire plan and is the first thing anyone reads. Make it good and you’ll attract attention and success!
The Art Of The Start Review
It’s funny, with all the talk The Art Of The Start had of iPods and Hummers, I definitely got a big 2004 vibe from it and guess when it came out? 2004! I think that’s also a big reason why I struggled with many of these ideas-because they’re already outdated! Luckily he recently released version 2.0 which we’ll have to summarize soon. I’m looking forward to it too because I felt like this version makes starting a business more difficult than it needs to be!
Read full summary on Blinkist >>
Learn more about the author >>
Who would I recommend The Art Of The Start summary to?
The 24-year-old who is thinking that they want to become an entrepreneur, the 56-year-old CEO that has a new idea for a product but needs some help planning it out, and anybody that wants to know how to start a business.
The post The Art Of The Start Summary appeared first on Four Minute Books.
Keep learning,
-Nik
PS: Want to get more out of everything you read? Check out our guide!
Random Acts of Kindness
1. Clean up a local park
2. Compliment others. A simple “your hair looks great!” can make someone’s day.
3. Donate used clothes
4. Hold the elevator.
5. Support your own and your friends’ kids at their recitals and games.
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Breakfast Burritos Recipe | Allrecipes
Allrecipes | Food, friends, and recipe inspiration
Jamie’s Sweet and Easy Corn on the Cob Recipe | Allrecipes
Barbequed Peaches | Allrecipes
Take a Stance – Stand Up to it!
“Sometimes you must agree with someone’s opinion for the sake of being polite and modest, but within you, you know that you are not foolish and crazy.”
―
Strategy+business Newsletter I like
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