
what am I thinking about

“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
👋 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 + |
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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 + |
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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 |
“My eyes were made to erase all that is ugly.” via Art Quote of the Day https://ift.tt/2MzHgqu |
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.” |
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
“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 |
… 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?!
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“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
… 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!
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“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
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.]
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…
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!
I also analyzed of Kamala Harris’ body language. It’s going to be an interesting election year…
2. In conversation we tend to…
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…
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…
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:
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
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It’s Tuesday, September 15, and a new bill is paving a path to employment for California’s incarcerated firefighters.![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Surgeons who play video games at least 3 hours a week perform 27% faster and make 37% fewer errors.
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.]
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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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.
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
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EU-Startups.com
Menlo Media S.L.
Calle Encarnació 103, 2-2
08024 Barcelona, Spain
Charlotte.Tucker@EU-Startups.com
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
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 Lighthouse Activity 2019Credit: Max Burgers
Lighthouse Activity 2019Credit: Max Burgers
Lighthouse Activity 2019Credit: Max Burgers
Lighthouse Activity 2019
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
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
Would you rather spend a week in the wilderness or one night in a haunted house?
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
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
This is a wonderful and easy fruit salad that is also pretty for special occasions or holidays.By Pattie PriceSavePinPrintShare
Prep:20 minsAdditional:25 minsTotal:45 minsServings:8Yield:6 to 8 servingsNutrition Info
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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
A low calorie, but filling, tomato-based vegetable soup. I use fresh vegetables when in season, frozen or canned in winter.By Anne VackrinosSavePinPrintShare
Servings:6Yield:6 servingsNutrition Info
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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
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.
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
“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
“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
… 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.
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.
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.
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.”
… 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
COVID-19
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.” |
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!
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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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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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.
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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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!
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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:
Got your winning business idea ready? Let’s jump into these lessons and discover how to make it happen!
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.
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:
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.
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!
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 >>
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!
“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.”
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