Morning, precious!
I just want to start this week’s email by saying thank you. I’m lucky to have so many of you reading these weekly neurons-stretching thoughts and always sending back feedback on them.
Now this is gonna sound like a ‘first world problems’ kind of thing, but it’s something I need to mention: I’ve been feeling really bad for not replying to all your emails. I read and take action based on them, they’ve helped me greatly improve Friday Read, and I want to thank you for that.
Whatsoever, the huge (and increasing) volume has made it impossible for me to also reply. It would mean that I don’t do anything else besides writing emails all day long – and even then I’m not sure I’d be able to keep up. That wouldn’t be very practical, now would it? The impact would be limited and I wouldn’t have any time left to work, learn, think, get bored and grow – this newsletter would eventually be affected as well.
So here’s what I suggest instead: send me things that you publicly want me to answer. Let me know what you’re currently interested in or stuff that’s been bothering you, and I’ll reply through a blog post filled with resources (one of the articles below was born this way). Instead of helping just one person, more people might end up reading them and learning more on the subject. How does that sound?
Now on to this week’s goodies:
1. This Is All There Is (And It’s More Than Enough)
This is an article published by Ryan Holiday in 2015 that I’ll sometimes reread, just so that I don’t forget to stop for one second, breathe, appreciate what I have and be grateful for it. It could have been so much worse.
Why do we always want more? Why is in our human nature this insatiable need for more money, more fame, more success, more whatever?
Avicii and Robin Williams should be cautionary tales. People loved them, it seemed like they had everything they ever wanted, and it still didn’t matter if they weren’t fulfilled on the inside.
2. LESS
A 2013 manifesto for less from James Altucher. Less stuff, less books, less meetings, less baggage. Read it together with this essay from Paul Graham: Life is short (I’ve linked to it in the past, but rereading it is always worthy of our time).
3. No “yes.” Either “HELL YEAH!” or “no.”
Decision-making model from Derek Sivers, one of my favorite persons in this world: when overwhelmed and trying to decide whether you should do something or not, if you’re not saying „HELL, YEAH!”, say „no”.
Say no to everything that doesn’t excite you that much… but only when you’re in more advanced stages and afford to. Do the opposite when you’re at the beginning, say yes to everything – you never know where it might take you. Best to expose yourself to as many opportunities as possible.
4. You Don’t Need More Self-Discipline. You Need Nuclear Mode.
Pick your battles. Don’t rely solely on your willpower – you’ll wear it out, just as any other muscle. You need it for the important decisions, not for the small ones, such as keeping yourself away from food that’s bad for you, overusing technology, and so on.
5. The crucial skill we need in the knowledge economy
I closed my Facebook account in December, the day before my 10-year anniversary on the social network (which also happened to be Christmas Day). I know the Kübler-Ross model was created for different situations, but I’ve went through all its stages before, feeling like a drug addict: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and, finally acceptance. Acceptance that Facebook is bad for me.
So I decided to start small, with a one-week experiment without it. That turned into one month. And now, four months later… I try to avoid saying the word „never”, but it’s highly likely that I’ll never use it again. I see this as one of the best decisions I’ve made for my mental health.
I’ve decided it’s about time to write about the positive outcomes, but also the book, resources and friends that helped me make this step.
P.S. As you’ve probably noticed, lately I’ve been on and off with the Friday Read book recommendations. I’ve decided to redirect all this energy into The CEO Library newsletter, where I was also writing about books and some interests overlapped. It was taking too much of my energy to split into two places.
So, if that was something you were interested in, you might want to consider subscribing to The CEO Library newsletter. It’s a newsletter for anyone with an entrepreneurial mindset, no matter if CEOs, managers, intrapreneurs, solopreneurs, freelancers, indie hackers – no need to put yourself in a box 
I send it every Sunday – here’s what to expect from it, besides my weekly book recommendations.
P.P.S. if you don’t know anything about The CEO Library, read about our mission first.
Stay curious.
– Cristina
