Do the Opposite — Issue #1
This is the first post in the Do the Opposite series, in which I will be sharing the best articles and resources I find on the topics of tech, languages, coding, habits, self-improvement, etc. — all centered around the theme of Learning.
If you like what you read, please share this post by recommending it on Medium! I would be beyond grateful!
Articles:
1) [Entrepreneurship: Self-Promotion] From Zero to 35,000: How I Built A Big Email List Exclusively About Books I Liked by Ryan Holiday
The tools and steps that Ryan Holiday used to build a large audience, just by sending infrequent emails to his subscribers (however, the quality of these emails was off the charts!).
2) [Strategy] The More We Limit Ourselves, the More Resourceful We Become” by James Clear
It can be very valuable to apply “reversal” techniques to what we perceive to be our weaknesses, constraints and difficulties. Turns out, weaknesses can be made strengths by changing the way we look at them.
For instance, let’s assume that you are not a native speaker of the language you use day-to-day. You could think that this was a weakness, because everyone else around you seems to have an advantage over you. However, it may cause you to double check your work, resulting in a final product of far better quality than something that you would put together if you were 100% sure of your language mastery. Having a wider gap between a negative or angry remark made my someone and your emotions (the gap is wider because you have to take time to process the information in a more abstract form) allows you to react rationally and avoid conflict. The list can go on and on, as long as you are willing to do the work of reversing the dogmas dictated by common sense. ( Now, hopefully, the title of this newsletter is starting to make more sense #DoTheOpposite )
Our constraints can helps us laser-focus our efforts in one direction, because all the other options are not accessible. That removes the headache of having to constantly think whether you are moving in the right direction.
3) [Entrepreneurship: Marketing] “This Guy Earned $450k Last Year. And He Hasn’t Written a Line of Code.” by Charlyn Keating
Charlyn gives actionable tactics on how to build audience and how to market your product, be it an app, a book, or something else entirely, based on the story of a writer — Mark Dawson, who is self-publishing his books on Amazon.
Resources:
1) [Language Learning] Fluent in 3 Months by Benny Lewis
One of the highest quality resources on learning foreign languages. Make sure to read Benny’s personal story of how he became a polyglot after having great difficulties learning his second language at school. He thought that he just wasn’t gifted when it came to languages. Turned out he was wrong. If you have experienced the same issues or fears, read Benny’s blog and drop the limitations that have been holding you back.
2) [Productivity] Trello
Trello is a powerful visual task manager, with boards that help you organize your projects exactly the way you want them to be. I use it for both work and personal projects, which includes collecting information for this newsletter and throwing in ideas on its future format. You could have a board with the recommendations of your friends (Or even this newsletter, huh? What a concept!), and the board would have sections — “Movies to watch”, “Books to read”, “Things to buy”, “Articles to read”. You can also create checklists, add images, and who-knows-what-else! They keep adding new stuff in!
Quote:
“The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself. That’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.” -Neil Gaiman
This post originally appeared in the Do the Opposite Newsletter. If you are interested in these topics (everything around learning: tech, coding, languages, new skills, habits, etc.), consider joining the newsletter — you will be the first to get access to new posts!
If you know of something that should be published in Do the Opposite, state it in comments or replies, providing a URL and a short description of that resource, and it might be included in the future issues.
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Keep doing the opposite,
Alexander @Ka11away
