Self-doubt, self-improvement and remembering the assassination of JFK
Stories I’ve loved on Medium this week — 26.11.16
I read a lot. So, each Saturday, I share the Stories I’ve loved from around Medium over the last seven days.
Enjoy.
America’s Achilles Heel — Dave Pell
When we’re under the influence of celebrity, we can do almost anything. We can free a person you’d couldn’t imagine free. We can elect a person you’d never imagine getting elected. We can all look at the same things at the same time and see entirely different things. Performance becomes more important than reality.
Dave Pell has an interesting take on the unexpected success of Donald Trump’s attempt to become US President: America too easily lets its celebrity obsession get in the way of supposed common sense.
As a Brit I can’t say much after the tragedy that was the EU referendum, but damn, celebrity is such an American thing to get obsessed over.
Top 10 self-doubt tracks — Jessica Semaan
1- You are too broken to heal
2- You will always be afraid of love, I don’t think you will ever be in a relationship or have a kid
3- You are self-absorbed and therefore a selfish friend
If there are two writers I enjoy reading most on Medium, it’s Jessica Semaan and James Altucher. Why? Because they’re so frickin’ honest. It’s what makes them both stand out from the crowd.
Semaan loves to talk about the stuff we wouldn’t even consider putting down in a blog post. And her Top 10 self-doubt tracks are spot on when it comes to the thoughts which run through many of our heads on a daily basis.
I’d highly recommend reading her most successful post: Fuck changing yourself
There Is No Self-Improvement if You’re Not Already Pretty Good — Mike Sturm
The more focused you are on improving yourself, and the more you consume this self-improvement literature, the higher the risk that you will fail to realize the benefits of all that time and energy.
With a recent abundance of posts about perfect morning routines, the habits to take from billionaires, and the books you need to read before you can get anywhere near success, this post from Mike was perfectly timed.
Motivational and a pleasant reminder that self-improvement (initially) comes from within, it’s worth a read if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the mountains of how to posts all over Medium and the Internet.
One Deep Writing Question (with an Answer) — Joel Mwakasege
Usefulness, a dash of personality, and a little bit of tactic.
Are requisites of spectacular writing.
Disconnected they are worthless. Connected they are priceless.
For a guy who openly admits to still be experimenting with how and what he writes, Joel gives some damn good advice. This post, out of the many that I’ve read, is one of his best.
The simple message: write to connect with who you’re writing for.
I’d recommend signing up for Joel’s daily writing course here.
Remembering the Assassination of Our President — Clint Hill
Suddenly, I hear an explosive noise over my right shoulder, from the rear. Instinctively, I turn toward the noise, and my eyes cross the back of the presidential vehicle. I see President Kennedy throw his hands up to his throat and move violently to his left.
Oh God. Someone is shooting at the president.
Now this, this type of story is why I’m so hooked on Medium; a first-hand account of JFK’s assassination from the Secret Service agent who reacted quickest once shots were fired.
Maybe it’s just my above-average interest in JFK’s assassination, but this is my favourite story of the week. Well worth a read.
Check out the book this blog post has been pieced together from here.
Thanks for reading Chapter 195!
