Sunday Summary #4
28.08.16
Welcome to the fourth edition of the Sunday Summary.
The Sunday Summary is a weekly post that recaps my previous seven days of Chapter-ing. This way, you can get a quick snapshot of my week, and delve in to any posts you might’ve missed.
There’s also a bonus section at the foot of the Chapter dedicated to sharing the posts I’ve read and loved on Medium this week.
Let’s get right in to it.
Monday
…in acknowledgement of the fact face-to-face book recommendations offer a terrible return on investment, I’m making Chapter 99 a regularly updated list of really, really ridiculously good books.
Tuesday
Pure, unending confidence in your ability doesn’t exist, nor does a consistent motivation to see out a commitment. So you just kind of pretend both do exist.
Fake it ’til you make it and all that.
Wednesday
See, if I hold a relationship with someone that I respect and enjoy knowing, I’ll try to give my all to that relationship. Odds are, the other person won’t put in the same amount of effort — I’m aware of that fact — but if my judgement is correct about them, then that extra one, five or ten per cent I give will be paid back eventually.
Thursday
One minute you’re strolling along, ice cream in one hand, animal balloon in the other. The next, your elephant has learned how to fly and your ice cream is attracting ants on the floor.
Friday
When you feel like you’re in the dark, how well you know yourself serves as the difference between believing there’s a light switch to be found, or giving up and accepting that you’ll forever be blind.
Saturday
These days I don’t look for what’s on newspaper frontpages. The ground interests me more.
Stories I’ve read and loved on Medium this week
Following are the simplest tips I can give you to easily — and forever — improve the quality of your writing.
As you can probably work out, writing is a pretty big deal to me. I love writing, it’s my life. I focus my writing more towards the blogging style of writing, but it’s writing nonetheless and I’m addicted to it.
I never stop looking for ways to improve what I do though. So, while I was tempted to scroll past this Josh Spector article earlier in the week, I decided to give it a quick read and I’m super glad I did. From limiting your use of ‘that’ to keeping your sentences short and snappy, Josh provides some great advice even experienced writers may need reminding of.
When we turn our devices on first thing in the morning,we get bombarded with inputs. It’s like drinking from a firehose of information that keeps shifting our attention from one stimulus to another, each providing a hit of dopamine, that keeps us craving more. It’s the digital equivalent of snorting a few lines of cocaine when you wake up. But unlike cocaine, there’s no stigma to this behavior and so we don’t think it’s that big a deal.
This is a great piece by Srinivas Rao, and advice that I actually put in to action at the back end of the week (Thursday to be exact). I still need to get rid of the phone-as-an-alarm-clock (PAAAC) system I’ve had going for years, but since Thursday I’ve avoided spending time on my phone for at least an hour or two after I’ve woken up. It’s an invigorating feeling, and a habit I’d highly recommend you make an effort to pick up.
