Hi smart friend,
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas. Here is your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics. A few things I’ve stumbled upon that could be useful to you.
Welcome to the seven new subscribers receiving this for the first time (102 total). It’s a Christmas miracle! I set an arbitrary goal of attracting 100 subscribers by the end of the year, goal accomplished 💯. Barring some unforeseen tragedy like losing a few of you to unsubscriber purgatory.
Thank you to each and every one of you. I know your attention is precious so I don’t it for granted. I will continue to do my best to deliver one useful newsletter and essay to you each week. Who are one or two smart friends you could share this with 😀?
Essay I wrote last week
More stories, please. The world is oversaturated with many things but one thing we can never get enough of is more good stories. Now is the perfect time for you to start sharing them. You never know who needs to hear the story you have yet to tell. You have the right to remain silent, but please don’t.
Book I read
Another soon-to-be classic by Seth Godin. The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. Too many of us are hoarders of the worst kind. Hoarding ideas is a horrible idea. Creative work is a work of art and your art can be anything that seeks to change someone in a meaningful way. This doesn’t mean you have to be a painter or author. Your creative work could be anything you deem worthy of changing someone for the better. None of us create art because we are creative. We are creative because we create art.
Musician I’ve been enjoying
Tyler Childers. My friend Scott introduced me to this guy a few years ago while on his bachelor trip in Nashville. I had never heard of him before but I begged Scott to play him on repeat for the entire weekend.
I’m not a big country fan but something about his voice captivated my ears👂. You can feel the emotion oozing from his words. Here’s a good one to start with: Follow you to virgie. You’re welcome for making you cry this morning.
Personal development seminar I’ve been listening to again
Jim Rohn’s personal development seminar is one I find myself returning back to at least once a year. I discovered this seven years ago and played the CD in my car during my daily 3+ hour commute to my first job out of college while working in sales for the Atlanta Hawks.
I’ve heard it so many times that I could recite it for you by memory (accent included). He recorded this in 1981 and he died over ten years ago but his teachings ring just as true today as they did back then.
He drops so many gems but the one I’ll share with you is: “The MAJOR key to your better future is YOU.”
Random thought
I’ve been on several flights in the past few months so I have found myself interacting with one of the most useless government agencies in existence…..TSA. I think the acronym should be renamed to Theatrical Safety Attempt. They don’t really think having us take our shoes off is going to prevent a terrorist attack, do they?
That’s all the antics I have for you this week. Again, a sincere hat tip to you for joining me on this journey. I hope to deepen our relationship with each passing week.
Happy (failed) New Years Resolutions to you and yours.
Have a Terrific Tuesday, smart friend!
Cheers,
Arman
Congrats on the milestone. TSA = Theatrical safety attempt. ha ha. That's really good. Don't we all have our own inner TSA squad, pointlessly trying to block any element of danger from entering our lives while in reality only slowing down progress, growth and a diversity of rich experience.
Congrats on 100 subs, Arman! I started that Seth Godin book a couple of years ago and didn't finish it--I've been meaning to go back and read it all the way through. Good stuff!