Arman's Antics (#015)
Useful tidbits from 2022
Hi curious friend,
Coming to you live from Dripping Springs, 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 fifty-nine new subscribers receiving this for the first time (162 total). I spent the last few days off the grid with my fiancé in a cabin deep in Texas hill country. To my utter astonishment, I logged on to 50+ notifications of new subscribers. I had to hit refresh a couple of times to see if somebody was playing a way to early April Fools trick on me.
Where did all of these new subscribers come from? Are they bots or real people? I found out it was due to a gracious dose of the second-hand Tim Ferriss effect.
My friend Chris C. wrote a fantastic essay on his experience with Tim’s past year reviews. It was so good that Tim decided to send it out to his 1M+ subscribers on his most recent 5 Bullet Friday email. So obviously my friend Chris received thousands of new views which led to hundreds of new subscribers. But to my surprise, I also gained a few dozen. Chris has my writing as one of his top recommendations so I assume that is where my spike came from. Thank you man! The internet is a wild place.
Who are one or two curious friends you’d be willing to share this with 😀?
Essay I wrote last week
Reading makes the difference. My same friend from above asked if I had put a twist on the classic Wall Street Journal ad. He caught me! It ran consecutively for 28 years and earned the company $2 billion in revenue.
A tip for any new creators out there - it’s much easier to imitate an already proven creation rather than creating something from scratch.
Could reading more this year reawaken your childish curiosity that’s been dormant for years? I believe so.
A few of my favorite essays I wrote last year
Mentally Obese. This ended up being my most critically acclaimed piece and it was also the most fun one to write. Coincidence? Unlikely.
I pointed out how humanity’s collective mind is being rotted by the abundance of mental junk food we are exposed to on a daily basis. The modern struggle is being able to distinguish the nourishment from the junk.
Merely do the work. Inspired by Seth Godin. As some of you already know, I’ve been obsessing over Seth’s books and podcast interviews once again.
I pointed out how all work worth doing is creative work. The only part of the creative work equation we need to focus on is putting in the reps. The outcome takes care of itself.
A warm bath (for the mind). We’ve all heard of the physical benefits of walking. But what about the mental benefits?
I pointed out that undistracted walks, preferably in nature, seem to provide the most profound (and inexpensive) rewards for our minds. So leave your phone and AirPods at home and step out the front door whenever you need a refreshed mind.
A few of my favorite books I read last year
For the past few years, I have created photo albums in my iPhone to snap a quick photo of each book after I finish reading it. I started doing it as a vanity metric, realized that was useless, but kept doing it as a way to remind myself of the books worth rereading. Here’s a handful that had the biggest impact on me from an album of 80+:
How to fail at almost everything and still win big by Scott Adams. If you’ve ever opened up the comics strip of a newspaper then you’ve read his world-famous Dilbert comic strip. But this book has nothing to do with that.
Scott makes the case for why goals are for losers. System setting is more effective than goal setting. For example, set up a reading system of sitting down with your morning coffee and reading 25 pages of a book instead of setting a goal of “I wanna read more”. Goals may serve you for a few weeks. Systems will serve you for a decade.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. I’m not a big memoir guy but this one shook me to my core.
Dr. Kalanithi was on his way to becoming a rockstar neurosurgeon until one fateful day when he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer...at age 36. He was a brilliant doctor who was forced to transition into a beautiful patient. Have your Kleenex box close by for this one.
Die with zero by Bill Perkins. Ready to have your entire money philosophy flipped upside down? I wasn’t but that’s exactly what this book did.
Too many of us have accepted the notion that the point of money is to die with as much of it as we can possibly earn. I had unknowingly been working towards this myself.
But now I’m convinced that the benefit of money spending decreases exponentially as we age. $100 spent when you are 20 is way more valuable than $100,000 spent when you are 80. I’m still struggling with wrapping my head around this but I’m attempting to spend more money now so I can guarantee my present enjoyment of it instead of blindly accumulating as much as I can until I die.
A few of my favorite podcasts I listened to last year
I’ll admit it, I’ve become a podcast junkie. No workout feels complete without one. No ride around town feels worth it without one. According to Spotify, I listened to hundreds of hours in 2022. I’ve listened to a lot of crap that I won’t bore you with but here’s a few that were the opposite of crap:
The Tim Ferriss Show by Tim Ferriss. I’ve listened to hundreds of these episodes ever since I first discovered him back in 2017. He’s recorded over 600 with some of the most interesting people in the world from all walks of life including entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, and artists. If you have any interest in leveling up (cringe, I know) then you won’t be disappointed.
Akimbo by Seth Godin. Unlike most podcasts out there, Seth doesn’t interview anybody. He rants on topics like creativity, entrepreneurship, marketing and education. The way he weaves in seemingly unrelated stories into these topics is second to none.
My First Million by Shaan Puri and Sam Parr. These guys are an absolute treat to listen to. They are both successful entrepreneurs who walk the walk. Usually, they talk about all kinds of cool ways to start to your own business. Ocassionally, they talk about celebrity drama.
In the end, they manage to make business, a boring topic to most, sexy and fun. Prepare to laugh and learn uncontrollably.
Random thought
A good sports game will make you experience the entire emotional spectrum within a few short hours.
My favorite sports team and alma mater is the University of Georgia football team 🏈. For non-Americans it might sound crazy but this amateur sport regularly draws crowds of 100,000+ 🏟️ while professional football teams are lucky to attract 60,000.
My dawgs 🐶 just played and beat The Ohio State Buckeyes on New Year’s Eve in the college football playoff. It was an instant classic.
My fiancé probably watched me more than she watched the game. She enjoyed a scene of me pacing around our cabin like a maniac while experiencing bouts of utter despair followed by moments of ecstatic joy. And everything in between.
My apologies to our neighbors who heard me screaming 🗣️ with elation as the Ohio State kicker missed the potential game winning field goal as time expired.
That’s all the antics I’ve got for you this week. Again, welcome to all the new subscribers. Even if you are bots, I’m honored to have you here.
What to expect from me in 2023?
One newsletter every Tuesday and one essay every Thursday.
Have a Terrific Tuesday, curious friend!
Cheers,
Arman
Likes and comments are below
Great gems here! I’m going to take a peek at the My First Million podcast
You’re doing great!! Happy 2023 🤩