Arman's Antics (#030)

The latest from flawed artist Arman Khodadoost

Hey everyone!

Coming to you live from Austin, Texas. Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics. A few things I’ve been creating and experimenting with that’ll either make you laugh, think, cry (or a nasty combination of the three😆🤔😭).

Welcome to the 11 new subscribers receiving this for the first time (233 total). I respect your inbox so I’ll only send you words I would want to read.

Unlike everything else you consume on the internet, my content is not free. Because I work for you! And the way you pay me back is by subscribing (below). This is a gentlemen’s agreement since I’m not able to look over your shoulder while you do this. But I trust you. ⤵️

---

Essay I wrote last week

Remove the artist from the art (#048)

It may be nothing more than luck but this has become my most popular essay ever. This simple idea came to me in a flash less than an hour before I was supposed to hit publish after my original topic just wasn’t cutting it.

Great art can be greatly appreciated without rummaging through the artists personal life with a fine-tooth comb.

Art is personal. It’s not about the artist. It’s about you.

---

Book I finished rereading

Hell Yeah or No. By Derek Sivers. Few people have impacted me more than Derek. See below for his face on my office wall along with a few of my other trusted personal advisors (he’s the bald one). But there’s three bald guys?! He’s got the Mona Lisa eyes.

His average article on his website is 18 sentences. His average book is never more than 120 pages. Derek is succinct while still being profound. He does the difficult work of cutting out all the fluff. So if a word remains, you know it survived the cutting room floor.

Derek’s also just a great human. He replies to every email he gets which are mainly from strangers. I put this to the test and can confirm. Plus he keeps a database of where all these strangers currently live and what they do so he remembers. Not in a serial killer type of way (I hope).

But having said all that, it doesn’t matter what kind of person I think he is. All that matters is that he writes words worth reading. So I could benefit from his writing whether he’s a terrible person or a saint. Remember, remove the artist from the art.

---

Personal finance mind trick I’ve implemented 📈

Photo by micheile henderson

Before I tell you what I’ve been doing, I know this will sound stupid. I thought so too before I tried it. And it may be complete coincidence, but it’s worked.

Everyday, for the past 74 days, I have opened my checking account first thing in the morning and made a note of what the balance was in an excel file. I got the idea from Alex Hormozi. His theory on why this works is because whatever you focus on becomes easier to improve.

So if I focus on the balance of my checking account everyday, it will go up. Just because of the attention I give it. Nothing else.

The same is true with weight loss. Your weight will go down if you hop on the scale every morning. Even if you don’t change a single thing about your diet or exercise routine.

Try it for yourself if you want to get rich without changing anything. I should make this into a late night infomercial.

Do YOU want to get filthy rich without getting up from your couch? Well, have I got a deal for you. If you call within the next 12 minutes you’ll receive my exact step by step guide.

---

Remembering birthdays

Photo by Isabella Fischer

If you’re anything like me, then you’ve forgotten some important birthdays a time or two or ten. After missing dozens of these and feeling like a horrible family member/friend I decided something had to change.

But I deleted my account from the toxic internet wasteland sometimes called Facebook years ago so I couldn’t use that. I almost forgot my own birthday a few times before I made one small change.

So one day, I texted everyone in my phone, “Hey, I’m tired of being a terrible person who never remembers your birthday. So for the last time ever, When’s your birthday? I promise to never forget it.” I made note of the date on their contact page and now I get a reminder for all the birthdays I asked for.

The few minutes that took has made me seem like the most thoughtful guy in town.

Maybe you’re a better man than I, but if not, do this today so you can deliver a little dopamine hit to everyone you care about on their special day.

---

Random thought

I don’t make the rules. I just think them up and write them down.

---

That’s it for the 30th edition of Arman’s Antics. Some of you are 30/30 and others are 1/30. But I love you both all the same. Thank you for reading this while sipping your piping hot cup of joe☕️ while you should be powering through your other emails. Xena says hi 👋.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Cheers,

Arman

---

I love seeing your name pop up when you click the heart and leave insightful comments.