Arman's Antics (#064)
The latest from curious contrarian Arman Khodadoost
Hi friend!
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas.
Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics. Five things I’ve been pondering and exploring that will make you think, laugh, cry (or a nasty combination of the three).
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Compilation of writing wisdom I put together last week
What if I told you that you could write words worth reading without having to struggle for years?
It can be done.
I read over 300 books over the past nine years. Here’s the distilled wisdom of my favorite writers favorite writing advice:
What I learned about writing from studying 6 incredible writers for 9 years
Who’s your favorite writer? If a name doesn’t immediately pop into your head, I give you permission to drop your phone and go grab a book off your bookshelf right now. I managed to flip that problem on its head by having too many favorite writers because I read too much.
Book I enjoyed as a recovering productivity junkie
Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It.
How long is a human life in weeks? Ask some of your friends and you’ll get answers ranging from 10,000 - 1,000,000.
A typical human life is only four thousand weeks long. And many of us feel guilty if we don’t squeeze every last drop out of it to make it a worthy life. Or is that just me?
Here’s part of the description: “Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.”
The chapter on Cosmic Insignificance Therapy alone is worth checking this out if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed and undersatisfied with your life.
A writer worth noting
who writes The Psychology of Wealth.He explores two of my favorite topics — it’s the perfect marriage of finance and psychology.
English isn’t even his first language and he finds a way to write more clearly than plenty of other writers out there (including myself at times). Still think you have a good excuse for not writing?
Here’s his most popular essay to give you a taste — The Endowment Effect — or Why We Love Owning Stuff.
What the hell are we supposed to eat?
I had to wear a dress shirt and suit jacket for my sister in law’s college graduation last week and I was literally busting at the seams.
So I got home and instead of doing what I know I need to do — stop eating Whataburger patty melts and Dairy Queen blizzards — I watched a few food documentaries.
The only problem with them is that they make me feel like everything I eat is going to kill me.
Meat? Too much cholesterol.
Fruit? Too much sugar.
Dairy? Too much gas.
Lettuce? Salmonella outbreak.
USDA food pyramid? Laughable.
I’m just now realizing these food documentaries have an agenda much like the news media — scare you to death so you pay close attention.
But can someone just answer my question — what the hell are we supposed to eat?
Random thought
Don’t hoard your failures. Every spectacular failure contains the seed of an epic story.
That’s it for the 64th edition of Arman’s Antics.
I hope you didn’t make it this far, but if you did, please don’t like, comment, or share below. Now back to your regularly scheduled nonstop scrolling.
Have a terrific Tuesday friend!
Cheers,
Arman
...i think they say eat what you grow but i can't figure out where they are growing taco bell...what would you call a "think-laugh-cry"?...maybe a "thrigkhy" or a "crafhink"?...only had it happen once during the finale to saved by the bell...maybe that is what a "shrink", not the profession, but the microcosming of our emotions into perverse genetically engineered new ones...
My favorite writer is Thomas Pynchon.