Why can’t you decide?
A few years ago, I started this newsletter as an experiment to see what I stood to gain by reviewing the books I read, and part as a note on my reflections from the life I live. I found writing to be a rather pleasant activity and did not intend to compromise my thoughts for a few thousand dollars. But, certain deals (or life events) can make you change such a (largely) moral stance. Hence my decision to remain largely pseudonymous while I continue to express my ideas as clearly as possible.
Truth be told, the world was a much different place a few years ago. I knew nothing about code, Elon hadn’t bought Twitter, Kanye was newly divorced and was still considered sane, Rema hadn’t released Rave and Roses and the Bucks were about to win their first Championship.
Oh and lest I forget, COVID.
Since then the socioeconomic climate of the world has been completely altered and many individuals have had to reevaluate their entire life, work, and personal relationships. Some have chosen new partners, moved to new cities, started new jobs, or at the very least taken on new projects, others have sadly lost a number of these items.
As sensitive and life-changing as these events/decisions may be, not much information is required to make them, but depending on where you are coming from and where you are going, the truth is that the clearer your thinking, the more poised you will be to make better decisions that will guarantee at the very least average outcomes.
Read once write twice.
If reading puts you in the accuracy of your decision-making at the 90th percentile, writing would take it up a notch by 5 percent.
In the past, I have reviewed tens of books, written on technology and creativity and given insights into philosophical topics like the importance of pain in our learning process as aspiring masters in our respective fields. This I hope to continue in subsequent posts should you stay with us.
Evidence needs no explanation.
This year is about generating evidence, and we’ll be doing it on X. Why, you may ask? I’ll show you.
Founder-led companies are a beauty to behold, the reason being the fact that very few CEOs are agile enough to make key decisions required to put the company ahead of its competitors especially when it requires putting a foot on the neck of soon-to-be competitors before they become big enough to challenge your dominance.
This is something Elon did with Substack upon his acquisition of Twitter.
As of today, links to Substack posts are heavily negatively targeted by the X algorithm. Leading to poor user experience and low engagement on the platform for Substack readers that come from X. Authors that wish to stay relevant on X have to either subscribe to X premium to have access to the creator suite that gives you the ability to make long-form posts or host their articles on non-substack platforms.
Substack recently introduced “restacks” which is a direct rip-off of retweets/reposts from Twitter/X. Not to mention Mastodon and Zuckerberg’s Threads which are clear copy-cats of the Twitter brand. It is safe to say that if there’s enough value in the Twitter model to go around all these companies, there should be just enough for creators to stay on the platform.
Following the creator-led model is beneficial for this publication because it supports the growth of the publication without jeopardizing the growth of its audience. As such, I believe X’s model would serve to enjoin the readers of this publication with its many exploits which are not limited to the posts made on Substack.
The world is a very (small) place, you’re bound to make a few (new) connections here and there so it’s important to keep an open mind.
Have you made your decision?
Whatever your line of work is, you are bound to enter the realm of content creation either voluntarily or compulsorily. You have to put yourself (or your work) out there, no matter how bad it is.
This publication hopes to bridge the gap between you and your next big decision. From recommending/reviewing books and opinion posts on industry-specific subjects to essays covering more sensitive subjects, we aim to provide valuable insights on events, trends, and long-lost but insanely relevant wisdom that could be the difference between you and a Million $bucks.
Think about it.
Is this small blog worth (give or take) 30 minutes of your time every month? I don’t know, but if I were you I’d love to stick around and find out.
Now, here comes the big question.
How do you Write the Future?
Essays are a very primordial form of communication. Many women I know would rather sit on a chair and get their hair braided for hours than sit down to write 100 words about a topic they are passionate about. But you can bet a thousand dollars that they would talk nonstop on that topic while screaming in pain from the pulls of the stylist.
Writing is very easy, I guess that’s why they are called essays, aren’t they?
One thing you would notice about culture-altering events is that they were pre-meditated and written down by someone before they became reality. From companies to wars to movies, and even political campaigns. For them to be put in front of their customers, someone had to write them down before they could be put in a form their target audience could consume. Some ads might be better as 30-second commercials than as 1000-word essays, but they sure can come from them. Also, many commencement or campaign speeches could be completely ripped from decades-old blog posts but their impact would reverb for more generations.
But no one can tell what the next big thing would be, much less where it would come from. But what you can be certain of is that someone, somewhere, is writing it down or has probably written it down already, and all you have to do now is read.
The future is yours for the taking, and as always, I’ll be there documenting it every step of the way. But for us to traverse into the unknown territory that is the future, we have to by every means necessary let go of the thinking that is of the past.
The mental models you hold onto like your life depend on it might have to be adjusted however slightly in the light of new information. We want to give ourselves the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them as fast as possible, and even better; observe and learn from the mistakes of others.
Conclusion.
Although the outcome is what inspires us to embark on a journey most would rather sit out, we have to make the most of the short time we have on this planet. Bad things happen to everyone on a long enough time scale, and good things no matter how appealing, have an expiry date.
Here’s to a new beginning. I hope to visit your inbox many more times this year and beyond.
Let’s Go!