Dickie's Digest - Flywheels, Hedgehogs, Wellness, Labels, Copywriting, and Brain Pint
Hey there - happy Sunday.
41 weeks ago, I set out to start writing a weekly newsletter. My goal was simple: commit to writing one every Sunday for 52 weeks. My hope was that after 52 weeks, at least 100 people would be reading it.
41 weeks in, the Digest stands at 971 readers from 29 countries. It’s crazy that 971 people let me take up some space in their inbox every week.
Getting over that 1,000 person milestone would be so epic. If you look forward to the Digest every week, it would mean a lot if you gave it a share with someone who would find it worth reading. You can forward this email directly or tap this button below to tweet it. Here’s to many more.
In this week’s Digest:
🎡 Jim Collins on the Tim Ferris Show [HIGHLY RECOMMEND]
Have an epic week!
Dickie
🎡 Jim Collins on the Tim Ferris Show [HIGHLY RECOMMEND]
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been digging through my notes on old podcasts. I’m looking to put together a list of the five episodes that have most impacted my life.
This episode of the Tim Ferris Show is top of the list for me. It was an easy choice because the three lessons I took away are three lessons I think about every day.
1. The Hedgehog Concept
Your hedgehog is a simple, clear concept made up of the intersection of three circles: what you enjoy doing, what you’re encoded to do, and what the world will pay you for. If you look at the most successful people, they’ve found their hedgehog.
2. The Flywheel Principle
The Flywheel principle — a series of good decisions, supremely well-executed, taken with discipline thought, that added up over time will inevitably produce a great result.
Creating a flywheel should be the goal of any system you create. Your health, wealth, relationships, and career should each be flywheels themselves and be part of the giant flywheel of your life.
3. Bullet, Bullet Cannonball
Before firing their cannonballs, pirates on a ship will fire a few bullets to make sure they are aimed correctly. Once they know they're hitting the side of the enemy ship consistently, they fire their cannonball.
The same concept can be used to make decisions and take risks. When considering a new opportunity, start with calibration. Take a few small bets - fire your bullets - until you are highly convicted in your decision. Then, go all in - fire your cannonball.
Listen to the whole episode: Jim Collins on the Tim Ferris Show
👨🏼⚕️ Read The Proof from Adrian Alfieri
I stumbled across this epic website this week and spent a few hours combing through it. It’s a rich, wellness-focused library of interviews and product recommendations from world-class thinkers and founders.
The website focuses on five pillars of wellness:
Sleep
Exercise
Nutrition
Community
Mindfulness
The interviews section talks about morning routines, productivity advice, and mental health with many famous guests. The stacks section is a curation of product recommendations from everyone Adrian has interviewed, everything from essentials to nutrition to favorite newsletters to sleep gear. I particularly liked this interview with James Beshara talking nootropics, sleep hygiene, and exercise.
Read more: The Proof from Adrian Alfieri
🆔 Keep Your Identity Small
Few authors present ideas as clearly and concisely as Paul Graham.
This essay is about your identity and the labels you apply to yourself. His main point is that you should look to apply fewer labels to yourself, for many reasons.
First, when you apply a label to yourself, you take more things personally. It’s hard to listen objectively when someone talks about one of your labels because it feels like they’re attacking your identity.
Second, the more labels you have, the fewer new things you can try. If a new opportunity presents itself that doesn’t mesh with the labels you have for yourself, you’re less likely to dive in. More labels lead to less serendipity.
Finally, the more labels you have for yourself, the less you can grow. If you’re held back by an old label, it can be hard to grow out of it.
The moral of the story: shed your labels. 2020 is the best year to do this as every person, business, and system is changing faster than ever before.
Read more: Keep Your Identity Small
🎧This Week in Podcasts
This week was a solid week in podcasts. The two that resonated most heavily with me have a lot to do with selling, building products, and building audiences.
Craig Clemens on Copywriting Mastery [HIGHLY RECOMMEND]
I’ve been diving into copywriting lately, studying some of the greats, and learning some of their secrets. Craig Clemens is one of those legends, having written the copy behind billions of dollars of advertisements. Copywriters have a unique ability to write concise, engaging, and persuasive messages. If you’re looking to up your sales game, this one is a must-listen.
Jack Butcher on the Creator Lab Podcast [HIGHLY RECOMMEND]
Jack Butcher is the founder of Visualize Value, one of the most unique and fascinating brand stories of 2020. He’s scaled his business to over 100k/mo in recurring revenue with 99% profit margins. This episode dives into his creative process, building an audience, and his framework for building once and selling twice. You can check out my tweet thread of takeaways below.
😎 Cool Things Corner
This section explores any new gadgets, apps, study playlists, or anything I found cool this week.
In this section, I’m going to occasionally highlight some of my favorite newsletters written by others. This week, I want to introduce you to Brain Pint from my friend Janel. Brain Pint is a curated newsletter for the curious, with interesting reads, tools & learning resources sent out weekly to make you smarter. If you’re a fan of the Digest, you’ll love Brain Pint as well.
If you’re already subscribed to too many newsletters, you can free up some space by checking out my essay on How to Tame Your Newsletter Inbox.
🧠 Idea Corner
This section explores one new idea I came across in the past week.
🥃 Sunday Chaser
This was one of the most incredible feats of athleticism I have ever seen.
Thanks for reading!
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