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Dickie's Digest - The Best of 2020

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Dickie's Digest - The Best of 2020

Inside you'll find the most popular links, articles, podcasts, and tweets from the first 52 editions of Dickie's Digest.

Dickie Bush
Dec 28, 2020
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Hey there - happy Sunday!

52 weeks ago I started Dickie’s Digest. It started with a simple goal: write a newsletter every Sunday for 52 weeks. If no one was reading it after 52 weeks, I would hang it up.

52 weeks, 52 Digests, and 1,701 readers later, here we are. What a year! The Digest is a staple of my weekly routine, something I look forward to writing every week. It means a lot that you let me occupy some space in your inbox every Sunday. And it’s been a pleasure to get to know so people who reached out after reading.

🚀 The Best of 2020

This weekend I combed through all 52 editions, recounting everything I’d shared and reminiscing on 2020. I’ve shared over 100 articles, podcasts, and books over the last 52 weeks.

For those who have been reading since the beginning, you’ll find many old favorites to revisit. For more recent subscribers, you’ll get a taste of everything I’ve shared throughout this year. There’s a little bit of something for everybody.

In this week’s Digest, you’ll find:

  • The 17 most popular articles

  • The 12 most popular podcasts

  • My 10 favorite books from 2020

  • My seven most popular tweet threads

  • My seven most popular tweets

Thanks again for reading the Digest. Here’s to many, many more!

Have an epic week and an epic 2021,

Dickie


📖 Articles

Solitude and Leadership

So what I saw around me were great kids who had been trained to be world-class hoop jumpers. Any goal you set them, they could achieve. Any test you gave them, they could pass with flying colors. They were, as one of them put it herself, “excellent sheep.”

Speed Matters

The obvious benefit to working quickly is that you’ll finish more stuff per unit time. But there’s more to it than that. If you work quickly, the cost of doing something new will seem lower in your mind. So you’ll be inclined to do more.

10 Things You Should Know About Money

Look around you. At the end of the month people have no money. In between they are giving up freedom to have no money left at the end of the month. It’s obscene. It’s a raw deal. Look what they are doing in return for that lifestyle. Is that working for them?

Six Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person

Either you will go about the task of seeing to those needs by learning a unique set of skills, or the world will reject you, no matter how inoffensive and courteous you are. You will be poor, you will be alone, you will be left out in the cold

Wise People Have Rules for Themselves

Self-imposed rules aren’t constraints, they’re good decisions made in batches—they’re behavioral boundary markers you get to position yourself, through your own experience and wisdom.

The Ladders of Wealth Creation

Eight principles to grow your wealth and income over time

  1. Extra time and money need to be reinvested

  2. You can skip ahead, but you still have to learn the lessons from each step

  3. Apply your existing skills in a new way to build wealth

  4. There’s a difference between working for a better wage and truly building wealth

  5. Using an earlier rung on the ladder to fund the next one

  6. Moving between ladders often means a decrease in income

  7. Each step is easier with an audience

  8. It takes longer than you think, but the results can be incredible

How to Write Like the Great Entrepreneurs

Delete half the words. Say more with less. That’s good customer service. “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online

When you publish ideas, you create your own “Serendipity Vehicle” – a magnet for ideas and people and opportunities from potentially every corner of the globe.

The Technium: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

To make mistakes is human. To own your mistakes is divine. Nothing elevates a person higher than quickly admitting and taking personal responsibility for the mistakes you make and then fixing them fairly. If you mess up, fess up. It’s astounding how powerful this ownership is.

11 Frameworks Every Entrepreneur Should Learn

Big Mario Marketing

Say your business sells the “boosts” that take Little Mario to Big Mario.

No one cares about your product. They care about becoming Big Mario.

Don’t sell your product. Sell the type of person your customer will become when using your product.

How to Ask Useful Questions

There are five types of questions:

  1. Asking for Information

  2. Asking for Clarification

  3. Asking for Assistance

  4. Asking for Agreement

  5. Asking for Advice

The Unusual Ambitions of Chamath Palihapitiya

“Chamath wore the same jacket every day — a light-tan velour jacket — and jeans,” one former colleague recalls. When the colleague asked Palihapitiya about his sartorial choices at the time, the young analyst talked about “low ROI,” meaning he didn’t want to spend his time and money worrying about clothes.

Why You Should Start a Blog Right Now

This fact is very frequently lost when discussing writing: writing not only helps you to understand what’s going on and to crystallize your thoughts, it actually makes you think of new ideas and come up with solutions to your problems.

Early Work

Seven ways to overcome the fear of failure:

  1. Switch poles entirely

  2. Be slightly overconfident

  3. Find the right feedback group

  4. Focus on the rate of change

  5. Start smaller

  6. See it as a learning opportunity

  7. Recognize everyone else started in the same way

Seven Timeless Tips on Sales

This Hacker News post went viral last week, and for good reason. This anonymous commenter wrote an entire book on sales in seven bullet points. My three favorites:

  1. Sales is a lot like golf. You can make it so complicated as to be impossible or you can simply walk up and hit the ball. I've been leading and building sales orgs for almost 20 years and my advice is to walk up and hit the ball.


🎧 Podcasts

Naval Ravikant on the Tim Ferriss Show

This episode dropped like a bomb out of nowhere. Naval has refused to be on anyone else’s podcast since he was on the Joe Rogan Show 18 months ago. I had high expectations going in, but this one was truly top-notch.

Invest Like the Best with Sam Hinkie

This is the second time I’ve heard Sam Hinkie on Invest Like the Best and the second time I was blown away. Sam and Patrick chat about two things: the importance of writing (especially creating digital breadcrumbs) and the importance of forming strong, highly vetted relationships. Two things I’m focused heavily on at the moment.

Chamath on the Knowledge Project

Chamath has defined a niche that resonates with me: he’s a baller who is clearly ambitious and looking to bend the world to his will, but he’s open and transparent and shares his struggles far more than any other successful investor and operator. You can see my takeaways in this tweet thread.

Dickie Bush on the Steal My Marketing Podcast

This was the most spontaneous thing I’ve done in a while. Abhishek reached out on Twitter and bang, we were on Zoom the next day recording this episode. This was a fun and wide-ranging conversation talking about my journey growing this newsletter, habits, routines, my favorite books, and a quick deep dive into SPACs and Rolling Funds. You can also check out the blog post version.

Superhuman CEO Rahul Vohra on Invest Like the Best

This was the highest-signal podcast I’ve listened to this year. I’m fascinated by the email company Superhuman. Their CEO is rewriting the playbook of launching, growing, and scaling a B2C productivity app. If you’re into startups, this one is a must-listen.

YCombinator CEO Michael Seibel on Invest Like the Best

I’m fascinated by YCombinator and the incredible resources they provide. Listening to the CEO talk about what they look for in an application, what most founders get wrong, and what he thinks the future of startups look like is well worth your time.

Balaji Srinivasan on the North Star Podcast

This was the most fascinating podcast I have listened to this year. Balaji Srinivasan is the former CTO of Coinbase and General Partner at a16z. His thoughts on the future of technology, inflation, writing, hiring, and decentralization had my mind spinning for hours. Highly recommend this one.

Oliver Cantin on the Mastering the Attention Economy Podcast

This was a masterclass on copywriting from my friend Ari Lewis. No matter the industry you work in, the ability to write convincing sales copy is a tremendous personal differentiator. Oliver is a top tier salesman, and the advice is very practical.

Derek Sivers and Shane Parrish on The Knowledge Project

Derek Sivers is one of my favorite thinkers and writers on the planet. Every time I listen to an interview with him, I walk away a little bit happier, a bit more curious, and a bit smarter. In this episode, Derek and Shane talk about mental models, ideas versus execution, how Derek reads books, and turning ideas into directives.

Tim Ferriss with Hugh Jackman

I really enjoyed this interview between Tim Ferris and Hugh Jackman. They talk morning routines, meditation, decision making, and the 85% rule. I could listen to these two guys talk for hours.

Maria Konnikova on The Knowledge Project

This was an epic conversation between poker pro Maria Konnikova and Shane Parrish talking decision making, poker, mentorship, and luck. You can find my takeaways in this tweet thread.


📚 Books

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

The only book you need to read on building wealth and happiness in 2020. Dense, practical, and filled with wisdom, this is the best book I've read this year. If you apply every principle from this book, victory is guaranteed.

The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield

Resistance is the powerful, universally experienced force that keeps individuals from realizing their potential. The only way to overcome resistance is to go from being an Amateur to being a Professional. At any moment, you can decide to become a Professional and begin to defeat the Resistance— but the battle is fought every day.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

A captivating memoir from renowned fiction-writer Haruki Murakami. Haruki eloquently connects his passion for running with his passion for writing and explores how these two are habits have shaped his life. The prose, word choice, and first-person writing style make for a delightful read.

The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert

The only book you need to read on copywriting. Quick, entertaining, and a true pleasure to read. A great mix of practical life advice and actionable marketing, copywriting, and sales strategy.

Your Music and People by Derek Sivers

Simply a masterclass on marketing, selling, building, creating, and forming relationships. In 88 short, punchy chapters, Derek Sivers gives you everything you need to know to make it as a creator.

The Ride of a Lifetime by Disney CEO Bob Iger

A captivating autobiography from legendary Disney CEO Bob Iger. Bob takes the reader through the ups and downs of his career, exploring the lessons he has learned along the way. Iger's path from a stage assistant at Capital Cities to the CEO of Disney is one of persistence, excellence, and creativity. The best parts are the behind-the-scenes looks at becoming CEO, acquiring Pixar, Marvel, LucasFilm, and Fox, and becoming best friends with Steve Jobs.

Indistractable by Nir Eyal

Every action we take is either aligned with our broader intention (traction) or misaligned (distraction). The root of distraction is the avoidance of pain, moving away from the Resistance. Only awareness of avoidance can lead to long term focus. Being Indistractable means we consistently do what we say we are going to do.

Already Free by Bruce Tift

A deep dive into the interaction between Western therapy and Eastern Buddhism. Bruce Tift explores how we can use the best of each of these practices to dramatically improve our awareness and the quality of our experience.

Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach

A compelling and practical read on committing to the fullness of our experience. Told through the lens of her personal journey and journey of those she has worked with, Tara Brach compassionately lays out a framework for engaging fully with our emotions.

The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey

A practical, no-bs book on developing the proper mindset for optimal performance. Gallwey describes the necessity of quieting our hyperactive Self 1 in order to let our naturally performing Self 2 function at its best. Packed with applications towards performance, behavior change, and mental focus, I highly recommend this one.


✏️ My Most Popular Articles

My 10 Go-To Reflection Questions (and Where I Found Them)

Grab a Shitty Rod and Start Fishing

22 Questions To Have Great Answers To (And My Answers To Them)

Idea Flow and Mental Wealth

Four Reasons Why I Write


🐦 My Most Popular Tweets

Twitter avatar for @dickiebush
Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
Transparency time: November 13th I started publishing a daily atomic essay. Since then: • Followers: 1710 → 3510 (+105%) • Revenue: $0 → $10,240 (+∞%) Not to mention: • New ideas • Friendships • Opportunities • Clearer thinking And most importantly: Momentum.
Image
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4:49 PM ∙ Dec 26, 2020
206Likes11Retweets
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Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
Profound idea from @JamesClear: Changing your habits requires changing your tribe. Every tribe has a set of expectations that can be difficult to go against. Ditch the tribe that encourages your worst habits. Find the tribe that reinforces your best habits.
12:11 PM ∙ Sep 17, 2020
1,501Likes284Retweets
Twitter avatar for @dickiebush
Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
Skills with asymmetric upside: • Selling • Coding • Writing • Listening • Speaking • Designing • Marketing • Note-taking • Storytelling The best part? You can learn these on the internet for free.
2:34 AM ∙ Dec 22, 2020
389Likes52Retweets
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Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
The two enemies of creativity: Money worries and other people's drama. Corollary: the most creative people seek financial security and give no mental bandwidth to other people's bullshit.
7:40 PM ∙ Sep 30, 2020
217Likes43Retweets
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Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
The best thing I've done in 2020: Creating a morning routine. I've tried hundreds of different ones. But I think I've found the golden combination 👇🏼
12:33 AM ∙ Nov 23, 2020
194Likes24Retweets
Twitter avatar for @dickiebush
Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
How to unblock creativity: 1. Go for a walk 2. Change your body 3. Record yourself talking 4. Call your creative friends 5. Work from creative abundance What am I missing?
1:33 AM ∙ Dec 25, 2020
131Likes7Retweets

🧵 My Most Popular Tweet Threads

Twitter avatar for @dickiebush
Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
The most FASCINATING thinker I'd never heard of: @balajis. After his recent chat with @david_perell, I inhaled every other podcast he's been on with: • @APompliano • @ShaneAParrish • @Jason • @KyleTibbitts Here are his 10 most thoughtful ideas on the future Thread...
7:31 PM ∙ Sep 2, 2020
1,786Likes264Retweets
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Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
I binged @jackbutcher's Build Once, Sell Twice in one sitting. I expected an online course about building and selling. But it's more than that. Build Once, Sell Twice is a mindset. A playbook. An operating system for the 21st-century entrepreneur. Here's the TLDR: [Thread]
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10:25 PM ∙ Dec 13, 2020
928Likes104Retweets
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Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
6/ My ultimate podcast curation:
Twitter avatar for @dickiebush
Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
I'm addicted to podcasts. Over time, I've curated the best of the best across: • Health and Performance • Wealth, Markets, and Investing • Growth, Sales, Marketing, and Content Creation Read on for all 25 shows, what you'll learn, and my favorite episodes. Thread...
3:02 PM ∙ Dec 19, 2020
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Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
7/ Everything you need to know about Rolling Funds:
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Dickie Bush 📊 @dickiebush
Rolling Funds - Everything You Need to Know [THREAD] After listening to everything on the topic from the likes of: • @naval • @shl • @avlok • @APompliano • @ShaanVP • @HarryStebbings • @Alex_Danco Here's what I learned about @AngelList's Rolling Funds in 10 tweets👇🏼
3:02 PM ∙ Dec 19, 2020

Thanks for reading!

If you’re enjoying the Digest so far, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two by forwarding it or sharing it with the button below! You can find all of my other writings, ideas, and book notes at dickiebush.com.

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Be sure to follow me on Twitter or respond directly to this email to get in touch. And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I love finding new things to read through members of this newsletter.

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3 Comments
Amogh
Writes The Examined Life
Feb 1, 2021

Thanks Dickie, great stuff as always.

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daniele
Dec 29, 2020

Amazing roundup, so much value. Thanks!

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