Hey from the UK,
I'm across the Irish Sea, in Cheshire at a family event, it's great to see everyone. However, Stuff waits for no-one and so I hope this week mail finds you safe and well.
I'm grateful to the new signups this week, thank you for joining me on our quest for curiosity, I hope you'll find something that brings you joy here.
Thank you also to the positive responses to my article last week on overcoming your fear of failure. I recognise the irony of writing that article, and then being scared to post it in case no-one read it, but plenty of clicks seem to have arrived!
Help me out and share a link.
Thanks for being here, see you next Monday...
The Stuff Ten
Links to make us smarter and more super...
- Monday Motivation: Let this week be the one where you give your career some thought. Cal Newport has the most important piece of career advice you probably never heard. I really like the idea of planning backwards from your lifestyle. If you want an advantage in your career, it's a great idea to consume content for other roles. This is written for tech, but works in ANY field. Back in Stuff #101 I had some great advice for anyone trying to market their own career.
- Your new superpower: Back in Stuff #123 I talked about decision making frameworks, and how they can help you. Dr Hannah Rose has insight on how to make decisions when you feel anxious.
- Essential Reading: An unconventional guide to happiness. The excellent Mark Manson defines what happiness is, and isn't - and some guidelines to get there. Back in #102 I discussed some practical ways to increase happiness in your life.
- This is good for everyone: Are you thinking something nice about someone? You should tell them, and maybe journal that as well.
- TWIL: How a bicycle works. An excellent explainer of the science behind riding a bike. Doesn't fully explain this amazing clip though!
- Tame your tsundoku: Vintage stuff readers have shared their tsundoku before, it's the unread stack of books we all have. Having that stack isn't a bad thing, but here are some questions to ask yourself if you need to declutter the books.
- You can be quick or accurate: Monkeytype is a minimalistic & customisable typing test that measures both speed and accuracy over common word sets. I average 65-70 words a minute, can you do better?
- AI-ght: Sider.ai is a browser tool that uses AI to get more information about almost anything you find on the web. It sits in your sidebar and lets you enter prompts on the fly, and it is very useful. Careered.ai will generate a 'perfect' cover letter for you, just paste the Job Post and your Resume - and let AI do the rest.
- Waffles or Tater-Tots: You probably like some kind of fried potato more than others. Science and 3d modelling explains why.
- Finally: Birdbuddy is a connected bird box that allows you to take pictures of the birds in your garden. And then, this BRILLIANT site will aggregate all the best shots! I could watch this for hours, AND I really want one of these.
Matt Rutherford
🎧 Aural Stuff
What's on the Stuff speakers this week?
🎧 My music treat this week comes from James Holden, a British electronic musician who has released his latest album 'Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities'.
It's an interesting romp through some quite organic sounding electronica, with some danceable elements as well as some more laid-back tracks. There is definitely a wild, field sitting experience going on in here with fiddles and acoustic drums included in the synth mix. It is rather like the mid 90's raves in the countryside of the UK, so it takes me back to some formative experiences.
No More Workhorse
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