LEARN THEN APPLY

Hi there!

I love staying up-to-date on on cars and tech - even when I'm not in the market to buy.

(Mostly just watching car reviews from TheStraightPipes, Doug DeMuro, and SavageGeese and tech reviews from MKBHD, MrMobile, and Dave2D.)

Anyways.

I've always thought if I had to get a car right now, it'd probably be a Tesla Model 3.

Last week I finally had a chance to go for a test drive.

Everyone says to be careful about going for a Telsa test drive. They say you'll buy it on the spot.

So I drove it and...

I wasn't too impressed. 🤷‍♂️

First of all it's $50k (and that's with everything stock except the larger battery). In my opinion, it's too small and plain to be worth that much. I get that it's supposed to be minimal, but it'd be nice to have more thoughtful touches around the cabin.

Also regenerative braking is jarring.

In most electric cars, when you let go of the accelerator, the car will start slowing down as if you are applying the brakes.

I would get used to it. But as someone whose driving philosophy is based on coasting, I wasn't a fan.

All I'm saying is definitely test drive an electric car before you consider buying.

I will patiently wait as more electric options come out over the next few years.

        Process

I might've peaked in fifth grade.

My parents didn't let me spend much time watching TV or on the computer. So I spent a lot of time at the library.

I would read every book about whatever topic I was interested in that week: Parakeets, Website Building, etc.

When I was on the computer, I was usually playing Club Penguin. Club Penguin led me to the Miniclip.com forums where I first saw the custom signatures people had in their profiles.

I thought these were SO cool.

So I opened up our pirated version of Photoshop and played around. Within a few months, I started getting recognition around the forums for my design skills.

I love that learning mindset I had. The beginner mindset.

To be fair I think that mindset still comes out occasionally. Over the past 7 months I've learned a little bit of piano, Premiere Pro, and Malayalam (my mother tongue).

But having a beginner mindset is hard once you know things.

It's easier to stick with what you know. To stay in the box where you've already had some success.

It sucks to be bad at things again. And you're definitely going to be bad when starting something new.

Accept it and just laugh along. You know you'll be much better soon.

People who remain successful seem to always have this mindset.

• Gary Vaynerchuk is always trying new apps to learn how social media is changing. He was on on Snapchat and TikTok way before they became mainstream.
• Maroon 5 has been making "pop music" for over a decade. Their sound is always adapting to what's hot now.

Yet I'm here dreading having to learn how TikTok works. And here we thought we wouldn't be like our parents 👴.

The most practical tip I can offer is to tie the learning to something you want/have to do.

• I started playing around in Premiere because I had to make a video for my Church.
• I started learning piano chords because I want to play liturgical songs.

Embrace the beginner's mindset. Only then can you learn and apply ;)

        Learn

📸 I Paid A Camera Pro $2142 to Upgrade My YouTube Setup

This video does a great job of showing side-by-side comparisons of a budget camera/mic/lighting setup vs. a more professional equipment.

It's pretty cool to see how small purchases can really boost the quality.

This is especially relevant now as we're on video calls more than ever.

Our laptop webcams are terrible.

I've installed the DroidCam app (I think iOS has something similar called IPCam) which lets me use my cell phone's camera as the webcam.

Regardless of your camera's quality, there are ways to make your remote set-up better - especially lighting. Here's another video on lighting tips for a home office.

        Apply

📖 Founder's Journal

I got to think through some strategy for the future of the podcast. It was cool to read through all the listener feedback and then go through a branding exercise (based on the video I sent last week) where you try to differentiate yourself by saying "this is X for Y".

Alex said he wants to be the mindset podcast for business builders.

        The End

If I don't send a newsletter by next Wednesday (11/18), venmo request me for $10 @monitormonkey.

Have a great week!

<3 Aswin