Good day !

It's the Queen's Birthday Weekend here in Australia which makes it a nice long weekend break. Are you celebrating something similar where you're reading this? Let me know! While I did get the weekend to run off to somewhere I'd never been, I'm technically still on call for the next few minutes as I write this...

Before I go on, a shameless request! Could you forward this newsletter to just 3 people that you think would like one of the articles? It helps A LOT! If you're the friend reading this, click the link below to join! Glad to have you here!

In this week's email...

• Week in the Life - read on the blog
• Creative Update - randInt - Dr Antony Rapisarda
• Gadget - Kaweco compact fountain pen
• Read - Gradually, then suddenly: how the US could slide into civil war
• Watch - The puzzle of motivation
• Quote - “If you knew you were going to die in exactly a year, what would you do differently?”

Week in the life

Well, it's back to the usual grind in the week that's just gone by. With one difference: I had a trip to look forward to! It's amazing just how much the anticipation of travel is in making an an otherwise normal week feel exciting. It was my wife's birthday I wanted to surprise her by taking her somewhere she had never been. Well the surprise sure worked! Where did we go? Well that's over on the blog...

Creative update

randInt - Dr Antony Rapisarda - Medical Doctor & Tech Founder

This episode was one of the most random yet with a previous guest suggesting Antony to have a chat to, but boy are we happy he did! Antony has one of the most amazing stories of someone who is following his curiosity and doing some amazing things in the world.

Along the way, we talk about shark bites, talking to random Texans that landed him an amazing job that he TURNED DOWN and the many, many challenges along the way of being part of not one, but 2 start ups thus far.

Gadgets/Tech

Kaweco compact fountain pen

Ok ok, so I have a thing for fountain pens! It's the end of the financial year and I dropped and broke a nib on one of my other ones so I treated myself to a new nib....and pen. I had always seen this brand and never thought much about it, but I only recently realised that the pens actually are tiny when closed. Unscrew the cap and pop it on the back and it feels like a regular pen! The nib is also sturdy and the fine tip is ACTUALLY fine (not quite as thin as the Japanese ones). I've been using mine a few days and it's already one of my fave pens

Other gadgets

• ResQMe - little gadget for car emergencies - if you're trapped, it can slash the seat belt and smash the window so you can get out
• Nanopresso - Tiny little device to make some GREAT espresso. I use this at work to avoid bad coffee!

Read

Gradually, then suddenly: how the US could slide into civil war

I didn't expect this article from a financial newspaper but the title was so fascinating that I had to read it. I have to say, the article does make some pretty interesting points on how the US is functioning at the moment...

One thing that I truly wonder is this: some of what is said is pretty clear for anyone sitting outside the US but do people in there realise this possible slow move?

Watch

The puzzle of motivation

I somehow stumbled back on this talk after having seen it years ago. It talks about the actual evidence behind intrinsic and extrinsic motivators and just how counter intuitive our model at the jobs we do may be...

If you're in a work place or in a role where managing people is expected, this talk has some interesting insights...

Quote I'm pondering

“If you knew you were going to die in exactly a year, what would you do differently?”

– Unknown

Not really a quote but a question that I stumbled across when we started the podcast to ask our guests. It's one that I saved to my to-do app and is still there quite high up as a reminder to think about exactly that...

Steve Jobs did a talk before he passed away on the benefit of thinking about death and the stoics before him did the same with memento mori, a meditation that life is finite.

The question has led me to make some changes, such as actually scheduling in things that I find fun and reducing the number of work hours. If it makes you change some thing, I'd love to know what. Let me know, ok?

That seems like a bleak way to end the newsletter but I hope the question and pondering leads to some great things for you. Have a great week ahead!

- Raffy

PS - What was your favourite part of the email this week? Do you like/dislike the subtle changes this year? Let me know with 1 click! I read the survey every week (& keep tweaking things with your feedback!)

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