Greetings everyone,

A longer and more lesson focused newsletter this week as I try to deeply understand a book that I am rereading that I truly believe everyone could benefit from.

A special thanks this week to Sophia - who is not only always supportive but has to hear me think aloud about these topics every walk we go on and never complains.

Killing it with Kagan: Week Three

No Killing it with Kagan blog post this week since my main focus was consolidating the things that I have already been testing and working on.

The only new thing that I tested came from Noah Kagan's most recent interview with Tynan, in which they spoke about different ways to live like a Millionaire on a budget.

One of the recommendations was to get a smart light, since the ability to adjust it would allow you to set the optimal colour temperature.

I picked one up from Amazon for quite cheap - and I love it. It allows me to adjust warmth, brightness, colour and set timers, all from an app on my phone.

I'll write more on it next week - but a very simple and effective life upgrade.

Our Greatest Enemy: Insights on Ego.

This week I began a reread of the book Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. I finished the first section of the book, Aspire, and want to share some of the more interesting ideas and strategies that I took from it. I genuinely think everyone I know could benefit from this book in some format.

Although I had already read the book - the lessons hit me with quite some force because I realised how much better I would be and further along in my journey if I had actually internalised the teachings when I first read it at 15. I am now doing my best to make sure I don't have the same realisation in a few years.

These are concepts I am still struggling with - I'm certainly not claiming to be an expert on it - but they're concepts I think others can greatly benefit from. This is not me preaching at you but instead trying to help others learn alongside me. These lessons are not comfortable to learn - but they're important if you really want to move forward.

First, a quick definition. According to Ryan Holiday, Ego can be defined in its most simple form as: An unhealthy belief in our own importance.

Lesson #1: Talking is Toxic.

"The only relationship between work and

chatter is that one kills the other."

If there was one sign of Ego in the Aspirational stage that I know I am most prone to - and most others that I know struggle with - its Talk.

I know from my own experiences and watching others that Talking seems to kill more dreams than nearly any other habit. The book even relies on research to show that talking about our goals gives us the same positive feedback in our brain that we would receive by completing it - which cuts out our desire to actually do the work.

Let that sink in. The "Talking" activities (which includes posting to Social Media, thinking about how good it will feel to complete it or what we will move on to when done, or just talking about all the ways we could achieve it or the opportunity itself.) actually rob of us of completing the actual activities. Talking kills the work and it kills progress.

I plan to write more on this as I proceed but simply internalising this single idea could save you years of stalling, failed goals and losing to Ego.

To quote from the book, "Those words take up the oxygen that actions should utilize, and your performance will suffer as a result." Talk less, work more.

Key Takeaway: You can either talk or do the work. They fight for the same resources. One will give you short-term relief, the other will give you long-term results that actually matter. Choose wisely.

Lesson #2: Stop being trapped in your own head.

"Focus on what is, not on what ought to be or

what you’d like for there to be."

Being in trapped in our own head is just as dangerous as Talking. Talking is letting Ego win in external circumstances, while being stuck in your own head - living out fantasies and believing the rules don't apply to you - is letting Ego win the internal battle.

Make no mistake - self-belief and confidence are important. There is a key distinction though: Confidence is earned, Arrogance - Ego - is not. We all know our own unearned beliefs, we see them in others too. Learn to distinguish between Confidence and Arrogance, examine each belief by asking: Is this earned?

One of the most dangerous parts of being trapped in your own head - besides all the false positive emotions our brains give us since they can't tell the difference between imagination and reality - is we underestimate the work that must be done.

Ego fools us in two ways. First, If we think the path is easy - if not for others, at least ourselves since we're so special and unique - we won't get started on the path. Why put in the effort when it's so easily attainable when we "Decide" to pursue it.

Second, it makes straightforward tasks seem complex and difficult beyond comprehension. We've spent so much time building something up and digesting it in our head that even if it is simple - we just can't accept that. We fall for the Sunk Cost fallacy. We hesitate and put off starting because that's too "easy."

Both of those result in the same outcome: No work. No progress.

This one can be more difficult than stopping the Talking over Working. It means that we're suddenly forced into a far more uncomfortable reality - one where we are not worthy of progress unless we make ourselves that way.

The Abstract gives us this false belief that our life will be like a Hockey Stick Forecast - where it suddenly explodes and we achieve everything we want to, the moment things get easier or we decide to put in the effort. Reality can be harsh - but it's where the progress lies.

Key Takeaway: We once again face a choice. To endure the harsh reality and actually make progress - or to live in the abstract, where it's comfortable and we can escape. Get out of your own head as soon as you can. It's the only way forward.

Rapid Fire Hacks

This week I published a blog post on what I call "Rapid Fire Hacks".

These are just simple tactics and techniques that I have picked up that make my work and life 10x easier.

The best part? They're all ridiculously easy and simple to implement.

The post goes into more detail on the why and how of each of them - but the ones that I used the most over the last week (in dealing with Commerce and Law assignments) were Listening to the same song on Loop, Using XYZ as a placeholder, Writing from a Skeleton, the Nightly Notecard System and Journaling.

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My final insight for this newsletter is a simple one: Return to the things you learn.

I know that I may take this to extremes - I rewatch my favourite shows and movies, and reread my favourite Fiction books (In fact, I have read The Broken Empire Trilogy upwards of five times).

But when it comes to learning - it's not a preference, its a requirement. Each time you read a book, or listen to a podcast, or watch a YT video - you'll get a new takeaway. You'll relearn forgotten lessons. You'll benefit far more than you would from something you consume once.

As always, Thanks for Reading.