You can breathe a sigh of relief... I'm back.

Now, I know your life has felt a little less colourful (and meaningful) over the past two weeks without my emails. But I have a rule: I don't send poor quality work.

This week's email is the culmination of three week's worth of trying to create value. Enjoy.

The Millionaire LumberJack Philosopher. 

For those that don't know him, Alex Hormozi can seem strange. He has a hulking physique, a lumberjack beard (and flannel), and spouts wisdom on Social Media.

He's worth over a hundred million dollars and on track to break a billion in net worth. His YouTube channel is full of sales and marketing tutorials - but recently, he's gone beyond them into life advice.

Here are some of my favourite takeaways from his life advice:

 1. Two Simple Metrics.

Want to understand someone as a person... and know where they're heading? You can unlock it by checking two simple metrics: Their bank statement and calendar. 

Why? It shows how they spend their two resources - time and money. 

 If you want to change who you are, and where you're going, focus on these two metrics.

• How do you spend your free time?
• Do you invest in self-education or put your money towards entertainment?
• Are you disciplined - with your hours and money?

If you want to change your destination, change these metrics first. 

(A simple mental model you can use here is Reverse Engineering. Think about where you want to go, and break down what you need to be doing now to get there.)

 2. What Learning Is.

What was the last thing you learned? It might have been a YouTube video on a new skill or a book on positive psychology.

If you're anything like me - you think you learn a lot. You consume a bunch of information, always increasing your knowledge and stacking ideas.

You go down rabbit holes on topics and skills, and when you come up for air, you think you've got your head around it... but nothing comes from it. Your life remains 

Here's a better question: When was the last time something changed you?

To Hormozi, learning is behaviour change. "If you read a book, and you feel like you're learning but your life hasn't changed, it means you haven't learned."

Taking action on what you learn isn't a bonus to the process - it is the process.

3. They did it for them.

We all have people who have hurt us, pissed us off, or been plain cruel. It can be easy to hold resentment towards them. This resentment - that has been festering and building up for a long time - can vanish if you understand one thing....

"They just wanted to feel better".

When people do things, they're not even thinking about you. They're not doing things against you - they're doing it because they thought it would make them feel good.

You were never part of the equation. It wasn't personal - and even if it was, it was because they thought it would make them feel good. There's no reason for us to carry the burden of their decisions. 

Understanding this means you can put the weight down. You don't have to forgive. You can move forward without wondering, why?

The Perfect Cold Email.

Most people know that cold emails are a staple of the modern world... but they still suck at them.

Here's a quick framework to make cold weapons one of the most lethal weapons in your arsenal. Use this to meet new people, get advice, and kick open the doors of opportunity.

Here's the formula:

Attention - Create a curiosity gap with the subject line to get them to open.

Personal Touch - Compliment with confidence, don't grovel. Be specific and speak like a peer. Show that it isn't mass spam.

Benefits - Be a giver, not an asker. Answer: What's in it for them?

Credibility - Show you're not a crazy person from the internet. (What's the most legitimising thing about you? Write that.)

Simple Ask - Make it so simple they can reply with either: yes, no, or okay.

Now some bonus tips:

• Draft with only bullet points to keep as short as possible. (Long emails make you look like a crazy person).
• Write like you talk.
• 2x your reply rates by following up.
• Still struggling with credibility? Think of who you are, who you're involved with, and results you've achieved.
• Curiosity is good in the subject line but don't make them regret opening.
• Your goal is to start a relationship. Use these until your emails are warm then you can make bigger asks.
• 
  

Testing a new Reading Strategy.

I love to read. I'd say reading is my defining trait - and most of my friends could agree with that.

Over the years, I've been working on improving my reading practice. I started note taking, I added audiobooks, I loaded up my kindle, I reread great books and wrote summaries on them.

It's led me to my new, 3 piece reading system that I will be trialling over the next few months.

Let me break it down.

Become a Problemologist.

I have an addiction for personal development and business books. I love reading up on the different ways I can become a better person or better at particular things.

That's great but according to the definition of learning we've stolen from Hormozi... I haven't learned much at all.

Sure, I've had some wins. A few books I recommend:

• The Elements of Style taught me how to write clearer. 
• Discipline Equals Freedom got me training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. 
• Meditations helped me becoming a better person.
• How to become a Straight-A Student helped me boost my grades.
• On Writing led me to write three (bad) novels and a handful of short stories.
• Choose Yourself got me to write down 10 ideas a day... leading to thousands in my idea bank.
• How To Win Friends and Influence People gave me confidence in all social situations.

That's great and all - but I've read HUNDREDS of books. What about them? And even those books mentioned, what about all the other things they teach?

I'm changing how I read. My focus now is not on reading but learning. That's creating change in my life. Becoming better.

The first step is to no longer engage in passive reading of books of this nature. As M.J. Demarco (author of the Millionaire Fastlane) says, my goal will be to become a problemologist.

I will identify problems in my life, and I will work to fix them by reading the books only when necessary. These problems will go away if I'm learning.

Tim Ferriss recommends something similiar, calling it "Just-In-Time" reading. 

Deep Reading.

I wrote in another email about the Total Absorption Strategy. That's what we're going to build off. Each book that I select to solve a problem, I'll treat it with the respect it deserves. I'll take diligent notes, test ideas, teach others, keep rereading it until the pages begin to fall out. 

I'll drain the book of any value I can - and won't stop until I have changed my life with the teachings. 

How will I choose the books? Skim a lot of books, pick the ones that I find the most valuable, go deep on a few.

What I'll replace them with.

A question I got asked about this idea was whether I was going to stop reading if I didn't have a problem.

Nope. That's where the second stage of the plan comes in: More fiction and more general non-fiction.

My general non-fiction will be philosophy, biographies, and history for the most part.

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Thank you for reading.

That will be all,

Zachariah.

P.S. Your task this week: Prove you learned something from this email and send a Cold Email to someone. Let me know the results.