My 2021 Favourites
Newsletter
Hey friends,
I hope you had a lovely Christmas.
We had a huge 78,224 new subscribers this year, up from 53,338 to 131,562 – if youāre new, welcome to the party. š„³
If you donāt write a newsletter yourself, I highly recommend it. Mine is more of a public journal that helps me process my thoughts. Even if only a few people read your newsletter, you can still treat it like a diary, and see how you grow over time.
For this newsletter Iāve raided the Sunday Snippets archive and made a list of my favourite issues from 2021. Iāve also included my absolute favourite books, podcasts etc.
Hope you enjoy š
xx Ali
š My 12 Favourite Newsletters of 2021
- š§±Ā Oops I did it againĀ – Donāt be a perfectionist and think you have to move mountains:Ā doing something is always better than doing nothing.
- š¤Ā My Fear of Being too PersonalĀ – Donāt self-censor too much. We become closer to other people when weāre vulnerable.
- š¤Ā The End of an EraĀ – Accountability is ridiculously important, especially as a solo creator.
- šŖØĀ Making problems magically disappearĀ – Avoid treating a task as a Heavy Lift when it doesnāt need to be. Take Tim Ferrissā advice and ask āwhat would this look like if it was easy?ā
- š¤ÆĀ The curse of knowledgeĀ – Stuff that blew your mind two years ago – but seems obvious now – can still blowĀ otherĀ peopleās minds.
- šĀ Why Iāve Been Failing RecentlyĀ – To stick to a habit make it mandatory part of your day, just like brushing your teeth.
- šŖĀ How to beat imposter syndromeĀ – Instead of thinking āI donāt belong hereā, think āI am uncomfortable right now and thatās how it should be, this is how I grow as a person, this is exciting.ā
- š§®Ā The 37% RuleĀ – If youāre struggling to decide from a lot of options, āexploreā the first 1/3 (ish) of your options, and then choose the best one beyond that point.
- š±Ā A Life-Changing ConversationĀ – When deciding whether to do a project, donāt just think about the money: what opportunities might it unlock for you further down the line?
- š§āš§Ā My Fear of IrrelevancyĀ – Value (and invest in) your skills – then you can always get another job.
- šøĀ Dying with $0Ā – Spend your money on new experiences, helping others, and stuff that matters to you – it shouldnāt be sitting in your bank account when you die.
- ā¤ļøāš©¹Ā My Identity CrisisĀ – Learn to be OK with yourselfĀ now, not as you imagine yourself in a yearās time.
ā„ļø Favourite things from 2021
š Books
š§ Parenting –Ā As per my brother Taimurās recommendation, Iāve been listening toĀ Unconditional ParentingĀ by Alfie Kohn. Iāve been having my ears and mind completely blown away and am rethinking my whole childhood. 10/10 would recommend this read. (Btw, if you didnāt know, Taim and I have a weekly podcast calledĀ Not Overthinking).
š§ Leadership –Ā Iāve been listening toĀ 9 lies about workĀ this week, and itās been an incredible āreadā. I would 100% recommend it to anyone whoās leading a team in any capacity and itās really been helping me on this journey.
š§ Wealth –Ā On my daily cycle to WeWork Iāve been listening toĀ The Millionnaire Fast Lane. Despite the click-baity title, itās a solid guide to wealth creation. Thereās nothing particularly new to me, but there are some great models that Iāve started to incorporate into my thinking about money.
šĀ Love –Ā I recently devoured the audiobook ofĀ The Rosie ProjectĀ by Graeme Simsion. Itās apparently one of Bill Gatesā favourite books. Itās about a man with Aspergerās Syndrome trying to find a wife. Iāll just leave it at that.
šĀ Obsession –Ā Iāve also been losing a large amount of sleep recently thanks to being engrossed inĀ Open,Ā the autobiography of tennis legend Andre Agassi. Iām not one to follow tennis (especially pre-2006 tennis) but Iād heard so many good things about the book that I had to give it a read, and it didnāt disappoint. In fact, Iām typing this in a haze because I was up until 4am last night finishing it. Itās really good.
šļøPodcasts
š“Ā Sleep –Ā Master Your Sleep & Be More Alert When AwakeĀ by Huberman LabĀ –Ā Really interesting, sold me on why you should get light exposure first thing in the morning. Iāve now started having coffee on my balcony every morning, and I think itās already making a difference to how Iām sleeping.
šŖĀ Crypto –Ā The AcquiredĀ episode on Ethereum. About how Vitalik Buterin created Ethereum, all the drama along the way, and why itās such a big deal.
šØāš»Ā Writing Online –Ā I Iistened to aĀ great episode of Tribe of Mentors, where Tim Ferriss chats to Tim Urban (Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator) about writing online.
š§āāļøĀ Wisdom –Ā Listening to episode #1309 ofĀ The Joe Rogan Experience with Naval Ravikant. Canāt believe Iāve never listened to this beforeā¦
š Articles & Videos
š°Ā Career –Ā How I got wealthy without working too hard, by Amaca. Big truth bombs like āmaking money is procrastinatingā. š¤Æ
āĀ Work –Ā I was recommended this article calledĀ What Makes Work Meaningful ā Or MeaninglessĀ by my friendĀ Paul Millerd. If youāve ever been tempted to explore meaning in your life, this is a brilliant start. It definitely made me think about the differences between meaning and happiness, how to approach working with my team, and further fuelled my love for reflection (as the main way to access meaning at all). Definitely worth checking out!
šŖĀ Leadership –Ā Greatness, by David Marquet. Iāve recently been giving some extra thought to how I manage my team. This YouTube video is one Iāve been watching on repeat for the last week to take lessons from.
šµ Songs
š Loving the new Ed Sheeran album ā=ā, especiallyĀ First TimesĀ andĀ The Joker and the Queen.
š Iāve been revisiting the glory days of university by playing old bangers by One Direction all week. In particular Iād recommend throwing it back to āFools Goldā, ā18ā and āInfinityā.
š My friend introduced me toĀ Driverās License by Olivia RodrigoĀ and Iāve been listening to it onĀ repeat.Ā Iām even trying to learn fingerstyle guitar to learn to play it. Iāll probably upload my attempts toĀ InstagramĀ at some point.
šø Listened toĀ Visiting HoursĀ by Ed Sheeran for the first time. Vibes. Feeling inspired to dabble with songwriting again.
š¦ Other Stuff
šĀ Pen –Ā LAMY Swift. Hands-down my favourite pen of all time, and itās just Ā£26. Good weight, feels nice in my hand, and I feel a bit more like a pro when Iām writing with it.
š²Ā Board Game –Ā I recently discoveredĀ Monopoly Deal. Itās the new and improved version of Monopoly, with a lot less faff and quicker to play. So I can have more time to get back to being productive. I would recommend it next time youāre picking a board game.
šøĀ Investing App –Ā Beyond that, Iāve been playing around with individual stock trading onĀ Freetrade. Itās got a lovely interface which makes dabbling easy (sadly itās UK only). Overall, I still recommend index funds (I explain things in more detailĀ hereĀ if youāre in the mood). If youĀ sign up with my link, we both get a free share, which is pretty cool.
āļø Quote of the Week
Later is where excuses live. Later is where good intentions go to die. Later is a broken back and a bent spirit. Later says āall-nighters are temporary until weāve got this figured out.ā Unlikely. Make the change now.
FromĀ It Doesnāt Have to be Crazy at WorkĀ by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried. Resurfaced usingĀ Readwise.
š¢ Ship 30 for 30
Iāve enrolled inĀ ship30for30.comĀ to help develop more of a writing habit – it’s a cohort-based course that teaches the basics of writing online. It starts up again in January 2022:Ā here’s my affiliate linkĀ if you’re interested.