Episodes
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A content diet review to start the new year. Aiming for weekly but we’ll see! Trying to get back into podcasting by focusing on audio-only. Also check out my latest Shorts.
(1) Journey to Michelin chef
* YouTube: h woo “i think i want to be a michelin star cook”
* Book: “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon
* YouTube: Sam Sulek
* YouTube: Matt Choi
(2) Fourth Wing → The one thing... do they need to kill so many people?
“There is nothing more sacred than the Archives. Even temples can be rebuilt, but books cannot be rewritten.”
* Amazon: “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
(3) Shogun → If you like Last Samurai and 1000-page books...
"The Emperor and the entire Imperial Court were kept completely isolated in walled palaces and gardens in the small enclave at Kyoto, most times in penury, and their activities perpetually confined to observing the rituals of Shinto, the ancient animistic religion of Japan, and to intellectual pursuits such as calligraphy, painting, philosophy, and poetry."
* Amazon: “Shogun” by James Clavell
(4) Feel Good Productivity → What if this were fun?
"What would this look like if it were fun? I stuck the note to my computer monitor and went to sleep."
* Amazon: “Feel Good Productivity” by Ali Abdaal
(5) Predator → “Last Action Heroes”
Mac: [to Blain's corpse] Here we are again, bro... Just you and me. Same kind of moon, same kind of jungle. Real number 10, remember? Whole platoon, 32 men chopped into meat... We walk out, just you and me, nobody else. Right on top, huh? Not a scratch... Not a f****n' scratch. You know, who ever got you, they'll come back again. And when he does, I'm gonna cut your name right into him... I'm gonna cut your name into him!
* Amazon: “Last Action Heroes” by Nick de Semlyen
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Missing episodes?
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Sharing some takeaways from “Same as Ever” by Morgan Housel and how they connect to the NBA from a casual watcher.
* Best Story Wins: MVP narratives
* Wild Numbers: Why watch games when you can watch highlights for an hour
* Calm Plants the Seeds for Crazy: Load balancing plants the seeds for the In-Season Tournament
* Does Not Compute: You miss 27 straight 3-pointers on hardwood, not on a spreadsheet
* Too Much, Too Soon, Too Fast: Cars, clothes, and the 2008 crash
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I moved all the episodes and the feed to Substack! We’ll see how this goes.
On this week’s episode, I recorded in the car and tried to come up with some creativity takeaways from “Demon 79”
* No one likes the horns look, what do you want me to look like? (Share those guilty pleasures!)
* Use a list! (When you have to eat a frog, procrastinate with murder)
* Demon vision to find bad people (You don’t always see the hard work)
* “You’re a basher” (Find your format)
* Resistance shows up (right after you’ve run the politician off the road)
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Notes on the podcasts I listened to recently
Not Investment Advice: "George Mack: Ignored Ideas, Creativity Hacks, Game Psychology, US vs. UK & Finding The Right Metrics"
David Perell: "Kevin Kelly: On Fame, Structuring Ideas, Writing Books, and Founding Wired Magazine"
Deep Questions with Cal Newport: "Ep. 263: Overhaul Your Life"
The Ryen Russillo Podcast: "Russillo on the Road: Spain Travelogue"
The Game w/ Alex Hormozi: "Hormozi Life Hacks You Need To Hear | Ep 605"
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I talk about my coffee/gym/dinner routines when living in 3 different apartments in New York.
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Book notes on "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention" by Johann Hari
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Applying MMA concepts to creativity
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Lessons from David Chang's book "Eat a Peach" shoved through the lens of "The Bear"
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Book notes for "The Last Action Heroes" by Nick de Semlyen
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Let’s see… here’s an automated summary:
Rule number five in becoming a chef is to fight for the job you want and aim for a kitchen that pushes you beyond your skills and comfort zone.When going for a job interview at a restaurant, show up early, look presentable, and bring all your equipment in case you're asked to start immediately.Don't give up on a restaurant you believe is the right place for you, even if they initially say they're not hiring.The story of Magnus Nielson highlights the importance of persistence in pursuing opportunities.Stepping outside your comfort zone and being pushed beyond your skill level is essential for growth and improvement.Practice and continuous effort are crucial for becoming a successful chef or artist.Engaging in daily practice and honing your craft is vital for artists to develop their skills.Working hard and continuously is the key to success as an artist or creator.When seeking opportunities in the digital creator space, it's not enough to offer to work for free and do anything. You need to showcase specific skills and accomplishments.Creating valuable content that aligns with the work of established creators can attract their attention and potential collaboration.Timing and luck can play a role in seizing opportunities, but hard work and demonstrating value are essential for making the most of those opportunities.
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Broaden your horizons: Travel the world physically and digitally, absorb the diverse cultures, cuisines, art, history, and languages. Immerse yourself in experiences and use those to fuel your creativity, as cooking is about more than just preparing a dish. Don't let the language barrier be an excuse, and be open to every experience, even if it's uncomfortable.Learn through doing and experiencing: Art isn't about mastery or understanding but about the act of creation and experience itself. Apply this ethos to any craft or skill, embrace the journey and celebrate the process, not just the final product. Your audience doesn't need to understand your art, but they should feel it.Harness the internet to enhance your creativity: As a digital creator, use the internet as a window to the world, participate in various subcultures, and connect with others in your niche. Find and interact with others interested in similar intersections, build your community, and broaden your perspective, thus enriching your creative journey.
And the quotes here…
From “Eat a Peach” by David Chang:
Go on vacation with your parents. Stuff your belongings into a duffel bag and hit the road yourself. If you’re a college student, study abroad. If you’re already a cook, here’s the good news: you can cook anywhere. Do not let the language barrier be an excuse. You don’t need an interpreter to understand what the chef means when they gesture over to the pile of plates sitting by the sink. You might have to stay in domiciles with questionable plumbing. That’s what being young is for. I stayed in a homeless shelter while I was working in Japan. It was all I could afford.
From “How to be an Artist” by Jerry Saltz:
No one asks what Mozart means. Or an Indian raga or the little tripping dance of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to “Cheek to Cheek” in Top Hat. Forget about making things that are understood.
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Shout out ChatGPT for this summary:
In this recording, I share my thoughts on the importance of intersections and imitation in creativity. Drawing from David Chang's "Eat a Peach" and Jerry Saltz's "How to Be an Artist", I argue that aspiring creators should cast their nets wide and cultivate a broad set of skills.How, you ask?Well, it involves stepping out of your comfort zone and exploring different fields. Imagine chefs experimenting with recipes from a cookbook - we can all apply the same approach. Now, let's add an interesting twist. Think of combining different interests, much like Steve Jobs blending calligraphy and technology, or MKBHD melding tech with ultimate Frisbee. Intriguing, isn't it? So here's my tip: Find your intersection and dive into it. It's a unique blend that could lead to your breakthrough in the creative world.
That sounds probably better than what I would’ve come up with.
Here’s the David Chang quote
Study Shakespeare instead. Even if you're 100% sure that you want to be a chef, I would still urge you to go to college over culinary school. Culinary technique makes cooks. If you want to be a chef, you need a far broader set of skills.
[…]
I was a religion major and studying the Bhagavad Gita changed my life. So did studying logic and Godel's incompleteness theorems. Joining the debate club, practice, piano, write for the college newspaper.
[…]
Pick a state school with a low tuition in a vibrant food city. Like Austin, Houston, Los Angeles. Chicago San Francisco or New York and get a job in a restaurant or a bar.
And then Jerry Saltz’s quote
Feel free to imitate. We all start as copycats. People who make pastiches of other people's work. Fine. Do that. However, when you do this, focus, start to feel the sense of possibility and making all these things your own. Even when the ideas, tools and moves come from other artists.
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FIRST: THANK YOU to prior subscribers. I understand if you unsubscribe because I haven’t sent anything in like years and now will be emailing more frequently.
(Or for like 4 days straight before another years-long hiatus…)
A ChatGPT summary of what I blabbed about on the mic.
Get ready for some mind-bending tips to be a better creator. Ditch that cooking school dream – because it's not about the degree, it's about the experience. Learn for free and harness the power of the internet to build your skills in the kitchen.
For artists, your story is what makes you unique. So, tell it! Embrace the baby steps and build a library of work that shows off your talent.
Finally, when it comes to being a creator, don't be afraid to blend conformity with innovation. Find a balance between what everyone else is doing and what sets you apart. Absorb, reject, and add what is uniquely yours.
These three powerful tips – ditch the degree, embrace your story, and blend the familiar with the fresh – will set you on the path to being an extraordinary creator.
And here are the quotes I used. From David Chang’s “33 rules of how to be a chef”:
Don't go to cooking school. Theoretically cooking schools are a great idea. They provide a curriculum, experienced instructors and job placement opportunities. Degree from the culinary Institute of America will open doors to a perfectly comfortable career track in a hotel restaurant or corporate kitchen that pays a decent salary with benefits.
a little bit more
Make no mistake. Cooking schools are businesses that are selling you on the illusion that you will emerge from their programs as a bonafide chef. They prey on your not realizing that you can learn all of this stuff for free.
And Jerry Saltz’s “33 lessons for how to be an artist”
Don't be reigned in by other people's definitions of skill or beauty or be boxed in by what is supposedly high or low don't stay in your own lane. Drawing within the lines is for babies, making things add up and be right as for accountants. Proficiency and dexterity are only as good as what you do with them. But also remember that just because it's your story, that doesn't mean you're entitled to an audience. You have to earn that. Don't try to do it with a big single project. Take baby steps and be happy with baby steps.
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Trying to find a format that I can keep up.
Here’s the—I know, I know—ChatGPT summary of what I just recorded:
The user talks about starting a daily 10-minute podcast, inspired by David Chang's book "Eat a Peach" and Jerry Saltz's "How to Be an Artist." They plan to discuss each of the 33 rules for becoming a chef from Chang's book and each lesson from Saltz's article in each episode. The user also considers incorporating design principles from their experience as a UX designer and insights from Russell Brunson's book "Expert Secrets."
The user reflects on the importance of finding one's voice and overcoming embarrassment to create content. They acknowledge that although the quality of their content may not be high initially, it's crucial to start and keep making stuff to develop a unique voice. The user reminisces about their early blogging days, aiming to rediscover that voice through this podcast project.
Anyway. That’s the first episode. It was a good reminder that audio-only is so much easier to make than even a barebones video.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit activerecall.substack.com -
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit activerecall.substack.com -
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit activerecall.substack.com -
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit activerecall.substack.com -
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit activerecall.substack.com -
1. Consistency: Indie Hackers #267: The Path to $3M in 3 Years as a Solopreneur with Justin Welsh
2. Classics: Ray Dalio: Principles
3. Crane Kicks: "Fat Loss Happens on Monday" by Josh Hillis and Dan John
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