What I’ve been reading/and read

Read-Another great book from Seth Godin Mafia*- Ignore Everybody by Hugh Macleod. Hugh is a cartoonist and copywriter. He is sharing how he started his hobby project became a global one. The key is to stick to your original ideas without asking anybody’s approval and keep it a small and fun project. And run continuously without expectation if it turns a good one, that’s amazing.

Reading- Amp It Up by Frank Slootman. I like an operator business book writer who built a company or helped them to scale instead of business professors. Frank is sharing his last 25+ years very candidly + he is currently CEO/President of SnowFlake (Market Cap 80B+ today- last month $100B:)

Reading-The Power of Regret by Daniel H. Pink– I am more like no regret what happened to past that was necessary. But, hoping in this book can show me the power of regret. Overall its easy to read.

Read- Marriage, a History by Stephanie Coontz– History of marriage. Why people married back in time? what was the reason? Today how “love” replaced other reasons and turn to be the only reason to get married. Women’s role in the marriage from past to today.

Reading- Becoming Trader Joe by Joe Coulombe- Trader Joe’s My favorite place to go shop groceries. I like it more than Whole Foods. It’s super easy to find anything. Very organized and of good quality with reasonable prices. Also, you can find so many exotic products thanks to Trader Joe’s buying & curation team. The book is sharing a lot about the mission/culture of a company and most interestingly after the acquisition by Aldi Group what happened to TJ.


Read- I rarely read cover-to-cover books. But if I have enough highlights and got the idea book, I selected it as a read. I go back maybe from time to time my highlights and still interesting in that book, I might revisit again.

*Seth Godin Mafia- People who got help from Seth for publishing or editing their books. Or might even be inspired by him. Never heard anyone use this term. I created:)

Challenged in life

Everything for us. Life itself challenges us all the time and comes with bad and good things. There is no way we can escape from the inevitable end: death.

So, why are we still wasting our time with sorrow and regrets?

Stand up and defend yourselves 

Creativity & Equipment

Less equipment gives you a better chance to start fast and stick longer. Most of the time, we don’t need expensive equipment & a studio to create excellent results. 

You will never do “your best work” with your first try. Things take time. Instead of delaying, start with your current equipment. 

The best equipment is your smartphone. So what can do you do with your phone? 

Listen to podcasts, Create a Youtube Channel, Read thousands of free ebooks, Meditate, etc

Millions of apps are designed for your needs. All you need to start a small project just only require your phone.

Intellectually Flexible

Mindsets are divided by fixed or growth. And growth mindset comes with an intellectually flexible attitude. 

It’s hard to accept when we are wrong. Because we don’t want to accept our knowledge is outdated or no longer serving for the right purposes.  Being intellectually flexible is a great relief to live & learn without the burden of being right all the time.

Playing rules

Suddenly, you might not know what to do next. Things will happen not following by book rules. 

The worst most likely not going to happen. You’ll survive with a couple of wounded areas. 

Then start writing your own rules. 

Rule 1: Anytime, anything happens to anybody. 

Not knowing

It’s hard to know where we are going to end up in our relationships, ventures, or even in our lives.

Where we start for what we are doing is not define where we are heading to. Any decision is critical. Minor or major. 

We only guess or calculate the results but are never sure what is actually going to happen.

Not knowing is a blessing and curse. That’s why worrying too much in our imagination is not helpful. Let’s live and experience it. 

Buying time

Money can help you to buy time. Instead of you doing the work, you can hire someone to do it for you. In exchange for their work, you pay for them. 

That means your time is worth more than what you pay. Next time when you do something, ask yourself: 

  • Am I doing this because no one can do it, or can I hire someone?

Almost everything can be doable by others. Buying time is the best money can purchase.

Stay hungry but not too long

When we get hungry, we start looking at what we can eat. 

Two options: cook or go eat somewhere. 

Third one: Don’t eat. But for how long? 

We need to function to live. Thus we need enough calories. 

But longer we starve ourselves longer we think food. 

What we are missing in life, that’s what our main topic till we get that—home, car, promotion, girlfriend, etc. 

If you can’t go longer vacation, don’t delay your needs too long. Take the cheapest/shortest flight and change your scenery on the same day trip. 

Stay hungry but not too long. 

Relative time

Some days are longer, and some days are shorter. For sure, years are passing so fast. 

It’s relative also where you are spending & spent your time too. Another critical part is who you are with the most important times of your life.

Sunset Boulevard Billboards is changing

I’m in LA for a couple of days. I stay at Sunset Boulevard which is full of billboards right/left on the road. This is an iconic street for Hollywood movies and traditional TV Shows. Now, you can see Netflix Shows, SnapChat Short Series, and new media platform ads are more than traditional entertainment brands.

Sunset Boulevard Billboards are changing and our content-consuming behaviors are also too.