Last week’s dispatch was a 6-minute read. This week is a 5 minute read. One thing I like about this new format is it increases the chances of me actually getting 1x dispatch out a week. Yay! 🤗 Please enjoy this week’s dispatch!

1. A quote worth thinking about (and a book recommendation) 📚

“Engaging with them [narcissists] alone is futile - never wrestle a pig, as the old saying goes; you both end up covered in shit, and the pig likes it.” - Tyson Yunkaporta, Sand Talk

Follow-Up Notes

This was one of fifty highlights I made in Tyson Yunkaporta’s Sand Talk, a book written by Aboriginal Australian researcher, artist, and academic. That quote was eye opening to me and felt so present to the current era we find ouselves living in. It’s worth thinking about. The pigs, the mud, and how we can engage while trying not getting covered in sh**.

A key aspect of the book is its critique of linear, Western ways of thinking and its presentation of more circular, relational ways of understanding the world. Yunkaporta weaves together traditional knowledge with contemporary issues, examining how Indigenous approaches to sustainability, community, and problem-solving might offer solutions to modern crises.

I felt more seen in this book than I have by other books. I can’t fully explain why but in reading Tyson’s perspectives I found myself thinking well, this explains why I might sound like a crazy person sometimes but it sounds like I’m not so crazy. Another quote that I loved: “Anyone who thinks they’re better than a rock should be turned into one - then they would find out they’re not that special and they could finally be happy.” Add this one to your list of book to get.

2. Pro-Tip: Keep exploring even if you’re currently stuck in your career

In Wang’s most recent analysis, he found that artists and scientists tend to experiment with diverse styles or topics before their hot streak begins. This period of exploration is followed by a period of creatively productive focus. “Our data shows that people ought to explore a bunch of things at work, deliberate about the best fit for their skills, and then exploit what they’ve learned,” Wang said. This precise sequence—exploration, followed by exploitation—was the single best predictor of the onset of a hot streak. But Wang’s paper asks us to consider the possibility that many of today’s wanderers are also tomorrow’s superstars, just a few months or years away from their own personal hot streak. Periods of exploration can be like winter farming; nothing is visibly growing, but a subterranean process is at work and will in time yield a bounty. - Derek Thompson, Hot Streaks in Your Career Don’t Happen by Accident

Follow-Up Notes & Questions

Stay curious. Try new things. The very successful Producer Brian Grazer wrote a whole book about curiosity because he thinks it’s the insight towards living a good life. If you find yourself in a rut in terms of your career path, then be sure to test out new things.

Can you find out how AI can apply to your field in new, creative ways?

Can you take classes for that passion you’re always putting aside?

What skills are adjacent to yours that you can practice daily?

Just because you might not be in the flow you like doesn’t mean you should stop moving.

3. “The more costly the signal, the more likely people are to pay attention” 🤔

Follow-Up Notes

Look at what happened when a family wrote a hand written notes to people who lived on a street they wanted to live on asking if they were interested in selling their home. The results are profound and insightful. This little story holds a big insightful punch for any marketer looking to create moments that actually break through.

4. YouTube is TV reborn 📺

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“YouTube reaches 10% of all TV viewers in Amerca.” - Nielsen

“YouTube is now TV.” - Sean Edwards, AdWeek

"YouTube has become the world's second-largest search engine, not because it set out to be one, but because people naturally turn to video first when they want to learn, explore, or be entertained. This has profound implications for how brands need to communicate." - Neil Patel

Follow-Up Notes

Whenever I talk to people who develop, sell, and make YouTube shows it sounds exactly like the building soudned when I was talking to people trying to make TV shows for TV Networks. It’s TV but it’s not TV. But it is. The fact that Mr. Beast, went to Amazon to make his own game show that is apparently one of the most viewed shows Amazon has produced proves my point. It’s a fascinating moment when YT is 10% of all TV viewing, Netflix is 8% and the rest barely get viewers. In other news, I will never watch a Mr. Beast show but I’m not the target market.

Plus One: A new 10K record 🏃‍♂️

I was able to shave off two minutes with a 40:59 time to get a new personal best in the 10K! The little things lead to the big things. Just like James Clear of Atomic Habits likes to preach. And one of the big things I love about running is it proves the power of compound interest. When I started running ten years ago I was hitting a 8:30/8:15 mile. A few years later 7:45/7:30. A few years later I started flirting with a 7:00/mile. Today, I can sustain 6 miles under 7:00! Running three marathons between 2023 - 2024 and increasing my mileage has me running 6:40/mile average in a race! BTW, I’m not getting any younger. The power of compound interest is real and let this be a reminder that doing something consistently over time can lead to big breakthroughs!

VISUALS OF THE WEEK 🖼

Go forth.

Stay safe.

Ride the wave.

-Mitch