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​Hello friend—Colby here.

I have a small ask this week.

If you enjoy this newsletter, it would mean the world to me if you sent it to a friend who might also enjoy it.

Honestly, it would be a huge help.

Also, I would love you forever.

OK, back to business.
Let's dive in...
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Estimated read time: 4 minutes

Before we begin... a big thank you to this week's sponsor:

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1. 🎥 A video every creator (and non-creator) needs to watch - The drawing advice that changed my life by Struthless​

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Holy crap, this is a great video.

It was sent to me and honestly I wasn't expecting much based on the title (I don't draw).

But wow, the advice in this video is something everyone should hear.

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TL;DW

Basically, Campbell (guy in the video) was working for an artist who was acting as his mentor at the time. Campbell was very scattered with his own work and couldn't understand why he wasn't finding success.

Until one day the mentor sat him down and gave him this harsh truth:

Naturally, Campbell asked how he could fix it.

The mentor gave him this simple (yet life changing advice):

Although initially hesitant, Campbell committed to it. He chose a subject and drew it every single day. This quickly led him to discover what he really wanted to pursue (which was only possible through taking consistent action).

Campbell highlights 4 things he loves about the advice:
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1. Quantity leads to quality
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​Desire for quality --> quantity (getting reps) --> quality
A lot of people try to skip the second step.
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2. Promotes constraints for creativity
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​One of the scariest things for a creator? A blank page.
It's not liberating, it's terrifying. Constraints can remove the paralysis we deal with when presented with too many options.​
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3. Action comes before motivation
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​How people think it works:
motivation --> action --> more action
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How it actually works:
action --> motivation --> more action​
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4. It removes "thinking" as a form of procrastination
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​"Thinking about stuff is not doing stuff." Over planning is the most dangerous form of procrastination because it FEELS productive.​
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Sorry, that was a long TL:DW.

But this video deserves it.
Do yourself a favor and watch the full thing.

2. 🧠 9 imaginary rules to unlearn (that will change your life) - Post from Ben Meer​

Easily my favorite LinkedIn post from last week.

We place so many limits on ourselves because of programming we receive from society, family, social media, and even our own brains.

The stories we're told, and the stories we tell ourselves.

It's worth taking the time to examine these beliefs and challenge the ones that don't serve us.

I wanted to highlight these 3:

Read the full post here.​

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3. 📚 38 Life-Changing Reading Rules - Blog post from Ryan Holiday​

This quote lives rent-free in my head.

Don't get me wrong, I love reading, and I do it quite a bit.

But it's a habit I could be much better with—and there are so many great books out there I don't want to miss out on.

I already know I'll be implementing a few of these rules:

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4. ✍️ How to Take Smart Notes - YouTube video from Vicky Zhao​

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Ok, now that we're feeling inspired to read, let's learn how to retain what we read.

This video by Vicky Zhao lays out a simple way to maximize your reading time (if you want to), by taking Smart Notes.

I particularly love the Zettelkasten Compass method she highlights to break down ideas using these 4 questions:

1. Where does the idea come from?
2. What's the opposite of this idea?
3. What's similar to this idea?
4. Where does this idea lead to?

5. 🐥 Tweet (X) of the week (does anyone actually call it "X"?)

Sums up my whole life.

(Also, any fellow Succession fans out there? 👀)

If someone forwarded this to you, Subscribe here.
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*Past performance is not indicative of future returns, investing involves risk. See disclosures masterworks.com/cd

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