This Week’s BIG Idea
This week, I decided to identify some blind spots and work on them. This is extremely difficult because you can’t work on a problem if you don’t know you have one in the first place. In a way, this is the reason why I read so many psychology and philosophy books. A lot of books out there help you confront those blind spots, and for this purpose, the older the book, the better.
The first problem I identified isn’t personal, but business-related. I decided to take some aspects of the site more seriously. For a while, I’ve been neglecting some things related to search engine optimization (SEO for short). Although I have an SEO strategy, I noticed that I’ve read several books on the matter, but I haven’t internalized some of its concepts.
I recently watched a Mark Manson video about the problems with the self-help world (more on this later). One of the points he makes in the video is that it’s easy to confuse reading a book with taking action. In other words, I can identify that I could be doing better in terms of SEO, therefore, I read a book about it. But at no point did I take action on that solution I came across.
This led to a couple of days where I watched a series of videos on the matter and I reread a few of my own summaries. Once I gathered enough material, I decided to rebuild my SEO strategy from the ground up.
I’m sure I won’t see immediate results. The idea isn’t to become an expert but to learn as much as I can and then implement some of the concepts I studied to see if they work for me or not. I guess we’ll find out soon enough!
What I’m Working on
I just finished updating my Goodreads account with mini-reviews of every book I’ve read for the past few years. Although I haven’t connected with many fellow readers, I’ve been trying to take some time to write a few short paragraphs on every book I finish. Not only can this be useful to others, but it also lets me connect with people who like my writing too.
What I’m Listening to
Mark Manson Audio Articles: I just realized that all of Mark Manson’s articles have been turned into short podcast episodes. The best thing about these episodes is that they’re so short that I can usually listen to a couple of articles during my morning routine. I have read, reread, summarized, and highlighted most of Mark Manson’s articles by now, but listening to them in the form of podcasts is useful too.
What I’m Reading
The Game by Neil Strauss: I’ve heard a lot about this book over the years, but I never took the time to actually read it. In the game, author Neil Strauss explains what being part of a seduction lair is like. He used to go out on a regular basis and use a series of techniques to seduce women. Due to the nature of its content, The Game has been a controversial book, but it’s become a sort of bible in the pickup space. Reading the first chapters, I can tell this book is not going to end well. I could be completely wrong about this, but I intend to find out.
What I’m Watching
Why Your Favorite Self-Help Books Suck by Mark Manson: In this video, Mark Manson discusses how the ideas from the self-help space aren’t new and they come from ancient practices such as certain religions or philosophies. Even his books, as extremely popular as they are, recycle ideas that have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. The best-selling author argues that while ideas aren’t new, those books appeal to most people because their presentation is new. Whether we accept it or not, presentation matters. Also, while reading self-help books creates the illusion that you’re doing something, they only become practical when you take action.
This Week’s Quote
“Arguably the most important skill is controlling your attention. This goes beyond merely avoiding distractions. The deeper skill is finding the highest and best use for your time, given what is important to you. More than anything else, controlling your attention is about being able to figure out what you should be working on and identifying what truly moves the needle.”
James Clear
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