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Yesterday I shared a long list of the people I follow and study.
Basically, I stalk the well known high-performers of history and reverse-engineer what made them great.
Hopefully, I'd be well-known as one of the greats too someday. I'm great already, but could use a bit more of the wellknownness.
And hey, it's not just my self-conceit. People are saying this too. Like one of my peers who regularly calls me “one of the branding geniuses in the country” (thanks buddy, I love you too!)
Anyway, when you analyze a bunch of your role models as a whole, you start seeing patterns.
And no, you don't need AI for that. You're carrying between your ears the most advanced pattern-recognition device in the universe. (It's called your “brain”).
So you start seeing patterns. For example, here are just a few I've noticed among my own role models (including myself):
Relentless creators: Disney couldn't keep himself from acting, drawing and making people laugh since his childhood. I recognize this trait in myself too, and try to double down on this, especially in writing.
Walkers: Steve Jobs took his colleagues along for a walk whenever he needed to discuss anything important. That was his idea of “meetings”. Ben Settle takes a 5 or 10 mile walk everyday. Gary Halbert taught his son to start everyday with “road work”. I have always been a relentless walker too, but these folks just made me more conscious and deliberate about making my walks more productive. As my niece used to say as a small kid, “I can't do the THINK if I sit still!” So I knew my mind starts generating ideas at warp speed when I am out and about. Maybe if I could only record those ideas down. Enter, smartphone! And if you haven't guessed already. I'm currently writing this email while walking around the block near the library I'm working out of.
Reality distortion field: This term was originally used for Steve Jobs when describing his attitude towards the world and reality in general. But I've seen it in almost each one of the folks I mentioned in my last email. Everyone of them was laughed at for their outlandish and outrageous ideas. Nobody thought you could make a feature-length animated film before Disney. Nobody thought you could reuse rockets before Musk. In fact, he literally cried during an interview when talking about how his heros at NASA ridiculed and lampooned him. Nobody thought you could commercialize the internet (not even Steve Jobs and Bill Gates) before Ken McCarthy.
Yeah, I guess that about it for today. My fingers are hurting now. Talk to you tomorrow.
Much love,
Shakaib Feroz.
P.S. I probably shouldn’t even be selling these Dastaan World Magazine back issues… but I just love you too much. So here’s the bundle.
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