👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 69% of readers say books changed their life, here’s how.

• Stop feeling guilty about your unread book pile, here’s why.

• After 20 months of working on my book, I finally submitted my manuscript to my publisher!

PS: I’ve been posting a lot on Substack. If you’re on there and want more book recs/reading tips, follow me on Substack here.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

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📚 Book Summary:

We’re halfway through 2026.

Here are some of the best books I’ve read this year:

• If you’re into business or biographies, read “Steve Jobs In Exile” by Geoffrey Cain (summary here).

• If you’re looking to improve your physical health, read “Breath” by James Nestor (summary here).

• If you want to get better grades in school, read “Learn Like A Pro” by Barbara Oakley (summary here).

• If you want to remember more of what you learn, read “Make It Stick” by Peter C. Brown (summary here).

• If you want to know why everyone’s attention span has disappeared, read “Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari (summary here).

✅ Actionable Advice:

💎 Weekly Gem:

Documentary: Bad Sport

This is one of the most entertaining sports documentary series I’ve watched.

It follows six major sports scandals told by the athletes, coaches, and law enforcement officials who were involved.

You’ll learn about basketball point-shaving, Olympic figure-skating corruption, a drug-smuggling race-car driver, Italian soccer match-fixing, a horse-murder insurance scheme, and the fall of a beloved cricket captain.

If you’re into true crime or sports, you’ll enjoy this docuseries.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

-Alex & Books

PS: Here are two ways I can help you:

1) If you’re a READER who wants to read more books, check out The Art of Reading (700+ readers have already got it).

2) If you’re an AUTHOR who wants to sell more books, check out How to Sell More Books (100+ authors have already got it).

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• If you’re an author, watch out for this scam!

• 10 Quotes that will inspire you to read more books.

• Reading for enjoyment is the single biggest predictor of a child's future happiness and success.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

Free Weekly AI Sessions for Experienced Software Engineers.

Every Wednesday at 5 PM CT, Gauntlet AI professors teach a live, hands-on AI engineering session — completely free. If you're nontechnical, this isn't for you. New topic every week, built for engineers who want to build, not just watch. See upcoming sessions.

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📚 Book Summary:

Thank you for voting in last week’s newsletter.

The winner was “Breath” by James Nestor, so here’s an in-depth summary of it.

This book literally saved my life.

For years, I would wake up with a dry throat, headache, and never feel fully rested even with 8 hours of sleep. Then I read this book and learned about the harmful health effects of mouth breathing, and took action to fix it.

If anyone in your life snores, has sleep apnea, or breathes through their mouth, give them this book.

Note: This information is for educational purposes only; this is not medical advice.

📖

1) The Harmful Effects of Mouthbreathing

You have two ways to breathe, through your nose and through your mouth.

Your mouth, however, is a backup option. It can do the job, but it’s not built for it.

Just like how a car has a spare tire, it can be used for a while. But if it’s used for too long, it will cause problems.

For instance, mouthbreathing is the number one cause of cavities, even more damaging than sugar.

Mouthbreathing can also make you dumber.

A Japanese study found that rats who had their nostrils obstructed and were forced to breathe through their mouths developed fewer brain cells and took twice as long to make their way through a maze than nasal-breathing rats.

It’s estimated that about 50% of the population are habitual mouthbreathers.

The reason people tend to breathe through their mouths is that they have some type of nasal obstruction. About 75% of humans have a deviated septum (I’m one of them).

Nestor writes that “No amount of snoring is normal, and no amount of sleep apnea comes without risks of serious health effects.”

Here are just a few of the negative health effects of snoring and sleep apnea:

• ADHD

• Diabetes

• Dehydration

• Bed-wetting

• High blood pressure

• Erecticle dysfunction

But there is a way to fix it.

📖

2) How To Fix Your Snoring

Nestor went from snoring 4 hours a night to just 10 minutes with one simple hack–mouth tape.

Nestor was skeptical at first, but after talking with a Stanford doctor who specialized in breathing disorders, he decided to give it a try. Nestor writes that mouth taping has worked not just for him, but for hundreds of other people that he’s spoken to.

Taping your mouth trains the tissues inside the nasal cavity to flex and stay open.

Nasal breathing is also a lot healthier and more effective than mouth breathing. The nose filters, heats, and moisturizes air, making it easier to absorb. Nasal breathing absorbs 18% more oxygen than mouth breathing.

I’ve been using mouth tape for several years now, and it’s completely changed my life. With mouth tape, I sleep longer, deeper, and wake up feeling more refreshed.

It takes a few days to get used to it. I suggest trying it on by taking a nap with it first, but after that, it will become a regular and crucial part of your routine.

I know it sounds crazy, but before you consider getting surgery to fix your nasal obstruction, I highly recommend giving mouth tape a try.

📖

3) How Chewing Gum Can Improve Your Breathing

Our ancient ancestors chewed for hours a day, every day. Because they chewed so much, their mouths, teeth, and faces grew to be wide and strong.

Today, however, the majority of the food in our diet is soft or mushy and doesn’t require much chewing at all. Foods such as bread, cereal, smoothies, apple sauce, etc.

This lack of chewing has led to 90% of the population having some form of malocclusion–misalignment of the upper and lower teeth when the jaws close. When teeth get crowded and jaws get misaligned, breathing problems often follow.

But there is hope.

Nestor writes that the simple act of chewing gum can help strengthen your jaw, stimulate stem cell growth, and open your airways.

You can use any chewing gum, but he recommends Falim or Mastic gum.

The harder the texture, the more of a workout you’ll get and thus more benefits. Nestor warns that these gums may not taste the best, but they are effective and deliver results.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Stop breathing through your mouth and start breathing through your nose.

2) If you or someone you know snores or breathes through their mouth while sleeping, get them to try mouth tape.

3) Try chewing Falim or Mastic gum daily and see if that helps improve your breathing.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Website: The Infinite Bookshelf

My friend John Glanville has been reading books for 50+ years.

He’s spent the last few months curating lists of his favorite books for dozens of different subjects, such as:

• Top 10 Strategy Books

• Top 10 Leadership Books

• Top 10 Communication Books

• Top 10 Personal Growth Books

• Top 10 Decision-Making Books

He has 1,000+ book recommendations on his site and each one has a short summary. The site is free to browse. Visit his website here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

-Alex & Books

PS: Here are two ways I can help you:

1) If you’re a READER who wants to read more books, check out The Art of Reading (700+ readers have already got it).

2) If you’re an AUTHOR who wants to sell more books, check out How to Sell More Books (100+ authors have already got it).

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 5 Free resources every author should check out.

• Bestselling author Brian Tracy on how to change your life.

• A story about Mohamed Aziz, the most photographed bookseller in the world.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

Bad news is good business. We never bought in.

Every morning, financial news follows the same script. Headlines panic, coverage catastrophises, and somewhere inside the noise is the story that actually matters — the one that tells you where the opportunity sits, not just where the fear is pointing.

Most sources have stopped looking. The alarm is easier to sell.

The Daily Upside was created by Wall Street insiders for readers who crave real insight over recycled anxiety. Five minutes of global business and finance, before the noise sets the agenda — just the facts, context, and analysis your decisions need.

Join 1M readers — including managing directors and principals at some of Wall Street’s largest institutions — who trust The Daily Upside to filter through the chaos.

The upsides are always there. We’ll find them before breakfast.

Start reading for free today

📚 Book Summary:

Instead of one book summary this week, here are 3 recent books I enjoyed:

📖

1) “The One and the Ninety-Nine” by Luke Burgis

In today’s world the problem isn’t finding your tribe, it’s not losing yourself within one.

When you join a tribe, whether it’s political, professional, or otherwise, you can quickly lose your personal identity and independence. You stop thinking critically and start thinking as a hive mind.

In this book, Burgis explains how groups shape our desires, how “social contagion” spreads, and most importantly, how to remain oneself while staying connected to others. If you enjoyed his previous book “Wanting”, you’ll love this book.

📖

2) “Reader, Come Home” by Maryanne Wolf

Author Maryanne Wolf has been studying and researching literacy for over two decades.

In this thought-provoking book, she explains what happens in the brains of readers, how ebooks and audiobooks change how we read, how decreasing attention spans are affecting readers, the many benefits of reading physical books, and much more.

If you’re into books about books or interested in neuroscience, you’ll enjoy this book.

📖

3) “Breath” by James Nestor

This book changed my life years ago, so I’m revisiting it.

No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how young you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly.

Breathing seems simple enough, but 40% of people suffer from chronic nasal obstruction and around 50% of people are habitual mouth-breathers. I was one of them. I thought breathing through your mouth was normal, but in reality, it was causing several of my health problems.

If you have trouble breathing through your nose, snore at night, have sleep apnea, or wake up in the morning with a dry throat, you NEED to read this book.

✅ Actionable Advice:

💎 Weekly Gem:

App: Shortform

I’ve tried several book summary apps over the years, but Shortform is the best one.

They have 10,000+ handwritten book summaries–by real people (not AI). And at the end of each summary, there are exercises to help you apply what you’ve learned.

I like to read their summaries as a way of sampling books before deciding whether to buy them and to review key lessons from my favorite books.

If you want to learn faster, retain more, or make your reading habit pay off, I recommend checking them out.

Try Shortform for FREE for 5 days here!

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

-Alex & Books

PS: Here are two ways I can help you:

1) If you’re a READER who wants to read more books, check out The Art of Reading (700+ readers have already got it).

2) If you’re an AUTHOR who wants to sell more books, check out How to Sell More Books (100+ authors have already got it).

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• A serious reader's guide to marginalia.

• A simple yet powerful tip to read more books.

• I asked AI why books still matter in the age of AI, here’s what it said.

Note: This newsletter usually goes out on Sundays, but this last weekend was incredibly busy for me. Sorry about the delay!

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

Find out why 200K+ engineers read The Code twice a week

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.

This book has sold over 25+ million copies, making it one of the bestselling non-fiction books of all time.

It will teach you how to build good habits and break bad ones.

If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. And if you have read it, I recommend rereading it (I try to reread it every 1-2 years).

If you enjoyed “Tiny Habits” or “The Power of Habit”, you’ll love this book.

📖

1) Apply The Law of Least Effort

Every action requires a certain amount of energy.

But energy is precious and limited. Therefore, the more energy an action requires, the less likely it is to occur. This is referred to as the law of least effort.

Bad habits such as scrolling on your phone, checking email, and watching TV steal so much of our time because they can be performed easily without much effort.

Whereas good habits such as going to the gym, reading a book, or cooking a healthy meal require a lot more effort.

That’s why you want to remove as many obstacles as possible between you and the habits you’re trying to accomplish.

For instance:

• If you want to eat healthier, put out a bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter (mine currently has a mango, kiwi, and banana).

• If you want to go to the gym after work, pack your gym clothes in your bag the night before.

• If you want to read a book in the morning, leave your book on the kitchen table where you drink your coffee every morning.

Redesign your life so the actions that matter most are also the actions that are easiest to do.

📖

2) How to Lock In A Good Habit

In the book, James talks about a friend who struggled with unplugging from work.

So the friend bought an outlet timer that he plugged in between his internet router and the power outlet. At 10 pm each night, the outlet timer cut off power to the router, and the internet turned off. When the internet went off and he couldn’t work, he headed to bed.

That one action led to a healthier sleeping habit that paid off every night.

One-time actions may require a little bit of effort up front, but they can reward you again and again for weeks, months, or years to come.

Here are a few one-time actions I’ve done and recommend:

• Mute all app notifications.

• Move all social media apps to the last page of your phone.

• Buy blackout curtains to improve your sleep.

• Buy a water filter so you have cleaner drinking water.

• Buy a reading pillow to improve your posture and reduce neck strain.

• Buy noise-canceling headphones so you can work more deeply without interruptions.

• Automate your finances by setting up a monthly deposit into your investment account.

Instead of relying on willpower or motivation, take a one-time action that helps automate and lock in your good habits.

📖

3) Find A Game Where You Have An Advantage

Boiling water will soften a potato but harden an egg.

You don’t control which one you are, but you can decide which game to play in life.

Take two Olympic athletes, for instance. Michael Phelps and Hicham El Guerrouj both wear the same length of pants.

Except, Phelps is 6’4 tall and weighs 194 pounds, whereas Guerrouj is 5’9 and weighs 138 pounds.

How is this possible?

Phelps has relatively short legs for his height but a very long torso, which makes him the perfect build for swimming.

Meanwhile, Guerrouj has incredibly long legs and a short upper body, which gives him an ideal frame for long-distance running.

If the two were to switch sports, neither of them would have won any Olympic medals.

The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition for your strengths.

This isn’t limited to genetics; it applies to personality and all other aspects of your life.

Being extroverted is a strength if you work in sales and get energy from talking to people, but a weakness if you’re an author who has to spend most of their time alone with their thoughts.

Being high in empathy is a strength if you work as a nurse and have to constantly tend to people’s needs, but a weakness if you're an emergency surgeon who has to cut into someone without hesitation.

Every genetic and personality trait has its strengths and weaknesses. Your goal in life should be to find a game that favors your strengths.

And if you can’t find one, create one (that’s what I did).

I combined my passion for learning with my marketing skills to become a book content creator.

Now I spend my days reading, writing, and creating social media content about books.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Humans naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work. Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.

2) One-time choices are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver lasting results.

3) Find a game in life where your traits give you a competitive advantage. If you can’t find one, create one.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Free webinar: How to Launch Your Book

Most authors never sell 15,000 copies of their book.

My friend Jayson Gaignard sold 15,000 copies BEFORE his book was even out.

Want to know how?

I’m hosting a free webinar with him where he’ll share book launch strategies, and I’ll share a few strategies as well.

If you’re an author or aspiring author, you won’t want to miss this.

You can RSVP for free here. 

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• This is super cool: I was featured in my first Inc. Magazine article!

• Shoutout to all the people who have 50+ unread books in their home.

• Great article on how to make people read again from the chief librarian at the New York Public Library.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

Bad news is good business. We never bought in.

Every morning, financial news follows the same script. Headlines panic, coverage catastrophises, and somewhere inside the noise is the story that actually matters — the one that tells you where the opportunity sits, not just where the fear is pointing.

Most sources have stopped looking. The alarm is easier to sell.

The Daily Upside was created by Wall Street insiders for readers who crave real insight over recycled anxiety. Five minutes of global business and finance, before the noise sets the agenda — just the facts, context, and analysis your decisions need.

Join 1M readers — including managing directors and principals at some of Wall Street’s largest institutions — who trust The Daily Upside to filter through the chaos.

The upsides are always there. We’ll find them before breakfast.

Start reading for free today

📚 Book Summaries:

A few of my author friends have published new books recently, so I wanted to share them here.

Please read the short summaries of each and then vote on which one you’d like me to summarize in-depth below!

📖

1) “Superteams” by Ron Friedman

What do the best teams do differently?

To find out, award-winning social psychologist Ron Friedman surveyed thousands of teams and pinpointed the precise habits that separate the best from the rest. It turns out that the most successful teams aren't the ones that collaborate most, get along best, or put in the longest hours. What really sets them apart is the way they manage their energy and attention, bring out the best in one another, and keep improving over time.

📖

2) “How To Not Know” by Simone Stolzoff

From our careers to our politics to our personal lives, the future is unknown.

Through gripping stories of people grappling with big problems without easy answers, from an economist trying to predict the next market crash to an island nation reckoning with the existential impact of climate change, acclaimed journalist Simone Stolzoff shows how to develop comfort with ambiguity and build tolerance for the unknown.

📖

3) “The Mental Strength Playbook” by Amy Morin

Improve your performance with 50 practical, science-backed tools that build emotional resilience and neutralize negative thoughts.

Learning how to manage your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors will help you recover from setbacks faster and optimize your mental game to excel in high-stakes situations. Morin’s workplace-specific strategies are organized to make solving your specific issue quick and easy.

📖

4) “Inside The Box” by David Epstein

Total freedom can be paralyzing, and unlimited resources don’t necessarily lead to the biggest breakthroughs.

David Epstein argues that all of us—individuals, businesses, institutions, even societies—can benefit from narrowing our options. He dives into the science and practice of constraints, exploring exactly when and how guardrails can be beneficial, whether we’re working with limited resources or using self-imposed boundaries to tap unexpected wells of focus and innovation.

✅ Actionable Advice:

💎 Weekly Gem:

Product: Beehiiv

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I’ve been using Beehiiv to send these emails for several years now. It’s an awesome and super-easy app to create and send emails.

If you’re a content creator, author, or entrepreneur, you NEED to have a newsletter. It allows you to directly connect with your followers and customers, without having to rely on social media or algorithms.

Sign up for free for Beehiiv today (up to 2,500 subscribers) or switch to Beehiiv and save 20% using my link here!

–––

PS: Beehiiv is announcing something big on July 16th. If you’re thinking about starting a newsletter, you’ll want to see this. RSVP for free here.

Summer Release 2026 | beehiiv

Save the date for beehiiv Summer Release 2026—new features and what’s next for your newsletter.

www.beehiiv.com/summer-release-2026?via=alex-wieckowski

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 5 Bad habits you need to unlearn to become a better reader.

• 17 helpful reading tips from author and economist Tyler Cowen.

• Clavicular explaining why he doesn't read books is hilarious (and dumb).

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

10K Steps Is a Myth–Try This Instead

When motivation is lacking, jumping into heavy routines is the fastest way to burn out. That’s why millions of people are turning to walking as the foundation of their fitness journey.

Walking lets you enjoy the outdoors, clear your head, and practice mindfulness. It’s simple, sustainable, and can support lasting weight loss if you know how much you need. The “10,000 steps a day” rule is outdated; everyone’s lifestyle is different.

With Simple, you’ll get access to habit-based coaching that’s helped users lose over 18 million pounds. Take the quiz to discover your personalized walking target.

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Uncommon Sense Teaching” by Barbara Oakley.

I’ve been going down a rabbit hole on books about how to learn better, and came across this one. It’s written by three cognitive scientists, so all of the tips are based on proven research.

This book is specifically written for educators and teachers.

If you’re a student or someone who likes books about learning, I’d recommend you read “Learn Like A Pro” or “Make It Stick” instead.

📖

1) The Ultimate Memory Tactic

This one memory tactic is more effective than rereading, highlighting, or even creating a concept map.

Do you know what it is?

It’s retrieval practice.

A common misconception is thinking that memory is about getting information into your head. But a more accurate perspective is that memory is the ability to get information out of your head. In other words, having the ability to retrieve information when you need it–hence the term.

Here’s a helpful way to think about retrieval practice:

Imagine you meet someone new at a party and they tell you their name. If you bumped into them a year later, you (most likely) wouldn’t remember their name because you didn’t need that information for quite some time.

Now imagine that you bumped into that person the next day on the train. And a week later, at the park. And a month later, at the airport. And then a year later, at a work conference. Chances are you would remember their name because you had to recall it several times over the past year.

Your memory works in a similar way. Every time you force your mind to retrieve a piece of information, it strengthens the neural links around it and slowly moves it into your long-term memory.

One of the most popular ways to apply retrieval practice is to use flashcards or simply to periodically recall a piece of information you want to remember.

📖

2) Beat Procrastination with Pomodoro

When you think about doing something you don’t want to do, it can cause feelings of pain that encourage you to think about something else–the result is procrastination.

And the more you procrastinate, the more this bad habit becomes ingrained and the harder it becomes to change it.

One effective and proven strategy for overcoming procrastination is to use the Pomodoro technique:

1. Put away or turn off all distractions–especially smartphone notifications.

2. Set a timer for 25 minutes and focus as intently as possible on the task during that time.

3. Reward yourself with a 5-minute break.

4. Repeat as needed. Reward yourself with a 30-minute break after the 3rd Pomodoro.

This is a powerful technique that can be used for both kids and adults. It teaches you to work in short, concentrated bursts while also strengthening your ability to avoid distractions.

Remember that the 5-minute break is important and not to be skipped.

Taking a short ‘brain break’ by getting some water, having a snack, doing a chore, or simply closing your eyes for that time actually helps you recharge (or if you’re studying, helps strengthen what you’ve learned).

📖

3) Improve Your Studying By Using More Senses

Richard Mayer, a psychology professor at UC Santa Barbara, developed the theory of multimedia learning.

The idea is straightforward: Memory has both a visual and a verbal component, so presenting information in multiple formats helps learners process information more effectively.

When you hear someone explaining a topic but also see it at the same time, it makes it easier to engage with the ideas and remember them.

So if you spend a lot of time learning from YouTube videos, don’t just listen to them, watch them as well.

Or, instead of just reading a book or listening to an audiobook, to maximize your time spent learning, read the book while also listening to the audiobook.

You can use Read & Listen from Audible or PageMatch from Spotify to sync your ebook and audiobook so that you can read and listen at the same time.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) If you want to remember what you’ve learned, you need to practice recalling the information (think about it every so often).

2) If you’re procrastinating on a task, try the Pomodoro technique. Do the task for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute mental break.

3) If you want to remember more of what you learn, try reading a book and listening to it at the same time.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Product: Create Stick Packs

Create (the company that makes delicious creatine gummies) recently released a new product:

• Creatine + Electrolytes stick packs that combine 5g creatine monohydrate with 800mg of electrolytes.

These stick packs make it super easy to get your daily creatine while also keeping you hydrated. It’s also caffeine-free, sugar-free, and tastes great.

If you want to build muscle, improve recovery, and boost cognition, try Create today and get 20% off your first order here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 15 Reading tips from bestselling author Mark Manson.

• The habit that changed billionaire investor Charlie Munger’s life.

• Why you should stop feeling guilty about your unread book pile.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Steve Jobs In Exile” by Geoffrey Cain.

Everyone knows Steve Jobs as the legendary cofounder and CEO of Apple. But in 1985, Jobs was essentially kicked out of Apple. The next 12 years were some of the most difficult, but also most transformational for Jobs.

If you enjoyed “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson, you’ll love this book.

Here are 3 lessons from the book:

📖

1) The Worst Thing To Ever Happen To You Might Actually Be The Best Thing

Steve Jobs cofounded Apple when he was just 21 years old.

By 1985, he helped build Apple into a $1 billion company. But that same year, Jobs was basically kicked out of his own company.

At that time, Jobs was devastated. He was 30 years old and thought he’d spend the rest of his life at Apple.

He could’ve been resentful and spent the rest of his life drinking mai tais on a beach in the Bahamas. But if he did that, he likely wouldn’t have been very happy. And it’s likely history would’ve soon forgotten him, and Apple would not be the amazing company we know and love today.

Instead of crying about it, Jobs got to work and started a new company called NeXT Computers. And a year later, he also cofounded an animation studio.

It took over 10 years of eating dirt and glass for Jobs to turn those two companies into a success, but through his determination and relentless work ethic, he pulled through.

Along the way, Jobs also became a better manager, recruiter, CEO, and leader.

Jobs ended up selling NeXT to Apple for $427 million, which personally made him over $150 million. And that animation company he helped build was the legendary Pixar Studios, which he took public and made $1.2 billion from its IPO.

Today, Jobs is a permanent historical figure in both the technology and movie industries.

So maybe getting kicked out of his company wasn’t a bad event, maybe it was actually the best thing that could’ve ever happened to him.

📖

2) Building A Startup Is Ridiculously Hard

Although NeXT and Pixar ended up having successful outcomes, the road to get there was not an easy one.

In 1991, NeXT was nearing bankruptcy. It had burned through $100 million of capital.

Steve Jobs had to fly to Tokyo to convince Canon to invest another $40 million into the business, or the startup would fail.

Then just a year later in 1992, NeXT was once again on the brink of bankruptcy. Jobs needed another $20 million investment from Canon within 3 days, or it would fail.

NeXT lost money for 9 years straight. By 1994, over $150 million had been invested in the company, but it only made a measly $1 million in profit.

Pixar also had its fair share of struggles. Jobs had to personally invest over $50 million of his own money to keep it afloat.

And that’s just the financial hardship. Jobs had to deal with cofounders and executives constantly quitting, products constantly failing, and intense competition from established companies like Microsoft.

Building companies was highly rewarding, but it’s important to remember that these ventures are also high-risk.

📖

3) Pivot, Pivot, Pivot

There’s a saying that “change is the only constant in life."

The same is true for businesses. If you aren’t changing, evolving, or pivoting, you’re going to get left behind.

When Jobs first started NeXT, his plan was to build a computer for universities and academics.

However, the computer ended up being ridiculously expensive and riddled with a wide range of problems.

During the early years of NeXT, Jobs refused to sell the computers to government agencies. However, a few years later when the company was severely struggling, Jobs had to pivot in order for the business to survive, and sold computers to the CIA, NSA, and several other government branches.

Because the manufacturing and maintenance of the computers was such an issue, Jobs then pivoted the company to focus on creating software and even renamed the company from NeXT Computers to NeXT Software.

After being acquired by Apple and becoming the CEO of the company once again, Jobs pivoted the company by shutting down 70% of the product line to focus on the 30% of their products that were the best or most promising.

Life is constantly changing. If you or your business want to become successful, you must also pivot and adapt.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) The worst thing to ever happen to you might actually become the best thing to ever happen to you (such as this bike crash that led me to start Alex & Books).

2) Building a startup is high risk, but it’s also high reward.

3) If a project or business isn’t working, consider pivoting it and moving in a new direction.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Documentary: The Dark Wizard

This documentary is an adrenaline rush and deeply emotional at the same time.

It’s about Dean Potter, the man who revolutionized free soloing (climbing without any rope and freebase climbing (climbing with a parachute). And his struggles with mental health along the way.

It’s also by the same team that made two other amazing films: The Alpinist and The Dawn Wall.

If you’re looking for something exciting and moving to watch, I highly recommend this documentary.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• Do audiobooks count as reading?

• This might be the best writing tip I've ever heard.

• Dr. Jordan Peterson explains how reading books can change your life.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

Become An AI Expert In Just 5 Minutes

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This daily newsletter condenses everything you need to know about the latest and greatest AI developments into a 5-minute read. Squeeze it into your morning coffee break and before you know it, you’ll be an expert too.

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📚 Book Summary:

This week's book is “A Calendar of Wisdom” by Leo Tolstoy.

This book is similar to “The Daily Stoic” in that it’s a collection of wisdom meant to be read one page per day.

Tolstoy spent over 10 years collecting the best quotes from ancient texts, philosophers, and the greatest thinkers throughout history, and curated his favorite insights into this book.

Since the book is filled with just quotes and no stories, instead of sharing 3 lessons from the book, I’ll share my favorite quotes from it:

📖

1) Quotes on Living Well:

“He who does good to others makes the biggest gift to himself.” –Seneca

“He who has achieved victory over himself has real power.” –Eastern Wisdom

“When you appeared in this world, you cried, and all the people around you rejoiced. You have to live your life in such a way that when you leave this world, you will rejoice, and all the people around you will cry.” –Indian Wisdom

“To be strong, you have to be like water: if there are no obstacles, it flows; if there is an obstacle it stops; if a dam is broken, then it flows further. Because it is so soft and flexible, it is the most necessary and the strongest thing.” –Lao Tzu

“Be strict in judging yourself and gentle in judging others, and you will have no enemies.” –Chinese Wisdom

📖

2) Quotes on Thinking Well

“Only when we forget what we were taught do we start to have real knowledge.” –Henry David Thoreau

“We should be ready to change our views at any time..and live with an open and receptive mind. A sailor who sets the same sails all the time, without making changes when the wind changes, will never reach his harbor.” –Henry George

“Every thought a person dwells upon, whether he expresses it or not, either damages or improves his life.” –Lucy Malory

“He who is looking for wisdom is already wise; and he who thinks that he has found wisdom is a stupid man.” –Eastern Wisdom

“Seek to learn constantly while you live; do not wait in the faith that old age by itself will bring wisdom.” –Solon

📖

3) Quotes on Speaking Well

“The only way to tell the truth is to speak with kindness. Only the words of a loving man can be heard.” –Henry David Thoreau

“We lie to other people so often that we get used to it, and we start to lie to ourselves.” –François de La Rochefoucauld

“During an argument, make your words very soft, and your heart hard. Do not try to lash out at your opponent, but try to convince him.” –George Wilkins

“Never be ashamed to admit what you do not know.” –Arabic Proverb

“If you notice someone in error, then correct this person and his mistake in a humble way. If he does not listen to you, blame yourself only; or, even better, do not blame anybody, but continue to be humble.” –Marcus Aurelius

✅ Actionable Advice:

If you’re a fan of books that you can read 1 page per day, here are a few more options:

• “The Daily Laws” by Robert Greene

• “The Daily Pressfield” by Steven Pressfield

• “The Daily Artist's Way” by Julia Cameron

• “The Language of Letting Go” by Melody Beattie

💎 Weekly Gem:

Personality Quiz: Deep Personality 

This is a free online quiz created by my friend Andrew Wilkinson.

He combined 28 personal assessments into 1 master quiz that will give you in-depth details about your:

• Personality

• Ideal job/career

• OCD + Austism

• Love languages

• Trauma patterns

• And much more:

It takes about 30-45 minutes to complete, but it’s worth it.

So if you’re looking to understand yourself better and what to do about it, take the Deep Personality quiz for free here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 20 Books for 20 Problems.

• Novelist Louis L’Amour on how to find time to read.

• Reading books can help you live longer. Here are 5 studies that show how.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “The Great Mental Models” by Shane Parrish.

This book is filled with several mental models, AKA frameworks for making better decisions. Mental models help you see decisions from different perspectives, avoid common pitfalls, and increase your chances of making smart choices.

If you want to make decisions more effectively, quickly, and confidently, this book is for you.

Here are 3 lessons from the book:

📖

1) Practice Second-Order Thinking

Almost anyone can predict the results of their actions–however, few people think about what happens next.

That’s where second-order thinking comes in.

It requires us to think about the consequences and aftereffects that those actions will have.

Failing to consider aftereffects can cause several new problems.

One famous example is what happened in India in the 1880s.

At the time, India was ruled by the British, who were concerned about the number of venomous cobras in Delhi.

To reduce the cobra population, the British government introduced a reward for every dead snake brought to officials.

However, many Indian citizens began breeding the snakes in order to kill them and claim their reward.

Once the government learned about this scheme, they canceled the reward. With no incentive to keep the cobras, breeders released the snakes into the wild.

As a result, the snake problem became worse than when the government first intervened. Because the British officials didn’t think about the aftereffects of their actions, their solution to a problem resulted in an even bigger problem.

So think chess, not checkers.

Just like a chess master thinks several moves ahead about a single decision and imagines what will happen next depending on each move, you want to do the same.

📖

2) If You Don’t Know What To Do Next, Try Inversion

Even when you don’t know what the right move is, you almost always know what the wrong move is.

For instance, perhaps you don’t know what leads to a good night’s sleep. But you for sure know that eating a massive meal and drinking a large cup of coffee before bed is a terrible idea.

Simply avoiding those two actions will dramatically improve your quality of sleep.

That’s inversion.

When you don’t know what the right step is, ask yourself, “What’s the wrong step?” and do the opposite of that.

The late, great investor Charlie Munger was a huge fan of inversion.

In one of his last interviews, Munger commented that one of the keys to his success was avoiding common traps such as being unreliable, not learning from the mistakes of others, and staying down after failing.

By doing the opposite–being reliable, learning from others, and not quitting–he was able to amass a billion-dollar fortune and build one of the most valuable companies in the world.

So the next time you’re grappling with a difficult problem, try inverting your thinking.

Ask yourself what actions would guarantee failure, and then consider doing the opposite.

📖

3) Hanlon’s Razor: Most People Aren’t Evil, Just Stupid

Hanlon’s razor states that we should not attribute to malice that which is more easily explained by stupidity.

Or to put it simply, people are more likely to do harm by accident than by evil.

In a complex world, using this model helps us avoid paranoia, accusations, and other negative reactions.

Take road rage as an example.

When someone cuts you off, you might assume the person was deliberately trying to get in your way, push you to the side of the road, or cause an accident to try to claim insurance money.

But the simpler and more likely explanation is that the person didn’t see you. There was no ill intent; it was just a mistake on their part.

Hanlon’s razor empowers us to be more realistic in evaluating the situation and stops us from immediately reacting with a negative response.

In 1962, if Vasili Arkhipov had reacted wrongly, the entire world could have ended.

At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, American destroyers and Soviet submarines were in a standoff in the waters off Cuba.

Arkhipov was an officer aboard Soviet sub B-59–a sub that was carrying a nuclear weapon.

The sub detected something on its radar and assumed the worst. Convinced that war had broken out, the captain of the sub wanted to deploy their nuclear-tipped torpedo.

Luckily, the launch of the torpedo required all three senior officers on board to agree, but Arkhipov didn’t. Instead of assuming malice, he stayed calm and insisted on surfacing to contact Moscow first.

The submarine surfaced and learned that the Americans hadn’t attacked.

Arkhipov wasn’t hailed as a hero until the record was declassified 40 years later.

Hanlon’s razor is a powerful reminder to approach problems with good faith and explore other motives instead of immediately responding with anger or accusations.

Doing so will help you reduce the drama and stress in your life and prevent you from falsely blaming or hurting others.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Second-Order Thinking: Before making a decision, think about what will happen after you make it and the actions that will follow from it.

• Example: If you’re thinking about buying an expensive car because you think you can afford it, think about what will happen next after you buy it (insurance will probably cost more, parts for repairs will cost more, premium gas will cost more, etc).

2) Inversion: If you don’t know what to do next, think about what the worst action would be and do the opposite.

• Example: If you want to lose weight but don’t know where to start, think about ways to gain weight (drink soda, eat fast food, eat lots of sweets) and do the opposite (avoid soda, avoid fast food, avoid sweets).

3) Hanlon’s Razor: Assume people aren’t out to get or hurt you, but rather their actions are accidental.

• Example: If your boss didn’t approve your vacation time, it’s not because they hate you or look down on you for taking a vacation, they might have just had a busy week and forgotten about it.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Here are 3 free newsletters worth checking out:

1) Jason Feifer: Jason is the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine. Every week, he shares one tip that will help you become more effective at work and build a career or company you love. If you want to level up your career or company, check out Jason’s newsletter. Join 80,000+ readers here.

2) Unearthed: Looking for music recommendations. Unearthed is a free weekly newsletter that helps you find good music. All genres. All eras. All great. Join for free here.

3) Jonathan Goodman: Jonathan is the author of “Unhinged Habits” and one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. Every week, he shares short tips on making money, living healthily, and building relationships. Follow him to become happier, healthier, and wealthier. Join 70,000+ readers here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 100 Best investing books according to Goodreads.

• China’s new official obsession: Getting people to read more books.

• Good News: After 20 years of declining numbers, indie booksellers have come roaring back.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Glucose Revolution” by Jessie Inchauspe.

Glucose, AKA blood sugar, is a tiny molecule in our body that has a massive impact on our health. Too much glucose at one time can cause a glucose spike (people often describe this feeling as a sugar crash or food coma).

Glucose spikes are harmful because they affect our mood, sleep, and cognitive function. In the long run, dysregulated glucose levels contribute to acne, eczema, arthritis, depression, infertility, heart disease, cancer, and many more diseases.

The author is a biochemist who shares 10 practical tips for balancing your glucose levels. Here are 3 of them:

📖

1) Go For A Savory Breakfast, Not A Sweet One

Who doesn’t love a croissant or muffin for breakfast?

However, most breakfast foods are terrible for your glucose levels.

A bowl of sweetened cornflakes can spike your glucose by 140-200 points. Compare that to an omelet with avocado that will spike your glucose by only 10-20 points, that’s a 10x difference.

You want to avoid the typical breakfast foods like cereal, donuts, croissants, and muffins, all of which will dramatically spike your glucose levels.

The same goes for fruit juice.

Fruit juice sounds healthy, but one serving of orange juice has 24 grams of sugar and spikes your glucose by 50+ points. Compare that to a regular orange, which will spike your glucose by less than 10 points.

So when picking what to eat for breakfast, go for savory instead of sweet:

• Make an omelet instead of pancakes

• Eat real fruit instead of drinking fruit juice

• Have your toast with avocado instead of jelly

• Get a ham and cheese croissant instead of a chocolate croissant

By starting your day with a savory meal instead of a sweet one, you’ll avoid an afternoon crash and feel much better for the rest of the day.

📖

2) Eat Your Food In The Right Order

One of my favorite hacks from this book is also the simplest–eat your food in the right order.

That order is fiber first, fats second, and starches last.

An easier way to remember this is: Veggies first, Protein second, Carbs last.

By eating your foods in this order, you can reduce your glucose spike by 73%!

This works because the fiber in vegetables slows down the breakdown and absorption of glucose into the bloodstream.

So for example, if you order chicken and broccoli pasta for dinner, you want to eat the broccoli first, then the chicken, and save the pasta for the end.

If you eat the pasta first, your glucose will spike 60+ points. But if you eat the pasta last, it’ll spike less than 30 points.

So aim to start every dish by eating the veggies or greens on your plate. Then go for the protein and save the carbs for the end.

It’s a small change, but it makes a big difference.

📖

3) Save The Sweets For Dessert, Not A Snack

When you eat is just as important as what you eat when it comes to glucose spikes.

If you eat something sweet on an empty stomach, there’s no food to slow it down and you’ll go on a glucose rollercoaster.

For instance, if you have a fruit smoothie on an empty stomach, it will spike your glucose by 50+ points.

But if you have that same smoothie after a meal, it will only spike it by 25 points.

So if you’re craving a smoothie, candy bar, cookie, or some other sweet snack, put it aside or in the fridge and enjoy it as dessert after your next meal.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Have a savory breakfast instead of a sweet one:

• Egg omelet > Pancakes

• Green juice > Fruit juice

• Avocado toast > Nutella toast

2) Eat your food in the right order to reduce glucose spikes:

• Veggies first, protein second, carbs last.

3) If you want to eat something sweet, have it for dessert instead of a snack:

• Eat lunch then have a smoothie.

• Eat dinner then have chocolate pretzels.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Video: How to Write a Cold Email That Gets a Response - Tim Ferriss

Have you ever emailed someone famous or successful and gotten ignored?

Watch this video to change that.

In it, Tim Ferriss and Michelle Khare share how to write a proper cold email that will dramatically increase the chances of you getting a response.

I’ve used cold emails to connect with dozens of bestselling authors and creators way more successful than me.

I highly recommend watching this video, taking notes, and applying what they say.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• Here’s some fascinating data on the price of books.

• David Foster Wallace on why people struggle to read books.

• This is Mohamed Aziz–the most photographed bookseller in the world.

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📚 Book Summary:

My book manuscript is due in a few weeks, so it’s crunch time for me.

Because of that, instead of a new book summary this week, here are a few awesome books + summaries you may have missed:

• Want to improve your focus?

  • Read “Focus On-Off.”

• Want to become a better coach or leader?

  • Read “The Coaching Habit.”

• Want to remember more of what you learn?

  • Read “Make It Stick.”

• Want to change your negative or limited beliefs?

  • Read “Beyond Belief.”

• Want to understand why your attention span is shrinking?

  • Read “Stolen Focus.”

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) If you’re interested in being an early reader of my book, please fill out this form.

2) I’ve been posting a lot of book recs, reading tips, and writing tips on LinkedIn. For more interesting content, follow me on LinkedIn here.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Podcast: NPR’s Behind The Book Series

Have you ever wondered how to get a book deal? How books are made? Or how bookstores decide which books to buy?

NPR’s Planet Money podcast has an excellent podcast series where they go behind the scenes and cover each of those topics.

If you want to learn:

• How to get a book deal, listen here.

• How books are physically made, listen here.

• How bookstores pick books and operate, listen here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 10 Ways to read books for free.

• 5 Interesting reading stats from the latest Pew Research.

• Norway gave every kid an iPad. Here’s what happened next (this post went viral).

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Make It Stick” by Peter C. Brown.

After a 10-year collaboration with some of the world’s leading experts on human memory, the authors share studies, stories, and results on which memory tactics and strategies actually boost memory and learning.

Here are 3 lessons from the book:

📖

1) The #1 Best Way To Remember More

It turns out that the best way to remember more is to practice remembering.

And one of the most effective and proven tactics to do that is to quiz yourself.

In one experiment, college students studied various scientific topics and then either took an immediate test or restudied the material.

After two days, researchers found that the group that took the initial test recalled 68% of the material, compared to the restudy group which recalled 54%.

A week later, both groups were tested again. The advantage still held with the test group scoring 56% while the restudy group scored 42%.

In 2007, a similar study was done on 8th-grade students.

One group of students was given a short quiz (which didn’t count toward their grade) at the start of the class, before they were taught the lesson, and another quiz at the end of the class.

After three semesters, the students who had not been quizzed averaged a GPA of 79%, whereas the students who had been quizzed averaged a GPA of 92%.

Asking your brain to retrieve information, such as while taking a quiz or test, requires more effort than rereading material and thus leads to stronger results.

Another added benefit of testing yourself is that you get instant feedback on what material you know and where there are gaps in your knowledge.

If you don’t have any practice quizzes or tests, you can create flashcards.

Although testing yourself can seem unappealing, it’s been proven over and over again to be one of the most effective memory strategies.

📖

2) To Cram or Not To Cram

In a 1978 study, researchers found that cramming led to higher scores on an immediate test, but there was a tradeoff–it resulted in faster forgetting.

When researchers tested students two days later, the group that had crammed for the test had forgotten 50% of what they had learned, whereas the group that spent the same time studying but spaced out their learning had forgotten only 13%.

Here’s a vivid example of the importance of spacing out your practice sessions.

This study took 38 surgical residents and had them participate in 4 lessons on a microsurgery of reattaching severed aortas in live rats.

Half of the participants completed all 4 lessons in a single day. The other half took one lesson a week for 4 weeks.

A month later, both groups were tested on what they had learned.

Interestingly, the group that took one lesson every week outperformed their colleagues in all areas–faster surgeries, fewer hand movements, and greater success of completion.

The residents who took all 4 lessons in one day scored lower on all measures, and 16% of them damaged the rats’ vessels beyond repair and were unable to complete their surgeries.

📖

3) How To Improve Your Muscle Memory

Here’s a fascinating experiment conducted with the baseball team of Cal Poly University.

The team was split into two groups, and each player practiced hitting 45 pitches.

The first group practiced hitting pitches that were divided into 3 sets.

For example, the first set would be 15 fastballs, the second set 15 curveballs, and the third set 15 changeups.

The other half of the team also practiced hitting 45 pitches, but the pitches were randomly interspersed.

So it could be a curveball, then a fastball, then another fastball, and so forth.

After 6 weeks of these extra practices, the researchers assessed players from both groups.

Both groups had benefited from the extra practice, but those who had practiced on the randomly interspersed pitches displayed better hitting compared to those who practiced on one type of pitch thrown over and over.

The researchers concluded that although it might feel productive to do the same action over and over again, it requires less effort from your mind.

The baseball players who didn’t know which pitch was coming next had to put in more effort and better simulated a real-life game.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) One of the best ways to remember more of what you learn is to test yourself:

• Create flashcards

• Take practice quizzes or tests

• Close your book and write down everything you’ve learned

2) Cramming can work in the short-term, but leads to faster forgetting:

• If you want to remember a subject for longer, space out your study sessions.

3) If you want to improve your muscle memory, instead of repeating the same movement or drill over and over again, mix up your practice and try to make it as realistic as you can to a real game.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Here are 3 free newsletters worth checking out:

1) Tom Grundy: Stressed at work, fed up with your job, or dreading Mondays? “Anti-career coach” and London banker Tom Grundy has created a guide featuring 6 bestselling authors for professionals who’d like more freedom and fulfilment at work. Join Tom’s newsletter and grab his free guide here.

2) Rob Henderson Ph.D: Rob is a psychologist who studies and writes about human nature. He’s the bestselling author of “Troubled” and coined the term “luxury beliefs”. If you want to better understand human behavior, join 80,000+ readers here.

3) Anne-Laure Le Cunff: Want a more experimental approach to work and life? Every week, neuroscientist and author of “Tiny Experiments” Anne-Laure Le Cunff shares practical ideas on better thinking, creativity, and productivity. Join 130,000+ readers here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• Reading Tip: Always Carry A Book With You.

• G. K. Chesterton on why you should read books.

• Here's my ranking of 30 popular self-help books.

PS: If you’re an author who wants to learn how to better promote your book and sell more copies, check out this book marketing masterclass I hosted!

(90+ authors have already bought it)

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

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📚 Book Summaries:

Here are 3 recent books I read.

Read these short summaries, then vote on which one you’d like me to summarize in-depth below!

📖

1) “The Book of Elon” by Eric Jorgenson

Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Elon Musk is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.

He’s created 5+ billion-dollar companies, and two of those companies (Tesla and SpaceX) are now worth over $1 trillion each. If you want to start a business, become a more productive leader, or learn from one of the most successful people in the world, this book is for you.

📖

2) “Everyday Genius” by Nelson Dellis

In this book, 6x memory champion Nelson Dellis argues that better memory isn’t a talent, it’s a skill that’s taught.

In it, Dellis shares his strategies on how to memorize names, do mental calculation quickly, memorize a deck of cards, solve a Rubik’s cube, and many more memory tricks.

📖

3) “Make It Stick” by Peter C. Brown

This book is similar to the one above, except it’s based on a lot more science.

It was written after a 10-year collaboration among some of the world’s leading experts on human learning and memory. In it, the authors cover which common study and memory tactics don’t work, and powerful strategies that will actually boost your memory and learning.

✅ Actionable Advice:

💎 Weekly Gem:

Product: Wild Alaskan + ButcherBox

If you’re going to eat fish or meat, you want to make sure what you’re eating is high-quality.

Not only does it taste better, but it’s better for you.

Here are 2 companies I’m a huge fan of:

• Wild Alaskan delivers 100% wild-caught seafood that’s sustainably sourced and has no antibiotics, GMOs, or additives.

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Skip the grocery store and save both time and money by ordering from them.

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• If you love meat, get a free trial box of ButcherBox here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 3 Lessons from my most recent author dinner.

• 4 Visual book summaries of Robert Greene’s books.

• 5 Tips to help you read more books from bestselling author Austin Kleon.

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Focus On-Off” by Mark Tigchelaar and Oscar de Bos.

I’ve been doing a deep dive into books about attention and focus, and this one is an excellent read.

It sold 100,000+ copies internationally but was only recently published in the US.

If you enjoyed “Learn Like A Pro” or “Stolen Focus”, you’ll enjoy this book.

Here are 3 lessons from it:

📖

1) How Open Offices Destroy Your Focus

Open offices were meant to increase employee connection and productivity.

Ironically, it had the opposite effect.

Removing all walls in the office did make it easier for people to talk with one another, but it took away their privacy since everyone could eavesdrop on their conversation. As a result, open offices tend to have a 30% increase in digital messages. And more messages equals more distractions.

But it doesn’t stop there.

One study by a Cornell University professor found that 74% of participants said their workplaces were too noisy to be able to concentrate.

A colleague having a conversation next to you can cause your productivity to drop by well over 60%.

This is especially harmful for introverted people who suffer even more from external noise and stimuli than extroverts.

Here’s what you can do about it:

• If you’re the business owner or team leader, ask that everyone put their phones on silent every morning after they enter the office.

• If possible, create a designated focus section at the back of the office or purchase a soundproof booth where people can go to do deep work without getting interrupted.

• Encourage your employees to work from home one day a week so that they skip their commute and spend more time tackling a complex project in peace.

• If you have to work in an open office, invest in some high-quality noise-cancelling headphones.

When employees are given the space to focus, they’re 42% more socialable, 31% more innovative, and 31% happier with their jobs.

📖

2) How to Free Up Focus & Memory In Your Brain

Do you ever have trouble relaxing or find yourself thinking about a dozen different tasks before going to bed?

If so, it’s likely because you have too many open loops in your mind.

You may not realize it, but your brain is likely thinking about every unfinished task or project in your life. These open loops are like old tabs on your computer–each one is taking up a piece of your memory and slowing down your processing power.

What you want to do is offload those thoughts and tasks onto an external hard drive so that they don’t take up space in your brain.

This could be as simple as grabbing a pen and paper and writing down every unfinished task or project you can think of.

The scientific term for this is cognitive distribution, but most people refer to this simply as a brain dump.

Once you have your list of tasks and projects, complete the easiest ones, such as responding to old emails or other tasks that don’t take much effort.

From there, identify the most important task on your list and make that your #1 priority for tomorrow.

📖

3) To Make Better Decisions, Make Fewer Decisions

Thinking takes physical effort.

Professional chess players can burn 500+ calories per hour, all while sitting still.

If you think for too long, you get tired and lose the ability to think clearly.

It’s the reason why supermarkets sell candy bars at the checkout counter. By the time you’ve successfully found every item on your grocery list, decided whether to get the low-fat or full-fat yogurt, and what you’re making for dinner tonight, your brain is exhausted and less able to resist a sugary temptation.

That’s why many successful people have a habit of putting simple decisions, such as what to wear or eat, on autopilot.

Steve Jobs wore the same sweater and jeans every day. President Obama ate the same breakfast every day. Mark Zuckerberg wears the same gray or blue shirt every day.

The more you think about the little things, the less thinking power you have left for the big things.

So to reduce decision fatigue, figure out which decisions in your life you can automate or reduce:

• Wear the same sweater every day or pick your outfit the night before so you don’t think about it in the morning.

• Eat the same breakfast every day or rotate between 2-3 different orders.

• Take the same route to work instead of checking traffic apps every morning.

• Set a fixed workout schedule so you never debate whether or when to go.

• Put your bills on autopay so you never think about due dates.

The fewer decisions you need to make every day, the more able you’ll be to make good decisions.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) If you want to increase your focus, find a quiet place to do your work.

• If you work in an open office, invest in some high-quality noise-cancelling headphones.

2) If you have trouble relaxing or sleeping, grab a pen and a piece of paper, and make a list of every unfinished task you can think of.

• Then get to work and complete all of the tiny tasks that will only take a few minutes to finish.

3) Automate the many small but unimportant decisions in your daily life so that you have more energy for the bigger decisions:

• Wear the same outfit every day.

• Eat the same breakfast every morning.

• Take the same route to work every day.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Workshop: Book Marketing Masterclass

If you’re an author or aspiring author, this is for you.

I teamed up with Alex Stradhee, a book marketing expert who’s worked with 100+ authors and interviewed 100+ bestselling authors, to host a book marketing masterclass.

We’ll be covering:

• The 4 biggest book marketing mistakes (and how to avoid them)

• How to get your book to go viral on social media (and sell hundreds of copies)

• The 5 most effective book marketing strategies (learned from interviewing 100+ authors)

• How to promote your book without using social media (effective channels that most authors overlook)

• Alex's secret 4-step marketing framework every author should follow (I've never shared this publicly before)

This is a live masterclass, but if you can’t join us, you’ll still get a recording of it afterward.

If you want to learn how to sell more books, sign up for our masterclass here!

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• This is a must-read book for readers and for those who wish to become readers.

• Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries.

• If you're an author, aspiring author, or a reader who's curious about how publishing works, I highly recommend this podcast.

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📚 Book Summary:

Thank you to everyone who voted on last week’s newsletter.

The winning book was “Learn Like A Pro” by Barbara Oakley & Olav Schewe!

This book is a crash course on how to improve your ability to learn.

It’s under 150 pages, so it’s a short read, yet packed with practical tips and tactics. You’ll learn how to beat procrastination, remember more of what you read, score higher on tests, and much more. It’s an especially useful book for students.

Here are 3 lessons from the book:

📖

1) A Research-Backed Strategy to Beat Procrastination

If you’re having trouble focusing intently or overcoming procrastination, try the Pomodoro Technique:

1. Sit down where you’ll be working and remove any possible distractions.

2. Set a timer for 25 minutes (use a physical timer if possible; if not, set one on your phone but then put it in another room so you don’t get tempted to scroll).

3. Dive into your work for 25 minutes (if distracting thoughts pop into your mind, write them down on a piece of paper and then get back to work).

4. After the timer rings, reward yourself with a 5 minute break by going for a walk, making a cup of tea, or just closing your eyes and relaxing.

Repeat this strategy as many times as you want until you finish your project.

Why does this work?

• Anticipation of a reward keeps you motivated throughout the work session.

• It’s much easier to commit to a short work session of 25 minutes than a long one of 2 hours.

• Short mental breaks allow you to transfer information into long-term memory, clearing your mind for new learning in the next session.

If you do decide to do a longer work session, take a longer break as well.

One analysis of highly productive workers found that they worked for an average of 52 minutes and then took a 17 minute break.

The key was that when these superstar workers focused, they focused, and when they took a break, they really took a break (note: checking social media or emails is not a break, do something that doesn’t require technology).

📖

2) How To Read Effectively

Effective reading isn’t about speed, it’s about retention.

Research shows that fewer than 1% of people can read at speeds faster than 400 words per minute without loss of comprehension.

The majority of people have a reading speed between 100-300 words per minute, and that’s totally fine. Effective reading is about understanding and remembering what you’ve read.

What most people think is effective is highlighting text while reading, but from a learning perspective, it’s not doing much.

When you highlight text, you activate the parts of your brain involved in the movement of your hand. It feels like you’re being active, but it’s not creating neural links of learning in your long-term memory.

Instead of highlighting the text, you want to annotate it:

• Jot down the most important lessons in your own words

• Write how the ideas from one book connect to another book

• Write a short summary after you finish a chapter

By writing down notes in your own words, you force your brain to process, understand, and paraphrase what you’ve learned.

And if you find that you’re having trouble articulating key ideas, that means there’s a gap in your knowledge, and it’s worth rereading the text.

📖

3) A Few Short Bonus Study Tips

• Break up your learning into multiple sessions over several days instead of one ultralong session.

• To learn difficult concepts well, actively connect what you’re learning to other material you already know.

• Exercise regularly; it’s been shown to help you more easily form neural connections.

• Sleep regularly; sleep is often when your neural architecture grows the most.

• Removing temptations before working is a more effective strategy for staying focused than relying on willpower.

• The best way to prepare for a test is by doing a practice test.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) If you’re having a hard time beating procrastination, try the Pomodoro Technique:

• Set a timer for 25 minutes, work for that time, then reward yourself with a 5 minute break.

2) Spend less time highlighting text while reading and more time annotating text while reading.

3) If you want to get better at studying or learning, grab a copy of “Learn Like A Pro.”

💎 Weekly Gem:

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I’ve been taking Create for over a year now and have felt significantly better both physically and mentally from it.

If you want to improve your physical or cognitive performance, try Create. You can get 20% off your first order here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• Here’s why more adults should go to libraries.

• My 15 favorite quotes about books and reading.

• If you’re an author who wants to connect with other authors, check out this post.

PS: I share the book giveaway winners at the bottom of this email.

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📚 Book Summary:

Instead of one book summary this week, here are 3 recent books I enjoyed:

📖

1) “Scan Artist” by Marcia Biederman

This is a very niche but fascinating book. It’s about Evelyn Wood, one of the most famous speed-reading coaches in the world. Her company taught over 1 million people how to speed read.

Except she fudged the test results, refused to let scientists measure students' accuracy, and her company eventually filed for bankruptcy. Speed-reading has been a scam from the start, and now we have the science and data to prove it doesn’t work.

📖

2) “Learn Like A Pro” by Barbara Oakley & Olav Schewe

This book is a crash course on how to improve your ability to learn. Basically, you’ll learn how to learn better.

It’s under 150 pages, so it’s a short read, yet packed with practical tips and tactics. You’ll learn how to beat procrastination, remember more of what you read, score higher on tests, and much more. It’s an especially useful book for students.

📖

3) “Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies” by Tara Schuster

By the time she was in her late twenties, Tara Schuster was a rising TV executive. But although she was “good” at work, she was “bad” at life. She was a chronically anxious and a self-medicating mess.

In this humorous book, she shares several simple, daily habits that helped her overcome negative self-criticism, heal emotional wounds, create a life she truly loved, and help you do the same.

✅ Actionable Advice:

💎 Weekly Gem:

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They then provide you with a personalized action plan on which issues you should monitor, which supplements you should consider taking, and other ways you can improve your health.

You can also do tests for environmental toxins, gut issues, potential cancer, and other issues.

Health is the ultimate form of wealth, and if you can identify a health issue before it’s serious, that’s incredibly valuable.

If you want to better understand your body and prevent health problems before they happen, join Superpower today.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

PS: Congrats to Tracy C. for winning last week’s giveaway (I already emailed you).

PPS: Congrats to Jessica B. for winning the 100-book giveaway!

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 3 Insights from my most recent author dinner.

• 10 Concerning stats and charts about reading.

• 10 Reading rules from bestselling author and podcaster Tim Ferriss.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Beyond Belief” by Nir Eyal.

Most of your limits aren’t physical. They’re psychological.

In his newest book, bestselling author Nir Eyal reveals how the hidden assumptions you carry shape what you see, how you feel, and what you do—and how to replace them with beliefs that unlock your true potential.

Here are 3 lessons from the book:

📖

1) The Most Important Question To Ask Yourself

If you only take one lesson from this summary, I hope it’s this:

• Ask yourself, “Is this belief serving me?”

If not, it’s time to change your limiting belief into a liberating one.

One way to do that is to reframe it in a positive light. If you can think of the worst-case scenario, you can also think of the best-case scenario.

For instance, reframe:

• “Mondays are miserable” to “Mondays are a fresh start.”

• “Networking events are a waste of time” to “I’m sure there will be at least one interesting person at the event.”

• “I’m not good at this skill” to “If I put more time and energy into this skill, I’ll get better at it.”

You don’t have to live with your negative beliefs, you can question and reframe them.

📖

2) How You Think About Aging Affects Your Aging

In a landmark study, Dr. Becca Levy and her colleagues at Yale University followed 660 adults aged 55 and older for 20+ years.

They found that people with a more positive view of aging lived, on average, 7.5 years longer than those with a negative view, even after controlling for health status, socioeconomic factors, and other variables.

Dr. Levy’s research shows that how we think about aging affects how we age.

People with positive aging beliefs showed:

• Better memory performance and slower cognitive decline.

• Better cardiovascular stress responses and lower blood pressure.

• Recovered functional ability more fully and quickly than those with negative beliefs.

And these beliefs don’t just affect older people, but also young people as well.

Participants who held negative age stereotypes in young adulthood were significantly more likely to experience heart attacks or strokes in later life than those with more positive views, even after accounting for other risk factors.

The stories we tell ourselves about aging matter far more than we think. We cannot stop aging, but we can stop the negative stories we tell ourselves about it.

📖

3) Procrastination Is Just Pain Management

When we procrastinate–be it putting off exercise, avoiding difficult conversations or challenging work–what we’re actually doing is avoiding anticipated discomfort.

Procrastination is actually a form of pain management.

Our brain predicts that the workout will hurt, the conversation will feel awkward, or the mental effort will strain us, and looks for ways to avoid that activity.

I’m feeling this right now while writing this newsletter. I just checked my email twice and three different social media sites before going back to writing (lol).

Nir found himself in a similar situation while working on his book.

His mind would constantly find excuses for procrastinating, such as “I need to do more research” or “I should answer these emails before I start working on my book.”

He was dodging the mental discomfort of writing by doing everything but writing his book.

However, instead of trying to eliminate his discomfort, he focused on changing his relationship with it. He started to view those feelings of resistance as signals that he was about to do important and meaningful work.

This didn’t make writing effortless, but it did make the struggle feel purposeful.

So if you feel your mind trying to trick you into procrastinating or doing a different activity, realize that you’re on the right path. Ignore that temptation and keep moving forward.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Take a piece of paper and write down all of your negative beliefs. Then reframe them in a positive light so that they serve you.

2) Develop a positive perspective about aging, and you’ll improve your lifespan and healthspan.

3) Realize that procrastination is a form of pain management. If you’re feeling tempted to procrastinate, realize that you’re on the right track to doing meaningful work.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Sample: “The NO Book” by Tim Ferriss & Neil Strauss

To become successful and happy in life, you need to know what to say “Yes” to and what to say “No” to.

However, saying “No” to opportunities and people can be difficult. But, there is a way to say “No” while still being nice. That’s the premise for this new book by Tim Ferriss and Neil Strauss.

They’re both still working on the book, but you can read a free sample of it here.

Win A Signed Copy of “Beyond Belief”!

To enter, reply to the poll below and write 1-sentence about what you like about my newsletter.

I’ll announce the winner in next week’s edition.

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• Reading more is associated with a longer life.

• The antidote to shrinking attention spans is books.

• Here's some good book news: More men are starting to host book clubs.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by:

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari.

Our ability to focus and pay attention is collapsing. But why?

That’s the question Johann Hari attempts to answer in this book. After 3 years of research, Johann shares 14 causes that explain how our attention was stolen. This is a fantastic read that will make you more aware of where your attention went and how to get it back.

Here are 3 lessons from the book:

📖

1) How You Accidentally Trained Your Brain To Not Focus

Any task that you do repeatedly, you will get good at.

Unfortunately, most of us have gotten good at not focusing. Here’s how:

• The average person spends over 3 hours a day on their phone and touches their phone 2,617 times a day.

That’s about once every 33 seconds.

How can we expect our brains to focus on one thing for an extended period of time if we’re constantly reaching for our phones or shifting our attention to something else?

In one study, scientists put tracking software on the computers of American college students and found that they switched tasks once every 65 seconds.

Adults aren’t much better. A study by Professor Gloria Mark found that the average adult working in an office stays on one task for just 3 minutes.

Even if you do manage to get into a state of flow or deep work, it only takes one distraction to knock you off course.

A study from the University of Oregon found that if you are focusing on something and get interrupted, it will take about 23 minutes for you to get back to the same state of focus.

If you’re an office worker who has to respond to emails, Slack messages, or calls, it becomes nearly impossible to do any deep work.

We’re distracted by distractions and have accidentally trained our brains to expect something different every minute or so…

📖

2) Overcome Distraction By Limiting Yourself

One of the most effective tools you can use to overcome distraction is called "pre-commitment.”

It’s when you remove temptation or bind yourself to a decision so you can’t change your actions.

There’s a famous story about this in Homer’s Odyssey–one of the great works of literature.

In the story, the main character Ulysses is sailing home. But to do so, he has to sail through a part of the sea that is filled with Sirens—half-women and half-fish creatures who sing beautiful songs to lure men into the water, and then drown them.

Think of them as evil mermaids.

Before his ship nears the sirens, he orders his men to fill their ears with beeswax so that they couldn’t hear their songs.

Ulysses, however, wants to hear their infamous songs, so he came up with a genius plan. He orders his men to tie him to the mast with a rope and make sure he couldn’t move his hands or feet.

When the time came and Ulysses heard the sirens, no matter how much he struggled or how great his temptation to jump into the water got, he couldn’t free himself.

Johann recommends that we follow the same strategy when it comes to our devices.

For instance, he puts his phone in a kSafe (a timed lock box) so that he can’t access his phone for several hours in the morning, no matter how badly he wants to check it.

He also experimented with only using a Jitterbug phone. It’s a basic phone that doesn’t have email, social media, or any addictive apps.

He’s also encourages everyone to try a social media sabbatical, where you delete all social media and addictive apps for 3 months out of the year.

By removing these addictive technologies from your life, or at least locking them away, you, like Ulysses, won’t be able to fall into the grasp of distraction no matter how strong their temptation.

📖

3) The #1 Best Thing You Can Do For Your Focus

A study commissioned by Hewlett-Packard looked at the IQ of some of their workers in two situations.

At first, they tested their IQ when they were not being distracted or interrupted. Then they tested their IQ when they were receiving emails and calls.

The study found that “technological distractions” caused an average drop in IQ by 10 points!

To get a sense of how big an effect that is, that’s twice the impact on your IQ as smoking cannabis.

In a different study, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University took 136 students and got them to take a test. The group of students who had their phones on and received text messages during the test performed on average 20% worse.

The evidence is clear: your smartphone isn’t making you smarter, but dumber.

If you have to do important work, whether it’s at home or at the office, try to put your phone on silent and keep it away from you if possible.

You’ll have fewer distractions and less temptation to check it. And as a result, you’ll get your work done faster and better.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Stop task-switching. If you’re constantly switching tasks every minute, you’re training your brain to expect something new instead of training it to focus on one task for an extended period of time.

2) If you have a hard time with distractions, consider getting a kSafe, Jitterbug phone, or another device that limits your ability to access it (like the Freedom or Cold Turkey app).

3) If possible, put your phone on silent and leave it somewhere away from you to avoid getting distracted or tempted to check it.

💎 Weekly Gem:

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Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• I hosted an author lunch, here’s what I learned.

• I also hosted an author dinner, here’s what I learned.

• A 2025 survey asked 4,000 adults in the UK about their reading habits. Here's what they found.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by Shortform.

I’ve tried several different book summary apps over the years, but Shortform is the best one out there.

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “The Coaching Habit” by Michael Bungay Stanier.

Michael’s book has sold 1M+ copies and is now being published as an updated hardcover edition (Michael is a friend, so he sent me an early copy).

This book is for anyone who wants to become a better coach (managers, leaders, parents, etc). In it, Michael shares 7 essential coaching questions that make coaching practical, actionable, and accessible to everyone.

PS: Check out these awesome bonuses you can get if you preorder Michael's book!

Here are 3 lessons from the book:

📖

1) 7 Questions Every Coach Should Remember

We are all coaches in one form or another.

We coach our kids, employees, friends, and anyone who comes to us with a question.

Here are 7 valuable questions Michael advises coaches to ask:

1. What’s on your mind?

2. And what else?

3. What’s the real challenge here for you?

4. What do you want?

5. How can I help?

6. If you’re saying Yes to this, what are you saying No to?

7. What was most useful for you?

Michael explains how and why coaches should ask all of these questions in-depth in his book.

But for now, if you just ask one of these questions in your next conversation, you’ll be a far better coach than you were yesterday.

📖

2) What To Do When Someone Gets Stuck

Imagine you’re coaching your employee or maybe even your own kid who’s having trouble at school.

If they get stuck, analyze the 3 P’s (Project, People, or Patterns):

• Project: Are they facing challenges with the actual task or content?

• People: Are there any issues with other team members, departments, or colleagues?

• Patterns: Are they getting in their own way, such as repeating the same mistake or pattern?

It doesn’t really matter what the issue is, the point is to start a conversation.

And don’t immediately jump to solve their problem for them. A good coach gives people space to share what’s going on and asks follow-up questions until they’ve decided what to do next.

A 1984 study found that the average time a patient talks to a doctor before being interrupted was just 18 seconds. It’s no wonder people always complain about doctors–they don’t listen and try to solve our problems before we even have the chance to fully explain our situation.

People want to be seen, heard, and encouraged.

Create the space for that to happen.

📖

3) How To Ask Questions Without People Getting Defensive

One of the scariest sentences you can hear from your boss, parent, or anyone in a higher rank than you is, “Why did you do that?”

Which in our heads often sounds more like “What the hell were you thinking you idiot?”

If you’re going to ask someone a Why question, you need to do so carefully and in the right tone.

But an easy hack for asking a Why question without people getting defensive is to reframe it so it starts with “What.”

So instead of:

• “Why did you do that?”, ask “What were you hoping for here?”

• “Why did you think this was a good idea?”, ask “What made you choose this course of action?”

• “Why are you bothering with this?”, ask “What’s important for you here?”

Stick to questions starting with “What” and avoid questions starting with “Why.”

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Save the 7 key questions and ask them the next time someone comes to you with a problem.

2) When someone is stuck, try to identify whether it’s due to the Project, People, or Pattern, and don’t immediately jump in to solve the issue.

3) To ask a question without someone getting defensive, start your question with What instead of Why.

💎 Weekly Gem:

If you want to read more books, here’s a fun challenge for you:

I’m calling it “Screen Time to Read Time”

1. Open up your Screen Time app to see your daily average screen time.

2. Spend that same amount of time reading a book.

If you have time to scroll for hours, you have time to read for hours.

Here’s a video of me doing the challenge and reading for 2 hours and 17 minutes.

(PS: If you do the challenge please tag Alex & Books so I can see it!)

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 20 Books to solve 20 problems.

• 12 Visual nonfiction book summaries.

• Here's how your reading habits compare to others.

PS: Thank you to everyone who entered the 100-book giveaway. The winner is Jessica B. (I just sent you an email).

Stay tuned for another giveaway next month!

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📚 Book Summary:

Instead of just one book summary this week, here are 3 recent books I read:

📖

1) “Irresistible” by Adam Alter

It seems everyone is addicted to technology, but why?

That’s the question Professor Adam Alter answers in this book. He dives into why technology is engineered to be addictive and some solutions for dealing with addiction.

If you’re interested in learning about the psychology and science of addiction, check out this book.

📖

2) “Bookish” by Lucy Mangan

This book is one reader’s coming-of-age story about all of the books that changed her life.

From a young bookworm to bookish adult, author Lucy Mangan reflects on books of all genres that influenced and impacted her. If you’re looking for a book about a book that’s more of a memoir, you may enjoy this book.

📖

3) “The Idea Machine” by Joel Miller

This is a book about the history of books.

It treats books as a piece of technology and tells the story of how they were created and how they've changed over the centuries. If you’re interested in history or books about books, this book is for you.

✅ Actionable Advice:

Here are a few recent book summaries you may have missed:

• Want to perform better under pressure? Read “Dailed In.”

• Want to live a more interesting life? Read “Unhinged Habits.”

• Want to improve your personal finances? Read “The Money Habit.”

💎 Weekly Gem:

Free Writing Course: Ghostwriting Blueprint

If you’re someone who wants to make a living from writing online, check out Ghostwriting Academy by my friend and bestselling author Nicolas Cole.

Cole has ghostwritten for 300+ industry leaders and built a ghostwriting agency to $2,000,000+ in revenue.

He recently released a free email course that teaches people how to become a ghostwriter and make $5,000 from their first client. I’ve worked as a ghostwriter in the past and have learned a ton from Cole.

Get the free 5-day email course to get you started here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.