SOAK #7

This week on Soak: PKM, axolotls, classics, an idea, and something to ponder

(Read this on the web browser if you prefer)

Hey guys! Welcome to SOAK, your weekly newsletter that you receive once every semester! 🙄

How’s 2022 going on for you guys?

The first semester was kinda bleh for me, but I expect good things for the 2nd part of the year.

I’m not obviously ignoring what’s happening around the world, with wars, Covid, inflation, climate change, and who knows what else, but for what I can control, I’m in a good place.

So let’s move on!

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1. 🧽 What I’m Soaking In

This week was the kick-off of LYT Workshop 8, which I joined as a student.

Linking Your Thinking Workshop is an online workshop that teaches you how to build a personal knowledge management (PKM) system that fits your needs, and boy do I need one!

We’re one week in and so far it’s been great, as the lessons and principles taught have been very helpful for me.

Hopefully fixing my PKM system will get me the ticket to the land of opportunities called Online Writing, on board the S.S. Consistency.

It doesn’t mean it will be an easy ride, though…

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2. 🔎 People to Follow

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Greigori on Twitter.

He was offering to draw people’s pictures as an axolotl, and I thought it would be fun so I ask him to do mine.

This is an axolotl, in case you didn’t know (I had to check it myself…)

What a cutie, right?? 😍

So this was the picture I sent him, and the drawing he made:

the axolotl drawing is the one on the right, so don’t try to be funny!

Isn’t it great? I loved it! 😄

And he really draws this, it’s not just a filter that he uses on some software or something like that.

Here are some more drawings of him:

Check him out and follow his work, and if you tell him that you got to him through SOAK, he’ll do a similar drawing for you for free! You’re welcome! 😎
(Actually don’t thank me, thank him, we’ve been chatting a little and he’s a super nice guy!)

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3. 📚Books

I love classics. The category itself assures you that the book is something remarkable, right?

I’m currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. What a great book, what great writing.

Best quote from the book for me so far:

To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the other.

This ties perfectly with my current focus on my PKM system. Trivialities are fun to know, but nowadays they are at the distance of a click on our phones. Real knowledge comes from real thinking.

It’s incredible how we can learn so much about good writing, history, politics, human behavior, psychology, and much more, at the same time that we’re being entertained by a great story.

It’s ok to read non-fiction, that’s about 90% of the books I read, but keep at least one classic at hand to be read a little bit every day. They stood the test of time for a reason, go find out what it was.

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4. 💵Business Idea

Business ideas that I give away for free and that you can use and develop. Be aware that you get morally obligated to pay me a 1 % revenue fee if this ever works out!

Name: IfItAPPens

An app that lets you schedule predefined messages for contacts of your choice in case something unexpected happens.

For instance, your child is old enough to stay alone at home for 20 minutes while you go on some errands, but if something happens to you that would delay your return, that would be a problem. So you write a message to someone you trust saying something like this:

“Hey sis! I went to the grocery store and Ben stayed home alone. If you’re getting this is because something happened to me and I couldn’t get back home as planned, so please go to my place and make sure he’s fine. After that, call the hospital and the police and try to find me. Thank you!“

Then you program the time you want the message to be sent, select the receiver, and that’s it!

2 minutes before the scheduled time the app will ask you if you want to cancel or postpone the message. If you do not cancel or delay it before the scheduled time, the message is sent.

More scenarios where this would be useful:

• You go jogging alone early in the morning, so you describe your itinerary in a message, in case you go missing for any reason.

• You go meet someone you don’t know very well, so you write a message telling your location and with who you’re meeting to be sent if something goes wrong.

The good about this app is that it will assure that actions will be taken in case something happens, and at the same time, it will avoid you to bother your family and friends every time you go out doing something.

What do you think?

I'm really scratching my own itch here, so if you know an app that already does this, please tell me, because I want it!

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5. 💭Something to Think About

It’s a simple question, right? But do you have a clear answer?

Think about that, and tell me if your path didn’t get much clearer! 😎

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🏁Finish Line

And that’s it!

Thank you for reading, and a big special thanks to the many of you that every once in a while ask me when will I send this newsletter or when will I publish something new.

I don’t deserve such interest, but it is wonderful to feel appreciated and missed. 💗

This will be much more regular, I promise.

Thank you for doing this with me, I hope I’ll see you next week!

-Danny