Louis' Learnings 8 - Intentional Bad Habits & Writing Challenges
Balancing Habits And Fun
🥂 Welcome to another edition of Louis’ Learnings 🥂
I hope you had a happy holiday season as we turn the page into the New Year!
This past week was spent reflecting, editing, podcasting, setting goals, and, of course, enjoying the holiday weekend!
In addition to the usual life updates and content recommendations, this email dives into what exactly I meant by “enjoying the holiday weekend.”
But First…
➡️ Brief Life Updates ⬅️
Recorded a fun, interview podcast with John Sherwin from Hydrant
Recorded a fun, discussion podcast with Danny Miranda
Got lunch with my friend Angelo from Episode 6 of the podcast
Ran a 5k with my cousin on his birthday
Spent New Years Eve with a few friends… more on this below
Intentional Bad Habits
My first goal in 2021 was to re-introduce a bad habit. Why?
In November 2019 I committed to quit alcohol for at least one year.
I was 'studying' in Bangkok as a part of an insane two months of fun, parlaying 10 days at Burning Man straight into a knuckle-head tour of Southeast Asia: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia in a few short weeks.
I had countless amazing experiences and instagram moments but felt a nagging sense of stagnation. My long term goals in entrepreneurship and fitness were no closer in November than they were in August. I couldn't shake the unpleasant sensation of standing still.
Journaling on the problem, I identified drinking as the key habit interfering with my growth in the gym, day-to-day energy, and barrier to productive use of downtime.
For something to change, something had to change.
Drinking had to go.
For 13 months, I didn't drink a sip of alcohol, and it was amazing.
2020 was an unreasonably productive year. I ran my first marathon, learned how to hold 45 second handstands and do the splits, started a podcast and recorded over 70 interviews, read 26 books, completed two college semesters, and did the 75HARD.
When 2020 wrapped up, I looked to my journal yet again. Where will my next area of growth come from? Will it come from another year of sobriety and hyper-focused productivity? Of setting another 12 months worth of goals and systematically achieving them?
That's what I've been doing, so I might as well keep it up... right?
Not quite.
I needed to get back in touch with my why. Why was I sober? What did I hope to achieve by taking a year off of drinking?
In that reflection process, I realized that I achieved my reasons for testing sobriety. I spent a year focused on discipline, entrepreneurial projects, and personal growth.
I learned what I set out to learn.
Ironically, what I need now is to learn how to have fun again... to let loose and be spontaneous.
New Years came around, which meant it had been well over 1 year without alcohol.
I made it across my finish line, and I gave myself the freedom to celebrate.
Don't move your goal posts.
New Goalposts
🚢 30 for 30 🚢
That short story about sobriety was my first essay for a challenge I’m starting called Ship30for30.
Everyday for 30 days, you publish what Dickie Bush calls an “atomic essay,” a short post (200-ish words) that can fit on a single iPhone sized screenshot.
These colorful mini-essays stand out in social media feeds and are a low friction way to test ideas without committing to a long-form post.
Dickie Bush created the challenge to help writers grow their audience, portfolio, and writing skills.
The best ideas from each week will be integrated into this newsletter!
Stay tuned :)
Content Updates
LK Podcast #48 with Guy Swann: With all the crypto-currency hype of the past few weeks, we needed to post a Bitcoin episode! Guy Swann is a Bitcoin expert, and this conversation covers major questions about the future of finance.
Podcast Marketing in 2021: Last week I published 31 interviews with different podcast hosts. Each conversation discusses how they’ve grown their audiences and marketed their shows. Watch the 11-minute highlight reel!
LK Podcast #47 with Taylor Pearson: Taylor is a remarkably skilled writer, thinker and explainer. We discuss the implications of ergodicity, anti-fragility, proof of work, and decentralized trust.
5 Quick Clicks
(1) Reading 📚 : Make by Pieter Levels
Pieter is a prolific SaaS entrepreneur and digital nomad. He launches profitable boot-strapped startups with absurd speed, frequency, and success. This is his playbook.
(2) Listening To 🎧 : Brain.fm focus music
As advertised, brain.fm has a magical effect on my brain. Their work/focus music gets me into the groove within a few minutes literally without fail.
(3) Watching 📺: Minimalism, Less Is Now (documentary)
A short and eye-opening documentary that will inspire you to declutter.
(4) Using 🔨 : FocusMate - Virtual Co-Working
FocusMate pairs you with a random internet strangers for 50-minute co-working sessions. It’s like Omegle but for being productive. I try to do a few sessions everyday.
(5) Learning 🧠 : How Does Bitcoin Actually Work? (20 minute video)
Bar none, the best beginner-friendly technical introduction to Bitcoin on the internet.
Photo of The Week
On Friday, I witnessed one of the greatest college football plays in recent memory.
In the CFP-Semi Finals, Najee Harris cleared an oncoming defender and then ran for many additional yards.
If you haven’t seen the play, spend the next 45 seconds catching up.
My wish is for your 2021 to be filled with more victorious moments like this.
That’s All For This Week
Happy New Year,
Louis Shulman
Share Louis’ Learnings
If you know someone else who benefit from these emails, share it with them here!
Subscribe
If this was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here!
Love the newsletter this week! So many great nuggets in here!