I started a newsletter on January 1 with the goal of 500 subs by June 30.

As of today, I have 411 amazing subscribers.

Here are 8 different tactics I’ve used to grow: To get my first 10 subs, I texted friends I thought would like the content.

Starting a newsletter with 0 subs is depressing. Don’t do that.

@austinschless & @Clayton_Dorge were two of my earliest supporters. Can’t thank them enough for subscribing and putting wind in my sails.

Writing character descriptions is only for fiction writers, right?

Wrong.

You need this skill to succeed professionally and personally.

I'll tell you exactly why you need them and exactly how to hone the craft. ⬇️ Telling a story to your friends?

It's more interesting if you can describe a character.

Preparing a keynote for your offsite?

It's more engaging if you can describe a character.

Writing copy to sell your product on Etsy?

It's more convincing if you can describe a character.

“I feel great most of the time even though life is hard. What’s different? I’ve been getting really good sleep consistently for years.” -@hubermanlab

Here are 6️⃣ tips for better sleep from Andrew Huberman on @ShaneAParrish's The Knowledge Project podcast: 1️⃣ Improve your sleep by increasing morning light exposure ☀️

Within 30 mins of waking, spend 5-20 minutes outside taking in direct sunlight.

If you wake before sunrise, turn on as many overhead lights as possible, then get outside when the sun comes up.

My favorite podcaster and my favorite writer sat down to have a conversation.

Here are the 9️⃣ best ideas from @tferriss's conversation with @morganhousel. 1️⃣ You can't give financial advice to your children because you don't know who they will grow up to be.

But this advice applies to everyone:

People want independence and autonomy. Think about how you can use money to buy your freedom.

Think you're not a storyteller?

Think again. Those stories I mentioned above? Those are stories I've collected and shared.

Here's the one about LBJ.

josephcwells.com/blog/the-path-…

How do you improve the quality of your meetings? 👩🏻‍💼🧑🏽‍💼👨🏻‍💼

Improve how you communicate 🗣

Amazon has a unique approach to meeting communication you can apply to your business.

Here’s how 👇🏻 Wave goodbye to PowerPoint 👋🏻

Amazon banned PowerPoint in their meetings.

So how do they share information?

Every meeting begins by reading a six page narrative about the meeting topic.

Meetings without presentations might feel weird, but narratives have many advantages.

Have you ever hired the wrong person?

Is your company quickly scaling, making hiring a new priority?

Are you in charge of building a new department?

Amazon follows a hiring strategy called the Bar Raiser Process. You can apply the components in your organization.

Thread 👇🏻 Hiring is a process.

Before we can build a process, we have to understand the necessary components.

Good processes are:

🧠 Simple to understand
📝Easily taught to others
🚫Not dependent on scarce resources (one person)
🔁Equipped with a feedback loop for continual improvement

How often do you talk about hitmen, ex-girlfriends, poetry, and shitty jobs in the same conversation?

Probably pretty often if you're talking with @honeycopy.

I had the pleasure of chatting with this badass poet.

⬇️ These were my five favorite topics ⬇️ 1/ The value of hiring a speaking coach.

Cole has been working with @FerraroOnAir—speaking coach extraordinaire—to sharpen his skills.

Improvements include:

• Less rambling
• More willingness to appear on podcasts
• Unreal ability to tell a story

Want to stop making bad decisions?

Read Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Don’t have time to read Thinking, Fast and Slow?

➡️Start with these five tips from the book. 1/ Our brain uses two systems for thinking.

System 1 controls snap decisions—like solving a simple math problem.

System 2 controls difficult actions—like turning left on a busy street.

➡️If you use System 1 to make decisions that require System 2, you will make bad decisions.

Two prolific creators teamed up to share their secrets.

These are the 10 big ideas from How to Create an Idea Factory by @david_perell and @AliAbdaal. 👇 1/ Success comes from consistency over a long period of time.

Warren Buffett did it with money.

@MKBHD did it with a Youtube audience.

Start early, stick with it, endure the pain, enjoy the effect.

When so many people go crazy over the same book, you can't ignore it.

Of course, I'm talking about The Psychology of Money by @morganhousel.

⬇️Here's a thread of the best threads on the book⬇️ 1/ First up, the ten biggest takeaways from @Abhishekkar_

https://twitter.com/Abhishekkar_/status/1359507446633431040

Grit, by @angeladuckw, is one of the most influential books I’ve ever read.

I’ve applied it to everything from training for a half ironman to improving my writing. And I’ll certainly use it when I become a parent.

⬇️These are my favorite points from each chapter ⬇️ 1/ Chapter One

Grit is a reliable predictor of accomplishment in many endeavors.

▪️Passing special forces selection?
▪️Success in a sales job?
▪️Winning a spelling bee?

Level of grit correlates positively with all of the above.

Write of Passage - @david_perell's course - is the best place to go if you want to start writing online.

I finished 1 year ago and have been honing my writing process ever since.

This is how I write 2 articles every month about the greatest humans to ever live.

⬇️THREAD ⬇️ 1/Consume, but not too much.

I typically read two books per month. This is enough to flood my mind with ideas but not enough to give me information overload.

I also listen to one or two podcasts and read five to ten articles each week.

We all negotiate every day - with our kids, spouses, co-workers, and business partners. Life is better when we’re good at it.

Never Split the Difference by @VossNegotiation is the definitive book on negotiating.

⬇️⬇️Time for a thread ⬇️⬇️ 1/Don’t focus on what to say.

Early in the negotiation, it’s more important to listen than to talk. Focus entirely on what the other person is saying. This helps to disarm your counterpart and makes them feel safe.

Think it's impossible to retire at 35?

Think again.

My most recent podcast guest - @Man_Overseas (aka Brad Dantonio) - did it and now travels the world with his wife.

⬇️⬇️Time for a thread ⬇️⬇️ 1/"I'm going to have trouble working for someone whose values don't align with mine."

Brad intended to take a one year sabbatical at 35 to travel the world and make himself more effective. When he came back, he found corporate America didn't value his self development.

I just got an email from @JamesClear saying Atomic Habits is 56% off on Amazon.

The wisdom to cost ratio is at an all time high.

These are some of my favorite points from every chapter:

⬇️⬇️Time for a thread ⬇️⬇️ 1/Chapter One

If you ignore your goals but focus on your systems, you’ll succeed.

Achieving a goal is a momentary success. It’s like treating a symptom without addressing the cause.

You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

The Psychology of Money is the culmination of more than a decade of thinking and writing from @morganhousel.

I enjoyed it as much as I enjoy reading his articles every week.

These are my favorite points from every chapter.

THREAD/ 1/No One’s Crazy

You know stuff about money I don’t.

You go through life with different beliefs, goals, and forecasts than I do.

It’s not because one of us is smarter. It’s because we’ve had different lives shaped by different and equally persuasive experiences.

I enjoyed @primalpoly's book, Virtue Signaling.

TLDR; virtue signaling is all about finding a good mate.

If you want more info, these are some of the most important points.

⬇️⬇️THREAD⬇️⬇️

1/Virtue signaling takes two forms: cheap talk and reliable virtue signaling. 2/Cheap talk is exactly how it sounds.

It's comprised of easy to fake signals that might not accurately represent your underlying values.

Think bumper stickers, political t-shirts, and black square posts on Instagram.

1/"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them." - Alfred Whitehead

A short thread about systems from @david_perell and @fortelabs recent podcast:

perell.com/podcast/tiago-… 2/Whenever you do something that's going to be repeated, turn it into a system.

Ask yourself, "how can I never do this again?"

Answer that question, then write down the answer.

I'm seeing some new followers today. First, thank you. Second, here's a thread with some of my best content:

1/This is a curation piece of @morganhousel's best work. It's a great introduction to an interesting mind:

josephcwells.com/curations/morg… 2/This is a curation piece of @RyanHoliday's annual life advice articles.

I look forward to them every year. Now they're all in one place:

josephcwells.com/curations/ryan…

For anyone thinking about taking Write of Passage with @david_perell, here are ten tangible benefits:

1/Building a good information collection system. This system allows me to write from abundance and drastically reduce writers block. 2/Assignments to reinforce concepts.

Regular assignments like, "write down 30 ideas," or "complete a draft of your FAQ article." These gave me a concrete task to complete that helped me practice things like information collection. It made creating the habit easier.