#059 – Sharpening The Axe & Opportunities

Bringing 5 interesting ideas to your inbox every Thursday morning to ignite your curiosity and drive your growth.

read online on my website 

read time 3 minutes 

ANZAC Day Message

Before cracking on with the newsletter, I would like to honour the courage, camaraderie, and commitment of the ANZAC soldiers.

Their sacrifices in the pursuit of peace and freedom have left an indelible mark on our history and continue to inspire generations.

Lest we forget.

#059 at a Glance:

• Quote that will get you thinking: Everyone is jealous of what you’ve got...

• Podcast you should listen to: Josh Mansour x Mark Bouris.

• Mental Model: Sharpening The Axe.

• Framework: How to find more opportunities.

• Tweet I liked: The most attractive trait.

Quote that will get you thinking:

Podcast you should listen to:

Lets Trot #25 with Mark Bouris

Probably the best podcast that I’ve listened to where Mark has been on as a guest.

Heaps of stories and perspectives that even I haven’t heard before…

Video and audio are sensational as well. Super high-quality production.

Listen or Watch on Spotify here. Listen on Apple Podcasts here. Watch on YouTube here.

[Podcast Length: 1 hour 4 minutes]

Mental Model:

Sharpening The Axe 

I’ve been reflecting deeply this week on a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln:

Yes, it’s been said many times before; but only recently have I truly become cognisant of its profound application to almost every task we encounter in the course of our lives.

The key takeaway being the importance of dedicating concerted time and effort to preparation instead of ‘action’.

Before any undertaking, ask yourself the following three questions:

1. What is the tree that I’m trying to chop down?

2. What is the axe at my disposal?

3. How can I sharpen it?

I’ll give you an example from my own life.

Last weekend, amidst a barrage of midsemester law assignments and exams, I needed to create three presentations for one of the companies that I am doing some marketing consulting for.

Instead of diving head-first into PowerPoint or Canva without thinking twice, I thoughtfully went through the three questions and this is what I came up with:

1. What is the tree that I’m trying to chop down? 3 high-quality, thoughtful, and slick presentations that are each tailored to unique audiences.

2. What is the axe at my disposal? The knowledge it takes to create presentations that fit that description.

3. How can I sharpen it? Spend some time researching effective presentations from various industries to get different perspectives, watch YouTube videos, look through templates online, and study public speaking experts before getting to work.

Now that I write out my process, it sounds incredibly simple.

But, having said that, the most effective strategies usually are…

Give it a go.

Framework:

How to Find More Opportunities

A brilliant framework from one of the most contemplative thinkers and authors of our time, James Clear:

"A simple recipe for finding opportunities:

1. Be pleasant

2. Ask questions

3. Engage daily

It's hard for a warm and pleasant person who is asking a lot of questions and engaging in their industry daily to not come across interesting opportunities."

He really just makes things so simple, doesn’t he?

So good.

Tweet I liked:

Thanks for reading! Grateful for your support.

Stay hungry, stay humble, stay curious. ⚡

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