Hey peps

Last summer I faced quite a few challenges after my business failed. It had quite an impact on me and the fear of failing again stopped me from doing very much for quite some time.

Over the last couple of years I’ve been learning more about Stoicism, a 2000-year-old philosophy, which encourages the exercise of premeditatio malorum - the premeditation of the evils and troubles that might lie ahead.

A practical application of this exercise is Fear Setting. Fear Setting was developed by author, podcaster and human guinea pig, Tim Ferriss and “it’s an exercise that helps you see your decisions more clearly when fear is holding you back or distorting your thinking.”

All you need to complete the exercise is:

• 3 pieces of paper
• A pen; and
• Up to an hour of uninterrupted time

Fear Setting can be used when you’re trying to decide what to do next in your personal or professional life and help you come to terms with change after you’ve made an important decision.

It took me 6 months to complete my first Fear Setting exercise. I’m so glad I did because it helped me gain clarity on the realities of taking action instead of maintaining what was my status quo.

Enjoy your weekly dose of marginal gains!

🚀 Performance Hacks

The TEA framework of productivity: managing your time, energy, and attention (5mins)

This is a very simple yet effective productivity method that is rooted in essential human principles. We need time to produce work, energy to sustain the effort, and attention to stay focused. The core tenants of this framework can have a big impact on the way you work and live.

7 Lessons I learned from Ben Francis, CEO of Gymshark (2mins)

Ben launched Gymshark at 19 and has grown it into the first Direct to Consumer brand in the UK to achieve Unicorn status (£1billion+ valuation) without any funding. I listened to his interview on The High-Performance Podcast and learned 7 useful lessons about launching a startup and growing a billion-pound business.

🧠 Brain Food

**Book: The Unfair Advantage: How You Already Have What It Takes to Succeed**. I finished this book a few weeks ago after it was recommended to me by Ali Abdaal. We all have Unfair Advantages, it’s not just about money and who you know. This book sets out a format for you to discover your own Unfair Advantage, which will give you the edge over your competition at work or in business. It’s a great read and helped me identify my own Unfair Advantages.

🎙️ Podcast: Robert Greene on the War in Ukraine. This episode of The Daily Stoic podcast provides an interesting take on the war in Ukraine. Robert Greene is an American author known for his books on strategy, power, and seduction. Here Greene gives his take on the war through the lens of his book the 33 Strategies of War. I’ve not read this book, but I have read The 50th Law, written with 50 Cent, which made me want to listen to this podcast episode.

🐦 Tweet Thread: 10 Mental Health Benefits of Working Out. It’s easy to forget that staying fit and healthy isn’t all about the physical benefits, there’s plenty of mental upsides as well.

📱 Tools + Tech

💻 App: Spark. I’ve had 3 or more email accounts, each serving a different purpose, for longer than I can remember. That’s a lot of emails to manage, especially on your phone. I’ve been using Spark for 4 years and it’s helped me take control of my inboxes. Spark intelligently prioritizes your email, only notifies you about emails from people you know so you can focus, and has a bunch of useful tools to help you reach inbox zero. Best of all, it’s FREE for Apple and Android.

🎧 Haha: If it turns out you miss your iPod, you can use this nostalgic web replica here.

✍🏾 Quote of the Week

“Learning only has good effects when learners have the desire to absorb the knowledge.”

From Experiential Learning on Wikipedia. Resurfaced using Readwise.