Hey from the UK,
I'm across the Irish Sea, in Cheshire at a family event, it's great to see everyone. However, Stuff waits for no-one and so I hope this week mail finds you safe and well.
I'm grateful to the new signups this week, thank you for joining me on our quest for curiosity, I hope you'll find something that brings you joy here.
Thank you also to the positive responses to my article last week on overcoming your fear of failure. ย I recognise the irony of writing that article, and then being scared to post it in case no-one read it, but plenty of clicks seem to have arrived!
Help me out and share a link.
Thanks for being here, see you next Monday...
![](https://www.mattrutherford.co.uk/content/images/2022/10/mattsig_personal-2.png)
The Stuff Ten
Links to make us smarter and more super...
- Monday Motivation: ย Let this week be the one where you give your career some thought. ย Cal Newport has the most important piece of career advice you probably never heard. ย I really like the idea of planning backwards from your lifestyle. ย If you want an advantage in your career, it's a great idea to consume content for other roles. ย This is written for tech, but works in ANY field. ย Back in Stuff #101 I had some great advice for anyone trying to market their own career.
- Your new superpower: ย Back in Stuff #123 I talked about decision making frameworks, and how they can help you. ย Dr Hannah Rose has insight on how to make decisions when you feel anxious.
- Essential Reading: ย An unconventional guide to happiness. ย The excellent Mark Manson defines what happiness is, and isn't - and some guidelines to get there. ย Back in #102 I discussed some practical ways to increase happiness in your life. ย
- This is good for everyone: ย Are you thinking something nice about someone? ย You should tell them, and maybe journal that as well.
- TWIL: ย How a bicycle works. ย An excellent explainer of the science behind riding a bike. Doesn't fully explain this amazing clip though!
- Tame your tsundoku: ย Vintage stuff readers have shared their tsundoku before, it's the unread stack of books we all have. ย Having that stack isn't a bad thing, but here are some questions to ask yourself if you need to declutter the books.
- You can be quick or accurate: ย Monkeytype is a minimalistic & customisable typing test that measures both speed and accuracy over common word sets. I average 65-70 words a minute, can you do better?
- AI-ght: ย Sider.ai is a browser tool that uses AI to get more information about almost anything you find on the web. ย It sits in your sidebar and lets you enter prompts on the fly, and it is very useful. ย Careered.ai will generate a 'perfect' cover letter for you, just paste the Job Post and your Resume - and let AI do the rest.
- Waffles or Tater-Tots: ย You probably like some kind of fried potato more than others. ย Science and 3d modelling explains why.
- Finally: ย Birdbuddy is a connected bird box that allows you to take pictures of the birds in your garden. ย And then, this BRILLIANT site will aggregate all the best shots! ย I could watch this for hours, AND I really want one of these.
๐ง Aural Stuff
What's on the Stuff speakers this week?
๐ง My music treat this week comes from James Holden, a British electronic musician who has released his latest album 'Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities'.
It's an interesting romp through some quite organic sounding electronica, with some danceable elements as well as some more laid-back tracks. ย There is definitely a wild, field sitting experience going on in here with fiddles and acoustic drums included in the synth mix. ย It is rather like the mid 90's raves in the countryside of the UK, so it takes me back to some formative experiences.
![](https://nomoreworkhorse.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/bi-2023-4x5-web-600x750-1.jpg)