A massive thanks to everyone for tuning into the new Stuff Mixtape, which was the most clicked link last week, I'm glad that people are enjoying those.
I've also had a lovely influx of new readers (welcome!) from my collection of Journal Prompts, this week, I have 50 prompts for building confidence. There are 300 prompts online now, and more to come.
Thank you all for being here on our joint journey of curiosity.
Till next Monday, enjoy...
👓 The Big Stuff - what's the secret?
A reader (thanks Ruth!) emailed me last week:
Matt, I prefer your newsletter when you write about more 'happy' things. This week you talked about work anxiety, and whilst I know it's important, but it wasn't a great way to start my week.
As I have said before, 'feedback is a gift', and this is a fair observation. I try and keep it uplifting, but sometimes a subject is called for.
This week, I was inspired by a headline from Mark Manson: If you're so smart, why aren't you happy? - and it is a good thought to meditate on. We're all free agents of change, and we have all the information the world at our fingertips, so why don't we just 'take an action'?
I suppose that many people aren't fully sure WHAT makes them happy. One way is to look for the signs of what makes you happy, and cultivate those triggers. Another great method is to use journalling to track the things that improve your mood and really focus in on them.
Alternatively, you can hack your way to happiness by finding what other people believe are the answers. Tom Greene has five secrets, I really like #2. Science suggests that these are the 6 keys, and Psychology Today suggests that there is one secret above all.
Whatever YOUR secrets are, it's time to ensure that you are FULLY focused on them, as Manson says in his article:
Imagine there’s a gun to your head—you are only allowed to care about three things in your life. What are they?
Then: why aren’t you focusing all of your effort and attention on them already?
By the way - if you have feedback on the newsletter, just hit reply!
🧠 The Other Stuff
- Decision Making: Aristotles guide to living excellently, including a guide to making decisions.
- Overwhelmed? Here's how to tackle that feeling, with an Ownership Matrix.
- Actionable Feedback: Seth Godin explains a better way to get the feedback you need on your thing.
- Searching: You know how to search for something on the internet, right? Turns out there are much better ways to search. (Top tips for everyone here)
- AI: Some excellent ideas for using ChatGPT in your everyday work to increase your success.
🌞 The Little Stuff
- Food Art: No-one told these people to stop playing with food!
- Instahits: Office Supplies. | Film Posters | Weird Ceramics | Caves of Steel
- Sorting Therapy: A simple app (Ipad) that is both soothing and minimal.
- Lego: All the Lego Instructions also Lego for DJ's
- Public Photos: A super simple way to publish your Apple Photos.
- Finally: identiFIVE is another daily word game, simple and infuriating!
Matt Rutherford
🎧 Aural Stuff
On the Stuff Speakers this week...
🎧 This weeks musical treat is an extraordinary project from producer Vegyn, from London who has produced Frank Ocean and a solo album called 'Only Diamonds Cut Diamonds' back in 2019.
'The head hurts but the heart knows the truth' by Headache is the latest side project. Consisting of what sounds like an AI generated narrator, over some very crisp and cool beats and laid back keyboards.
The stories are disconcerting, dark, and funny - and the whole sound puts me in mind of the classic Blue Jam series by Chris Morris which is now available on Youtube!
Matt Rutherford
👂🏼 Stuff Someone Said
“People with strong friendships tend to have better mental health and studies suggest they’re in better physical health, as well.”
