Hey hey, it's Nik. Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃 I know not everyone is celebrating, but thinking about what you are grateful for is rarely a bad idea, isn't it?
One of the things I consciously and regularly appreciate is how much information and knowledge I have available at my fingertips — great books on apps like Blinkist* just being one example, of course. From Wikipedia to personal blogs to movie analyses on Youtube, as a writer, I never run out of ideas and sources to draw from.
Had I started my career in the 90s, back when I was actually still playing LEGO most of the time, I would have had to struggle a lot more to get even a fraction of the information I can now access on my couch in seconds. Physical books and paper newspapers hold a special place in my heart, but stumbling through cold libraries and dark archives all the time? I'd rather be writing more stuff.
But access to information is not the only thing that has improved drastically this century. It's also the actionability of information that's gotten a lot better. More often than not, learning and succeeding is not just about finding the right information, but about finding and using that information at the right time.
That's why I'm always reading something — that's my creative baseline — but then I'll also read specific things at specific times to solve specific problems. Blinkist* is great for this (and for Black Friday only, it's 75% off*). Let me show you.
Let's say you want to start a business. You've never been an entrepreneur, but owning your own company and being self-sufficient is your dream.
Now, to get started, you can buy a whole bunch of books and read them, of course. Or, you can use Blinkist,* get only the knowledge you need in real-time, and focus on the part that matters most: actually building your business.
Here's what I would do:
Snag the Black Friday deal* and get a year's worth of access to all the resources I'll ever need for 5 cents a day (because, you know, who needs a library?)
Set aside an hour each morning to work on my business.
Take the first 15 minutes of each day to listen to the audio summary of one of those books on Blinkist.*
Highlight the parts that stand out to me in the text version of the book summary* as I'm listening for how to structure and get the business off the ground.
Spend the remaining 45 minutes of my hour working on implementing some of the lessons I've learned and generally moving the business forward.
For example, I might choose Zero to One, Find Your Why, The $100 Startup, and a bunch of other great starter titles for budding entrepreneurs for my first week:
The next week, I would go for a Blinkist Guide* — a guided mini course incorporating summaries, audio snippets, and even exercises to help you achieve a specific goal. This one with Leadership Lessons from Top CEOs,* for example, looks great:
It has 6 chapters of around 10 minutes each, and it even comes with a great exercise towards the end, where you really reflect on the different CEOs and their qualities, and which ones you want to emulate in your own leadership journey:
The next week, I would listen to a collection on How to Start Your Startup,* or one with Peter Thiel's favorite books, or one with snippets from the $100 MBA podcast.
The idea here of course is to always have specific solutions ready for new problems as you'll encounter them in your business, for example what's important while launching a website or how to write your first marketing plan, but also to learn on an ongoing basis and — most importantly — start every day with a little inspiration to keep continuing and pushing on your journey as an entrepreneur!
That's why Blinkist* is great: It makes it easy to learn every day and to stay immersed in whatever aspect of life is most important to you right now at the same time.
Of course, you could use the same structure to build a philosophy and practice around mindfulness, to get better at forming and maintaining relationships, or to become a better manager and leader at your company.
In any case, Blinkist* is a fantastic way to get the right information at the right time and then turn that information into real results.
That's the kind of tool I'm grateful for, and this Thanksgiving, for a few days only, it's a whopping 75% off,* making using books to achieve your goals more viable and cheaper than ever. Plus, the whole thing even comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
If you have any questions, just hit reply. And whether you celebrate Turkey Day or not, Happy Thanksgiving! 🙏🏼
Happy reading, -Nik
PS: As a bonus, you'll also support me and Four Minute Books at no extra cost, when you join Blinkist. We'll get a small commission because you found them through us. Snag the deal here* & make your dreams come true »
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