Matt’s Mix Tape, Vol. 127

Jan 21, 2022

Hi, I’m Matt Tillotson, and this is Matt’s Mix Tape: essays + links on living a vibrant and creative middle life.This week’s Mix:

The benefits of Leg Day
The internet is Tokyo, but …
Sonic branding
Creativity is this simple. And this hard.
Florida photo

The benefits of Leg Day

For decades, my only “leg day” strength training was jogging.

The story I told myself: jogging was enough.
The truth: Training legs hurts and I didn’t want to do it.

Weak sauce on my part.

Strength training your legs has huge benefits:

Natural testosterone and HGH production: Hormone production dwindles as we age. It’s another midlife battle we must fight, and adding leg muscle can make a sizable difference—for men and women.
Burn more calories: Both during the leg workout and at rest.
You’ll look better: Leg muscle gives your body a better aesthetic balance.
Improved mental discipline: Your brain will tell you to skip leg day, because it’s hard. Doing hard things teaches us to persevere when our brain says to quit.

Now I do a “real” leg day. Four basic exercises, single sets to failure. It’s hard, but brief.

Don’t skip leg day. Leg day works.

The Internet is Tokyo, but …

This idea from Derek Thompson is core to the Write of Passage writing philosophy.

Mostly Borrowed Ideas @borrowed_ideas

"The Internet is Tokyo. The Internet allows you to be niche at scale. Niche at scale is something that I think young people should aspire to." h/t @JamesClear

Brilliant.

Deeply exploring your favorite niche idea—or cross-section of ideas—online is a great way to attract a like-minded audience.

But I hate one part of it.

This part: “ … something that I think young people should aspire to.”

Niche at scale works just as well if your 45 or 75 as it does if you’re 22.

The power of Sonic branding

When I first heard the term “Sonic branding,” I thought it meant this:

Incorrect. Entertaining, but incorrect.

Kushaan Shah set me straight with a fun deep-dive on the art and science of sonic branding:

… the more I dived into it the more I learned that it was an actual branch of marketing - complete with strategies, agencies, and opportunities for brands.
[…]
One of my favorite definitions of sonic branding comes from an Adweek piece from way back in 2013 around the concept: the process of “distilling a multimillion-dollar brand into a few seconds of sound”. Typically, the outcome of sonic branding is a good sound or short jingle that can imprint a brand into your head - a “sonic logo,” if you will.

Apple is a world-class Sonic Brander.

If you have an iPhone that works with a MagSafe charger, you may be familiar with the two-beat chime which plays as the charge begins. I take the iPhone off mute before engaging the charger because I like the sound.

I didn’t even realize I was doing this. The act was sub-conscious.

Sonic Branding is powerful. Now I notice it everywhere.