Matt's Mix Tape, Vol. 136

Matt Tillotson

Mar 25, 2022

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

This week’s Mix:

How to be provocative without being a troll
A super-useful new Apple Notes feature
Visit the Fitness Buffet
This week’s Florida photo

How to be provocative without being a troll

In my Write of Passage mentor session last week, we created Spiky Points of View (SPOVs.)

Wes Kao created the SPOV idea and defines it this way:

A spiky point of view is a perspective others can disagree with. It’s a belief you feel strongly about and are willing to advocate for. It’s your thesis about topics in your realm of expertise.

Write of Passage is not not a hot-take factory. We want people sharing intellectually rigorous ideas rooted in personal experience. Good SPOVs fit this bill.

The Four Ps of SPOVs help create useful and unique SPOVs:

First P: Spiky Points of View are Personal

Credible opinions come from your own life:

Family
Career
Hobbies
Conversations
Educational experiences
Travel

Ground your SPOV in personal experience.

Second P: Spiky Points of View are Polarizing

Your SPOV should have a logically defensible counter-position. People should be able to argue against it.

Your SPOV is not Spiky if everyone agrees.

Third P: Spiky Points of View are Profound

Your SPOV should surprise us by reframing or refuting a generally accepted idea.

Take on an accepted truth. Reshape it.

Fourth P: Spiky Points of View are Purposeful

A good SPOV serves the reader’s best interests. Don’t just aim to trigger emotions.

Your SPOV should help people see the world and move through it in a new way.

An SPOV Example

Here’s one from Wes:

When you teach online, many people assume they’re 100% an instructor—but you’re actually 50% an instructor and 50% an entertainer. Attention spans are short and the responsibility is on the instructor (not the student) to help students understand why they should care.

I agree. Zoom has a big red button that screams LEAVE and I’m acutely aware any student can replace me with cat videos at any moment.

Spiky Points of View do not exist just to shock or anger people.

(Although they might elicit those feelings.)

Political and sports hot takes are not SPOVs. They are lowest common denominator content designed to stoke outrage.

SPOVs offer a new and better way to think and do. They add value to the world’s conversations.

How to scan text directly into Apple Notes

iOS 15.4 includes a cool new Notes feature:

one new change is the addition of a "Scan Text" shortcut for quickly scanning printed or handwritten text into the Notes app on the iPhone and iPad.

Here’s a short video on how it works:

Super handy if you’re an Apple Notes junky like me.

To stay fit, eat from the fitness buffet

When you first get in shape, it’s valuable to adhere to a particular program in strength training, nutrition, or cardio—or all three.

Eventually, you need to get curious.

Learn about and try a range of eating and strength training programs.

I’ve been vegetarian. A runner. A walker. I’ve worked with free weights and machines.

Matt Tillotson @matttillotson

If you belong to the Church of X Diet or pray to the Patron Saint of Y Lifting Program, I’m probably not your guy. I love learning, experimenting, and blending together a lot of different wellness philosophies. Fitness is personal. It evolves. It’s not a religion.

As you advance in your wellness journey, visit the Fitness Buffet. Put lots of small ideas on your plate that work for you. Create a one-of-a-kind personal program that appeals to, and works for, you.

That way, you’ll return to the fitness buffet over and over. And that’s how you win the long game of fitness.