The Mix Tape, Vol. 52

Welcome!

In what should be considered a criminal act, we hadn’t visited the beach in two years. That was rectified last week.

Tampa / St. Pete has some of the world’s best beaches.

Most of us aren't traveling much these days. So what’s in your backyard that you haven’t enjoyed for too long?

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Let Your Life Speak

I woke up one morning last week with a clear message:

“Let Your Life Speak”

Odd, since I hadn’t read Parker J. Palmer’s book—or really thought about it—in five years.

But I don’t ignore intuitive messages like that, so I re-read the book.

Palmer’s book is powerful—part theoretical, part autobiographical—and discusses:

• Honing intuition

• Discovering vocation

• Dealing with and overcoming depression

I wrote a summary of the key ideas from “Let Your Life Speak” here.

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The virtues of impatience

Ben Kuhn, on the compounding benefits of moving quickly:

moving quickly is an advantage that compounds. Being twice as fast doesn’t just double your output; it doubles the growth rate of your output. Over time, that makes an enormous difference.

Moving faster doesn’t just get things done quickly. Moving faster changes the way things get done. Kuhn illustrates this in example after example, from email to warfare to software development and more.

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The 'check engine' light feedback model

People often follow the “sandwich methodology” of giving feedback: negative comments are given in between two complements.

That’s like giving someone a Spam sandwich on fresh sourdough. It still stinks in the middle.

Designer Nate Kadlac has a better idea: the “Love Stack.”

No, not the Love Shack. This is the Love Shack:

This is the Love Stack:

1. Show some love

2. Be clear and specific about the flaws

3. Bring ideas

Much better model.

Kadlac argues we should be complementary in giving feedback, coupled with specific and constructive information to improve the work.

Good feedback—honest, actionable, and empathetic—is rare and valuable.

Vala Afshar @ValaAfshar

To give constructive feedback, without causing resentment, is a superpower.

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Dig for the uncommon angle

Copywriter Craig Clemens, on finding unique angles in advertising:

Craig Clemens @craigclemens

10/ I believe that if you copy other ads, or even use the same angles, you will AT BEST have 80% of the success of the originals. Weak. Instead, think about what your UNIQUE ATTENTION ANGLE can be. Test it, run it. Then beat it. Then repeat.

Clemens gives several examples of using surprise to cut through noise and stand out:

Craig Clemens @craigclemens

8/ Claude went the factory and saw that the wheat was placed in long tubes that looked like a rifle barrel, then shot out with compressed air, puffing them up to 8x their normal size. He had Quaker change the name to “Puffed Wheat” and advertised it as “Food Shot From Guns”

Puffed Wheat became the most profitable cereal in history.

Clemens ideas remind me of how Anne-Laure Le Cunff uses note-taking to generate interesting writing ideas as she reads. She asks herself:

"This seems obvious, but is there something more interesting underneath I can write about?"

The world is flooded with content. It is not flooded with unique content.

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Thank you  

The Mix Tape community grows every week. Thank you for reading and sharing!

Please send me your thoughts and suggestions. It’s great to hear from you.

See you next week!