Hi everyone!

BrainPint turned 1 on April 11th. It's a wonderful milestone worth celebrating 🎉 

Through writing this newsletter, I've learned a ton of new things, built a 5-figure side project / business & discovered fascinating tools. I also believe it indirectly contributed to me getting a job. But what I treasure most are the friendships I've made and the cool people I've met! 

I haven't done any paid promotion for this little passion project a all and here we are, with more than 3,100 readers in the BrainPint community. This would not be possible without all of you! Thank you for spreading the word and telling your friends about BrainPint!

This week's issue will be a bit different. I'll share some of my favorite picks that I've featured throughout the year.

I hope to continue to bring joy to your inboxes for years to come.

With gratitude,
Janel

P.S. Want to read the first BrainPint issue to see how much it's evolved? Here you go!

68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice from Kevin Kelly
Amazing life advice.

• Optimize your generosity. No one on their deathbed has ever regretted giving too much away.
• Don’t be the smartest person in the room. Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself. Even better, find smart people who will disagree with you.
• Acquiring things will rarely bring you deep satisfaction. But acquiring experiences will.

Curators Are The New Creators
Content is no longer scarce. Attention is. As information continues to be churned out at scale, high quality content curation becomes a valuable service.

Why it’s better to be the anti-status quo
A wonderful piece on unlearning. We've been taught that 1) competition is healthy; 2) winning requires outdoing the competition. But that's misguided.
"The most rewarding path is not head-on competition with everyone else. Instead, it’s finding our own version of the sling and stone."
Davids can beat Goliaths if they play smart, fast and redefine rules.

The Art Of The Desk Set Up
An insightful read into someone treats his desk set up almost philosophically. Arun talks about creative space as a component of the creative process, the elements that inspired him to build his set up in a certain way.

The Days Are Long But The Decades Are Short - Sam Altman

• Life is not a dress rehearsal—this is probably it. Make it count.
• Given enough time, it is possible to adjust to almost anything, good or bad.
• Don’t screw people and don’t burn bridges. Pick your battles carefully.

Nine Trends That Will Shape Our Careers in 2021
2020 changed the way we look at jobs forever. Here's a round up about the future of work. 3 that stood out: Global Hiring, Living Online & Liquid Employment. "Investors would never choose to invest in just one company; the risk is too concentrated. Instead, they build portfolios. Over time, workers will invest their time in a similar way." - Packy McCormick on Liquid Employment

How To Promote Your Content
Writing & creating something is only the first part of a success story. Harry from Marketing Examples shares how to effectively distribute content in a non-icky way.

How To Write Well
"To write well is to think well." A practical guide on writing well. What do you need to do?

• Identify what to write about
• Generate insights on your topic
• Rewrite for clarity, intrigue, and succinctness
• Rewrite for style and flow

How To Build Connections With Others

I summarized 9 tips from Noah Kagan. Watch original video here. Top picks:

• Ask your friends for referrals - Ask your friends to introduce you to an interesting person and be specific about your ask)
• Reach out to up and comers - If you're successful in what you do and spot young, new talent, reach out to them and help them grow
  
• Add value without expectation - Use your talent to help improve others' workflows or support them where you can shine

Differentiation & The Sea Of Sameness
A masterclass in differentiation for businesses by Peep Laja. “Differentiation is about standing out from the noise and giving people a reason to choose you over others.” Take your time to dig into these clearly distilled ideas. Then fight sameness.

How To Spot Trends
A piece on how to search for trends, by one of the best trend hunters & curious minds I know.

Learn about how to search for:

• Apps that are booming
• New & emerging start-ups
• Popular Amazon products
• Popular Subreddits (so you can Unbundle Reddit!)

But tools themselves won't make you an excellent trend analyst overnight. You need to understand human psychology & have an interest in history, be able to bridge cultural gaps and spot talent to surround yourself with. That's why BrainPint exists - it enables me to meet other inquisitive minds like all of you.

Differentiation & The Sea Of Sameness
A masterclass in differentiation for businesses by Peep Laja. “Differentiation is about standing out from the noise and giving people a reason to choose you over others.” Take your time to dig into these clearly distilled ideas. Then fight sameness.

The Tools I Use - All of my favorite tools, in a single post. Learn what the tool nerd (me) uses to run her life. I use Airtable, Notion every day and love my landing page that's built on Carrd. Click in to read more!

Typefully - Typefully is a distraction-free editor to write and publish condensed ideas in Tweets. See a live preview of your thread while you write it, save multiple drafts, schedule, and publish. For free. By my friends at Mailbrew who have a product that helps tame your email inbox and consume content mindfully. (Got you a discount code in my partner link!)

Creator Library - A packed Notion toolbox that helps creators make better content, more often! Learn about brand colors, archetypes, social media algorithms, setting up a company and more.

Answer Socrates - Find out what people are asking on Google, for free. This can be used for research, content marketing & SEO. Another free alternative is Answer The Public, but I think Answer Socrates is superior.

Poolside FM - What's not to love about spring & summer pool vibes? Get dancing with these amazing tunes. They're launching a sunscreen line now and I applied to be their Vibe Check Officer ☀️ 

The History Of Animation - Beautiful timeline which brings us through the history of animation from BC to the current day. References classics like Disney, The Simpsons, Toy Story and more.

Underrated Websites - An interesting r/AskReddit thread on underrating websites and what people use them for.

Bon Appetit's Best Banana Bread - I've made at least 10 banana bread loaves with this recipes. It fills our tummies with joy.

Visuals Of Earth - Beautiful wallpapers of nature that you can use for phone lockscreens or presentations. Free.