Hi everyone!

It's been another busy week. In addition to working full-time, I spend a few hours curating this newsletter, sharing about my side projects & am now in the final few months of an apartment refurb! It's been pretty fun choosing tiles/flooring & furniture, but it is a lot of work.

This week we're diving into guiding principles for life, journaling prompts and fun tools. We'll also learn all about autonomous vehicles, how to be well-connected and remember names!

Thanks for reading!

With gratitude,
Janel

35 Principles for 35 Years
Shawn (swyx) turns 35 today. Happy birthday! He wrote a meaningful blog post about 35 principles that guide him. Here are some I love:

• Life is too short for short term games.
• People remember how you made them feel, before what you said. A good story has more power than a good argument.
• Log your wins. e.g. when you ship something big or small, or when someone says nice things about you. This helps when you're feeling down or when you want to highlight your successes. Help others celebrate their wins too.
  
• Systems > Goals. You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

90 Journaling Prompts to spark new personal insights
Pick one of the journaling prompts from this thoughtful collection to spark personal insights. Some gems I'll be using:

• What does a perfect day look like to you?
• What is currently holding you back from creating your best work?
• Who is a person who has deeply impacted your life? Why?
• What advice would you give your younger self, knowing what you know now?
  

Zapier: The $7B Netflix of Productivity
A deep dive into Zapier, the no-code tool that a lot of us use to automate a lot of the boring stuff at work - it allows common folk to pipe data between tools that don’t usually talk to each other. 

A Guide To Autonomous Vehicles
All you might want to know about autonomous vehicles. We're talking history, industries, consumer views, politics and tech.

How To Become Insanely Well-Connected
“The best way to be highly influential is to be human to everyone you meet.” An actionable guide on how to be well-connected.

Top picks:

• Convey genuine appreciation - Actively project warmth and high energy. People can feel if you like them!
  
• Listen with intent - Being a good listener is about two things: 1) Demonstrating that you’ve heard exactly what was said by the other person, and 2) encouraging them to continue
  
• Offer unvarnished honesty - You can differentiate yourself  from others by being as honest as you can. Just remember to root your honesty in what will be useful for the other party. Honesty is refreshing.
  

How To Remember People's Names
Tips from the memory champs: Make associations, make your interactions as interesting as possible & incorporate the person's face into your imagery.

5 Ingredients For A Successful Startup Pitch
- Problem: Is this an issue
- Solution: Do you have the fix
- Market: Is this a big enough issue
- Business: Can you make money
- Team: Are you the people to do it

Product Shot - A free tool to make better-performing product screenshots by focusing the user's attention on where it should be.

Get Free Stuff - A collection of free resources, tools, and guides to enhance your learning and help you grow.

CloudMounter - Mount your Google Drive files on your Mac, so you can access them like a sane person. All of your online spreadsheets and documents will appear as if there are your local files without being saved on your Mac. One-time purchase or available as part of a Setapp subscription. Ever since I started paying for Google One, I've found this such a useful tool to cut through the mess in my Google Drive. You can also try open-source alternatives like Cyberduck. 

The Slice - I really love reading The Slice. Written by my friend Nic, it's full of good reads and tools at the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology, and productivity. I often find new, interesting tools through this newsletter which has an honest & refreshing voice.

Lofi.cafe - An amazing collection of Lo-fi beats that you can listen to while you're working or writing.

Jackal - Watch live TV channels around the globe with your friends and family

Deep Sea - Dive deep into the sea and learn more where your favorite creatures are found. Monkfish live at 835 metres. What?

Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office - This website is a vibe. So much fun!