Hi everyone!

We're slightly more than halfway through January and I've been blown away by the amount of new people I've met already through the On Deck No-Code Fellowship that kicked off on Saturday (it probably wins the award for being the best Zoom call of my life).

This week we're chatting about priorities, the psychology of money and the art of listening. I'm also sharing a personal piece about my first modern friend.

Thanks for reading,
Janel

The Big Rocks and the Jar: A Lesson in Making Priorities
"Unless you first place the big rocks into the jar, you are never going to get them in. The big rocks are the important things in your life …your family, your friends, your personal growth. If you fill your life with small things…you will never have the time for the important things."

The Psychology Of Money
Another masterpiece by Morgan Housel. Learn about the 20 biases that form the psychology of money. A must-read.

• "Investing is not the study of finance. It’s the study of how people behave with money." 
• "The first rule of compounding is to never interrupt it unnecessarily". 

Meet The Man Who Flies Around The World For Free
Read about the plane-bound life of 25-year-old Ben Schlappig, a travel hacker who flies around the world for free. Fun fact: One of my hobbies used to be collecting credit card points. I'm now sitting on a pile of ~1 million miles, waiting for the next time I can travel.

My First Modern Friend
Have you ever had a friend you felt close to, but had never actually met in person? This was Josh and I. Read about a special friendship across two continents that started in the early 2000s.

Trevor McKendrick's Library
A treasure trove of thoughtful articles, carefully curated by Trevor McKendrick. Learn about society, science, technology, business and more. While you're at it, consider subscribing to his newsletter.

The Art Of Listening
Listening is a superpower. To be a better listener:

• Practice being present
• Establish a listening pattern for important conversations. do this repeatedly and it will become a reflex
  

How To Instantly Show Your Value
Get better at showcasing the unique value your products, companies and communities have. Here are some useful tips:

• Use before-and-after. Show, not tell. It invokes powerful imagery.
• Aim for “No brainer status”. You need to aim for an instant yes. Think about what features, benefits, and value would make this an instant yes for your prospective customers.

Cold Email For Interesting People
A free & in-depth resource on how to write cold emails, including annotated examples. The author, Philip Kiely is obviously qualified to write this, because he got his job by cold emailing Gumroad's founder Sahil.

SpreadSimple - Convert Google Sheets into visually appealing websites, with PayPal and Stripe integrations. This lifetime deal is a steal, as you can build 10 sites and link them to custom domains for just $59. Check out some templates & a showcase of live sites to get an idea of what you can create. I picked this up myself. Aff link. 

Investor Pitch Training - Trying to raise capital this year? Practice your investor pitch with 200+ real questions that venture capital investors and business angels ask founders, in flashcard format. Free.

Squibler Writing Prompt - Prompt generator, to kickstart 5-minutes of continuous writing.

Font Pair - Get help to pair Google Fonts together

Drive & Listen - Drive around in dozens of cities — from Berlin to Barcelona — while jamming out to the local radio.

Useful Science - Interesting and useful science facts on fitness, happiness, health, psychology and more.

Old Pics - A world map with old pictures of cities. See the world with vintage lenses (h/t Pablo)