Welcome to the best of Back of my Head.

This email is a collection of the best links I've shared here in the month of June.

If you're new here, these links will catch you up on the past 5 BomH issues.

The general theme of the links is around:

• Thinking more independently – 6 links
• Building better businesses – 3 links
• Being a better human – 4 links
• Being a better writer – 1 link
• Creating wealth – 1 link

Links here are from BomH issues 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

You're reading the best links of Back of my Head, my recommendations newsletter, which goes out every Saturday. A lot of curious people love it. If someone forwarded this to you, subscribe here.

— Kunal Mishra
(Support me by buying me a coffee)

1. How to Think For Yourself by Paul Graham

"There are some kinds of work that you can't do well without thinking differently from your peers. To be a successful scientist, for example, it's not enough just to be correct. Your ideas have to be both correct and novel. You can't publish papers saying things other people already know. You need to say things no one else has realized yet."

Other examples would be investors, startup founders, creators, etc.

If you too do a job that requires you to think independently, this essay is for you. 

(This essay is 3,500 words long. If you're short on time, here's my 2-min summary)

2. 9 Free Courses for Intellectual Orgasm by Thinking Bat

This is a list of courses from top universities on some very intriguing ideas.

It includes courses on everything from micro-economics to behavioural psychology and even public speaking.

3. 40 Counter-Intuitive Tips for Building a Business by Jonathan Bales

Jonathan's substack, Lucky Maverick, is one of the best things I discovered last year. 

And this post covers his take on building a business.

Which is nothing like you'd expect.

4. Meta Considerate by Derek Sivers

Derek's definition of being truly considerate of others is so different from ours, we should learn from him.

“It’s considerate to not bore my friends with my problems. But it’s meta-considerate to tell them my problems, to let them feel needed and helpful, to let them know they’re safe to do the same.”

5. How to Improve Your Writing by David Perell

There's a reason why David is called the "writing guy" on Twitter.

He's being teaching the act of writing online through his courses, long-form essays, hour long videos, and even a 50 day email series.

But this thread is the single best distillation of his writing philosophy.

6. Freelancing Course on Udemy by Seth Godin

One of the best courses I've taken in a while. 

Seth will show you a new way to look at freelancing.

He covers everything from getting client to figuring out what to charge and more.

A must for freelancers.

7. 6 Habits of Highly Empathetic People

In the third issue of BomH, I wrote a note on why Empathy is a Superpower.

This very old article from UC Berkeley lists out what empathetic people do differently. 

They also have an Empathy Quiz you can take. I got 77/110.

8. 50 Ideas that Changed my Life by David Perell

David shares new ideas he learns in his weekly newsletter, Monday Musings.

This is a list of the best ideas. 

At least one will change your life. So, worth a shot.

9. How to Get Rich Without Getting Lucky by Naval Ravikant

You probably know this one already.

This is probably the single best thread there is on Twitter.

It's Naval distilled wisdom on gaining wealth and being happier.

He talks about gaining specific knowledge and some form of leverage, why you can't get rich renting your time, wealth vs status games, and how to be the best in the world.

10. Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet. Because Thinking is Hard. by Buster Benson

Buster used to refer to Wikipedia list of cognitive biases when thinking deeply about anything.

Frustrated with how unorganised that list is, he created his own.

He categorised the 175 biases under the four problems they help solve:

• Too much information
• No enough meaning
• Need to act fast
• And how to know what to remember for later

11. Decomplication: How to Find Simple Solutions to Hard Problems by Nat Eliason

“Through a combination of psychological biases, willpower depletion, and effective marketing, we’ve begun to believe that the simple things are difficult and complex and that we need swaths of information and expertise to solve them.”

This is one of Nat Eliason’s best pieces.

He goes on about why and how we create artificial complexity to simple problems. And how you can “decomplicate” things

12 & 13. Farnam Street's and Gabriel Weinberg's list of mental models

Both of the links are grand lists of mental models. And both of them are really good.

Also both Farnam Street and Gabriel Weinberg have their own books on mental models. Farnam Street's The Great Mental Models Vol. 1 & 2. And Gabriel's Super Thinking (which is also book of the month).

14. How to build a great life by Kevin Dahlstrom

"Lots of people have had more success in business & made more money than me. What I’ve done better than most (along with my wife, the unsung hero) is put it all together to build a great, multi-dimensional life—one that I don’t need a vacation from. I’m not boasting here."

Newly turned 50, Kevin lists out 17 things about how he has built a great life for himself.

15. 6 Steps to Take Control of your Business by Alex Lieberman

“Owning your business doesn't mean controlling your business.”

A brilliant thread that tells the story of how the Morning Brew cofounders used a framework from the book, Traction, to grow their business ~$40M in revenue. 

It's all about vision, people, data, issues, processes, and traction. 
If you ever plan to build a business, don’t miss this one.

Hey, I want to make this newsletter the best thing you get every week. And I'd really appreciate a little help.

How many links did you find interesting today?

• More than I read (10+)
• Enough for a good week (5–10)
• Some of them (1–5)
• Not even one.