About big lessons from history, building a personal brand, personal knowledge management (& how-tos).
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Things To Be Grateful For

Hi everyone!

Last week was a fun week with my first Product Hunt Launch! Thanks for your support. It means a lot.

It's Thanksgiving this week. What does it mean for you? For me, Thanksgiving is all about the abundance that is enriched by our desire to share it.

I have a small suggestion for all of you. Over the next few days, invest a few minutes into writing emails or text messages to 5 people you truly care about. A little gratitude goes a long way. More on how to below.

This week I'm sharing about big lessons from history, building a personal brand & personal knowledge management. Plus a tiny selection of Black Friday deals! Let's dive in.

As always, feel free to hit reply and share what you liked, or disliked. Thanks for being here!

With gratitude,
Janel

Interesting Reads

The Big Lessons From History
One of most powerful things I've read recently. Impactful & thought-provoking.

  • The short run is a continuous chain of setbacks and disappointments. But all of this compounds into something great in the long run. Be long-run optimistic.
  • Risk is what you don't see. "The biggest risk is what no one sees coming, because if no one sees it coming no one’s prepared for it... and it's damage will be amplified when it arrives."

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is about gratitude. It’s about the celebration of victories, big and small, the treasured kinship with those we hold close, the quiet reflection of what truly matters. It’s about the abundance that is enriched by our desire to share it. A piece from my blog.

On Building A Personal Brand
Building a brand is a continuous process that takes a lot of work.
Own Your Edge

Find out what your unique advantage is (skill or interest) & lean into it.
Take Responsibility
Take on new responsibilities to expose yourself to new opportunities.
Endurance
Play the long game and develop your edge. Stay long enough to reap the rewards.

High Velocity Questions
A high-velocity question accomplishes multiple things at once. It's unexpected, leaves an impression on the interviewee/guest, and pushes a conversation in an interesting direction, with speed.

User Research on Personal Knowledge Management
Note-taking and personal knowledge management systems are experiencing a renaissance. Check out tools, ideas & opportunities, with select quotes from users describing their pain points.

    Learning

    How Do I Give Thanks
    "Let this week be your opportunity to let the important people in your life know how much they mean to you." Learn how to give thanks in public or in private, through gifts or words. I'll add one more. Give thanks through your actions.

    Building A DIY Second Brain
    A guide to capturing the best information you find, and turning it into your own creations. An excellent companion to the Personal Knowledge Management Article

    1. Get the right tools
    2. Learn the basics
    3. Learn where to put stuff
    4. Learn how to engage with the information
    5. Understand it at the philosophical level
    6. Create and iterate

    Tech Glossary
    Learn 2000+ tech terms by browsing this database.

          Resources & Tools

          Screenity (Chrome Extension) - Open-source screen recorder & annotation tool that's a great free alternative to Loom.

          Twitter Inspiration Handbook For Brands - An amazing collection of the best-in-class brand tweets, and why they work. Great stuff from Harry of Marketing Examples.

          One Page Love - A collection of beautiful single-page landing pages that serve as inspiration for your next side project. 

          Product Design Resources - Lots of design resources and the latest UI/UX tools. Colors, fonts, you name it, you got it.

            Black Friday Deals

            I always love a good deal. You guys know that. I'm only sharing stuff I've actually bought here - don't want to peddle junk. Sharing a few favorites. Heads up: these are affiliate links.

            Publer - Social media scheduler. Probably my best purchase of the year. I use Publer weekly to schedule tweets & threads. $49 for lifetime usage. It also works for Facebook & LinkedIn.

            Deposit Photos - Get 100 premium stock photos for $39. If you're running a blog and the free creative commons alternatives on Unsplash etc. don't work for you, this is an affordable solution.

            Namecheap - Grab domains (sorry if I'm feeding your addiction) for cheap with this code BFTLDREG. You can get .com domains for $5 USD 🤯 About to pick 2 up.

              Newsletter

              Sidekick by Morning Brew - The best recommendations on the Internet. Nothing's off limits here as it covers products, books, recipes and things to make you laugh. Think about it as "Take A Brain Break" on steroids. As the writer Rachel Cantor says, her "No. 1 goal is to break your computer with the number of tabs" she's made you open.

                Take A Brain Break
                Histography Image

                Histography

                A timeline of history, where every dot on the site is a historic event from Wikipedia. Fun & interactive. Did you know that electricity was first discovered in 1751 & gunpowder was invented in 850?

                The Essentials' Movie Recommendations - A spreadsheet of movie recommendations. Useful for the holiday season.

                  Quote Of The Week

                  "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”
                  — Soren Kierkegaard
                  (Share On Twitter)

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                  Written with love in Spain by @JanelSGM
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