Hey everyone,
If you're new here, welcome to Never Enough, where I brain dump interesting stuff that has been on my mind over the last week.
Today's edition is brought to you by Athena*.
Time is money.
So why are you wasting it paying parking tickets? Rescheduling coffee meetings? Booking travel? Hell, even managing your inbox?
If you're a successful executive, you're nodding along. You know what I'm talking about.
We all have a guilty secret:
We'd be lost without our executive assistants.
The superhero behind the scenes who keeps the trains running on time.
My assistants (I have 3!) work around the clock doing everything from managing my inbox and calendar to handling projects.
They allow me to be "Teflon for Tasks," focusing exclusively on the high-value things that I enjoy.
How did I find my incredible assistants?
Easy: I used Athena.
They hire the Philippines' most talented people, put them through extensive training, and provide you with a mind-bogglingly talented 10/10 assistant that tells YOU how to improve.
I've been blown away. They're 1/5th the cost of a North American assistant, speak perfect English, and work the hours that you do.
Check them out today and tell them I sent you. (HERE)
Now onto this week’s issue…
- Making things again feels unbelievably good. For the last three years, I’ve been working on a book and it’s been one of the most satisfying projects I’ve ever worked on. There’s something wonderful about crafting something physical—a creative act, a thing that will exist in the world for years, maybe decades, to come.
I used to create things every day. When I started my company almost twenty years ago, I was a designer. I’d put on headphones, drop into a flow state, and make something.
Mockups. Logos. Websites. Code. You name it.
But over the years, that happened less and less.
This is the paradox of scaling a business.
In the end, you no longer do the thing that started it all. The thing that brought you joy in the first place.
It feels a bit like going from a soccer player on the field, to the captain of the team, to the owner of the team up in the owner’s box.
You miss kicking the damn ball. The roaring crowd. Beers with the team afterwards.
Writing a book felt like kicking the ball again.
While I love business and all the problem solving that goes along with it, I’ve come to realize that I need individual side projects that I can pour myself into.
That’s what this newsletter is: something creative and fun, where I don’t have to manage a team of people or field HR crises or negotiate raises.
I just turn on some good music and write for a couple hours.
And man does it ever feel good.
What’s yours?
PS: You can pre-order my book here. It comes out July 9. I hope you like it.
- Admit it, you judge people on silly things.
How they do their hair.
How they dress.
Even whether their text messages come in green (Android 🧐).
And yet, nobody seems to take Zoom hygiene seriously.
Most people shoot a fingerprint-smudged webcam up their nose and bark into their laptop mic, which sounds like they’re broadcasting from an old Soviet spy transmitter.
Now there’s a way to look presentable on Zooms. Last year, I got this incredible little camera called the Opal C1 which seriously upped my game. It looks almost as good as a DSLR camera and has a wonderful bokeh (that beautiful blur around the object in focus) as well as a great built-in microphone.
Given how many critical meetings we all do on Zoom these days, this seems like a no brainer.
- I’d rather have a staple gun shot into my forehead than make small talk. I think most of you probably agree—nobody likes it.
It sucks for them, and it sucks for you.
I recently discovered a hack, which I learned from David Brooks' new book How to Know a Person.
It’s super simple:
When somebody brings up something that sounds even moderately challenging—a breakup, a difficult parent, an argument with a friend, something their boss did—even offhand—you just say these six simple words.
“What was that like for you?”
Or alternatively: “How did you feel when that happened?”
I’ve been astounded by how much this can deepen a conversation and cut away the small talk.
Doesn’t work on everyone, but when it does, it’s special.
- Imagine writing a book at age 92. I’ve been enjoying Fallen Leaves, a book that historian Will Durant wrote in his 90s, a summation of his thoughts on the meaning of life at the end of his.
I loved this quote about how humans persist over generations to ultimately achieve our goals:
“Three thousand years ago a man thought that man might fly, and so he built himself wings, and Icarus—his son—trusting them and trying to fly, fell into the sea. Undaunted, life carried on the dream. Thirty generations passed, and Leonardo da Vinci, spirit made flesh, scratched across his drawings (drawings so beautiful that one catches one’s breath with pain on seeing them) plans and calculations for a flying machine, and left in his notes a little phrase that, once heard, rings like a bell in the memory—“There shall be wings.” Leonardo failed and died, but life carried on the dream. Generations passed, and men said man would never fly, for it was not the will of God. And then man flew, and the agelong challenge of the bird was answered. Life is that which can hold a purpose for three thousand years and never yield. The individual fails, but life succeeds. The individual is foolish, but life holds in its blood and seed the wisdom of generations. The individual dies, but life, tireless and undiscourageable, goes on, wondering, longing, planning, trying, mounting, longing.”
- A few weeks ago, my friend Caleb Beyers died suddenly of a heart attack, leaving behind his wife and two young sons, age 2 and 4. He was an intensely creative and broad ranging guy and he made a huge impact on our hometown of Victoria. He was only 42.
If you’re enjoying this newsletter at all, it would mean a lot to me if you’d consider making a donation to his family here.
That’s all for this week…
- Andrew
Check out my podcast: YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcast
Want to sell your business or know someone who does? www.tiny.com
Follow me on Twitter/X: @awilkinson
Forwarded this message? Sign up here.
