Challenge yourself!

Every year we make New Year’s Resolutions. They are often big and ambitious - and unfortunately - they often fail. How can we make them work? By starting small!

There is a saying that first, you win the day, then you win the week, then the month, and then the year! Yes, you can do this through better habits and planning, but you can also do it through challenges.

Challenge yourself to do something - however small - in the new year. Why? Because challenges have a game element - and we don’t like losing! They also help us be consistent, which is the road to great results.

You can start with a challenge I stole from PowerYourPlatform - leave five meaningful LinkedIn comments per day for a week. Short and sweet!

On the other end of the graph, I will attempt a yearly challenge - read one business book per month for 12 months. Do you want to join the challenge with me? Let’s do it!

🗯️ How to leave great LinkedIn comments

Leaving engaging LinkedIn comments pleases the algorithm (which makes your content stand out) and helps you spark conversations.

But what to write? “Great post” or “Totally agree!” won’t cut it.

You can use the help of AI - there are even specific tools for the job like WiseReply. But you can do better.

Instead, here is how Erica from PowerYourPlatform suggests you can write awesome comments.

Read her full article here.

Shelf Shocks

1. Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food by Chris van Tulleken

As much as we try to stay healthy, we end up consuming a lot of ultra-processed foods, which have more in common with laboratories than farms. This novel source of calories can be dangerous for our bodies and the environment. The more we know about it, the better equipped we will be to make better choices about what we put on our plates.

Infectious diseases doctor Chris van Tulleken goes on a journey to uncover the dirty secrets of ultra-processed foods, how the government and the food industry and in on the scheme, and why we should fight for our rights to clean, healthy food.

2. Am I Normal? by Sarah Chaney

Are you normal? Am I? This is a very interesting question. We’ve all asked ourselves this (or have been asked). Is there a right answer? What is ‘normal‘? Or is it just a scam to make us spend money on psychologists?

Sarah Chaney explores what is a ‘normal‘ body, ‘normal‘ mind, normal ‘kids‘ and other areas of life which may fall outside what people consider standard. If you feel like society has put too many artificial labels on things - you may find this book relatable.

3. Stuffed: A History of Good Food and Hard Times in Britain by Pen Vogler

Stuffed looks at how food has impacted Britain throughout the centuries. Starting from the Neolithic period (!) and going through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, World War I and II, to the present day, food historian Pen Vogler examines the surprising ways what we put on our plate is connected to how our societies function.

If you like your social history with a dash of spice, you can also check out the author’s other book: Scoff: A History of Food and Class in Britain, which explores how simple choices of what we eat are sometimes connected to questions of status and social standing.

Fun Links

1. Generate realistic AI speech

This is one of the most mind-blowing sites I’ve come across. It allows you to generate speech from text in seconds!

The free version has a 333-character limit, but it is still capable of generating speech from different languages and a variety of voices.

The paid versions unlock a larger character limit and the ability to create custom voices, but even the free version is mind-blowing in its ability to generate realistic speech which you can use in short videos and other projects.

You've reached the end of my newsletter. Hooray! If you have any comments or would like to share what you enjoyed the most, feel free to get in touch! See you in two weeks!