Practice your kicks

Boxers and other athletes do very similar drills every day to sharpen their fundamental movements. Because often it’s those key moves that win fights, not the flashy, exotic strikes from the highlight reels.

I was reminded of that when a marketing basics course had me glued to the screen, eager to find something I may have been doing incorrectly all these years.

So here’s to practicing the basics, and never stopping to learn and improve.

🫣 Practice your fundamentals 📚

I came across a marketing fundamentals course and began watching. Although I don’t consider myself a beginner marketer anymore, I was quickly engrossed by it. Of course, it was partly due to the engaging lecturers, but there was also something else - a desire to make sure I had my basics right.

Marketing is a fast-moving field: it seems every day Instagram is rolling out a new feature and the Google algorithm is fundamentally changing how the universe works. Couple that with the newest revolutionary AI tool (that has tremendous difficulty analysing a spreadsheet with one misplaced cell), and staying up to date with other marketers seems like an impossible task.

But what if we all have it backwards? What if instead of constantly chasing the new shiny tool, we should regularly go back and learn how to use the fundamental tools better?

I love this quote from Bruce Lee, as it not only shows how important practice is, but also reveals that using the “basics“ well can be better than relying on the flashest tool.

Remember that all these “revolutionary“ changes that shake the digital landscape are just small tweaks in the grand scheme, and you shouldn’t trust all the gurus that have the hottest new content format to game the algorithm.

From time to time, we need to go back and brush up on our fundamentals.

📚 Shelf Shocks 💥

1. Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness by Steve Magness

The world-renowned performance expert Steve Magness redefines what it means to be tough. Through scientific research and work with Olympic athletes, soldiers, CEOs and others, he reveals that the image of a gritty, hard-as-nails rugby boxer is far from the reality of being resilient.

Learning how to listen to our body and working in tandem with it, instead of ignoring pain and “toughening up“ will actually make us more likely to overcome obstacles and achieve greatness. If you want help finding your own strength, this is the book for you.

🎧 Summary

2. Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel

If you are constantly worrying about the state of the economy and what might be lurking around the corner ready to wipe away your savings, Morgan Housel’s book might be helpful.

He explores significant economic events in the past and teaches us how it’s best to react when the unexpected strikes. He also teaches us a more relaxed perspective on investing, as well as how to find the optimal size for a business. Because even in our fast-faced world, there are things which remain constantly right.

🎧 Summary

🚛 Order to Bulgaria

3. The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861 by Henry David Thoreau and Damion Searls

Let’s finish with the observations of a renowned American poet and philosopher, who journaled daily - he paid attention not only to life’s small annoyances, but to the small beauty of nature. From love to nature, God and fatherhood, this collection presents a kaleidoscope of beautiful writing.

I hope it will not only inspire you to pick up journaling as a habit (if interested, try The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper), but inspire you to learn to look at mundane and see the extraordinary hidden within.

🚛 Order to Bulgaria

Fun Links ⏰ ❗️

1. Write LinkedIn text that stands out

Is the content of your LinkedIn post not making it stand out? Then why not try upping the visual side of the text? LinkedIn text formatted is a free tool that allows you to bold, italicise, and do other fun stuff to your writing.

Try it here.

You've reached the end of my newsletter. Hooray! If you’d like to see more of my work, you can GET MY BOOK Write Better: A Simple Guide to Better Business Writing or connect with me on LinkedIn for more fun and educational content.

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!

(📚 За всичките ми български читатели - здравейте! Ако харесвате съдържанието ми, може да се запишете за коя книжен бюлетин БУК Клуб.)