What is it?
If you reply back and let me know, I will share it in my next newsletter and tag you!
Here are a few of mine:
hosting a podcast: you can (almost) literally can talk to whoever you want too. You can follow your own curiosity. It doesn’t matter how big your audience is. If you are committed to your show and send a good outreach email, magical things can happen! So many good things in my life have happened from podcasting!
sending a Loom video in an email: this will help you stand out over email. You will likely have a higher email reply rate too. You can convey context, complexity, and emotion in a way that you cannot with cold plain text. This is really helpful for podcast related emails for me because people can get a glimpse of what it might be like to talk with me, etc! Watch Mari Andrew share below her reaction to my video included email from our 2023 podcast episode together.
living with your friends: you can have “watercooler chats” and “life chats” in planned and unplanned ways. This can help you make friends (like it has for me) and get closer to the people already in your life. This also helps me with hosting events at my place too, as I am more comfortable doing so and want my other friends to meet and become friends with my roommates compared to a stranger.
Anyways, Life Hacks have been on my mind. And the other day, I hosted a Life Hacks mini-conference. I think my friends are brilliant and I wanted to learn more from them. And I thought they could learn from each other… and that’s what happened!
Abbas, Joy, and I recorded a podcast episode together at the event too!
Abbas mentioned: 1) creating a “vehicle for serendipity” and how posting on LinkedIn recently has been one way he is doing this; 2): Calendly for making talking with or meeting up with someone easier; and 3) Shortwave for managing his email using AI.
Joy mentioned to read more books and referenced Dorie Clark’s The Long Game and Don’t Believe Everything You Think.
I talked about adding a Loom in an email… You can listen to the episode here:
Newsletter housekeeping!
In case you didn’t notice it, I changed the name of the newsletter to my name. The change was over-due and I am in more of an expressive, speaking up, and being more confident era and using my name more feels right… for now!
What does this mean for you? Hopefully not much. I think the content will be similiar!
I want this newsletter to be a place that sparks conversation, connection, and community. Have ideas? Let me know! I want to get to know you more through the newsletter - so please reply whenever you want!
Shout-out to
for helping me think through this! Check out her newsletter! Among others, this is a great post of hers!NYC Gatherings
You can see a full updated list here. Following a great suggestion by
, I wanted to highlight a few:This Monday 5/5: Emily Chertow, the Founder of Journaling Classes, is hosting a Talent Show. It’s going to be a fun and funny event. Emily puts her soul into her work and I know this is going to be the case here too.
This Tuesday 5/6: Veronica Kaulinis is hosting a Vulnerable AF event called Brave Confident Relationships.
This Thursday 5/8: The Chief of Staff Network and I are hosting a Brain Trust mini-conference. I love mini-conferences. Learn more about the gathering here and let me know if you have any questions!
Next Wednesday 5/14: Maria Pope and her coach are hosting a “Coffee + Coaching” morning gathering if you are thinking about a transition, leveling-up, etc!
To your life hack,
David Nebinski, who also recently published a great podcast episode on the creative process here
PS: thanks again to everyone who replied and messaged me about my last Substack post 🫶
PPS: this song has been making me smile recently!
Love that you're using your name for this now! Feels right. My life hacks: hosting a regular dinner party that I can always invite people to who I want to get to know better + posting a weekly video on social (Cringe Tuesdays!) that always spurs fun convos with friends who follow me. Both give me ways to nurture and grow relationships without needing to do a bunch of 1:1 outreach, figure out logistics, etc.
To avoid that awkward moment where you're on course to collide with a stranger coming towards you (walking, on a bike, etc.), look deliberately at your intended destination off to one side instead of making eye contact with them.
If you try and make eye contact, you both will try to predict the other's movement using their eyes, leading to that awkward dance.
If you look to one direction and follow that look, you'll never miss.
I learned about this 15+ years ago and use it weekly.