Monday Musings (7/8/19)

Hey everybody,

Quick update: I’ve been thinking about the best way to describe the long-term vision for my online course, Write of Passage.

This morning, I had an epiphany. Along with my business parter Tiago Forte, we’re building a Y-Combinator for online writers.

Here’s what we already do:

1. Teach students to build a personal brand.

2. Introduce them to other aspiring writers.

3. Give students the tools to publish consistently.

Long term, we hope to guarantee audience growth for new writers. Like many online businesses, there are increasing returns to scale and we plan to teach 1,000 people to write this year.

Later this summer, we will also offer an online version of our live writing workshop to existing Write of Passage and Building a Second Brain students. Using Zoom, we will re-create the creative energy of modern writing groups and Paris coffee shops in the early 20th century. By doing so, we’ll de-mistify the writing process, help writers come up with interesting ideas, and build a global community of ambitious online writers.

I can’t wait.

Learn Like an Athlete

LeBron James didn’t always have thick calves, a raging six-pack, and arms like the Incredible Hulk.

Ask LeBron about his off-season training regimen, and he’ll share a detailed run-down of his workout plan and on-the-court practice routine. When he entered the NBA, LeBron wasn’t a strong shooter. I’d bet the house that early in his career, LeBron built his off-season training regimen around his weak jump shot and disappointing 42% field goal percentage during his rookie season. As his Instagram posts reveal, LeBron worked for his strength, agility, impeccable history of injury avoidance, and an outstanding 54% field goal percentage during his 14th NBA season. 

Athletes train. Musicians train. Performers train. But knowledge workers don’t. 

Knowledge workers should train like LeBron, and implement strict “learning plans.” To be sure, intellectual life is different from basketball. Success is harder to measure and the metrics for improvement aren’t quite as clear. Even then, there’s a lot to learn from the way top athletes train. They are clear in their objectives and deliberate in their pursuit of improvement.

Knowledge workers should imitate them.

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What Does a Learning Plan Look Like?

Similar to how LeBron structures his training to win NBA championships, knowledge workers should train to build skills, complete projects, and increase their productive power. Armed with an effective system, we’ll learn