Evolution's Calling
Hello Friends!
This week, an EPIC tweetstorm, some evolutionary facts, and a quick look at some of the hottest online businesses. Read ahead to find out.
1. A Fresh Take on the Importance of Money
How to Get Rich (without getting lucky), a tweetstorm by Naval Ravikant (pictured above). If there’s one thing you take away from this week’s newsletter it should be this twitter thread.
And I’m not saying this because Naval’s a billionaire (after all he's only 1 of 2,604!) OR because he’s an early investor in some of the hottest unicorns to date (including both Uber & Twitter). I say this because of his take on the importance of money not as a status symbol but as a means of achieving financial freedom. Why paraphrase when he says it the best:
The reason you want wealth is because it buys you your freedom…So, you don’t have to wake up at 7:00 AM, and rush to work, and sit in commute traffic…It’s nothing more than that. It’s not to buy fur coats, or drive Ferraris, or sail yachts, or jet around the world in your Gulf stream…
People often have a very Hollywood image of early retirement with a martini in hand, lounging on a beach in Hawaii. But what Naval is referring to is the idea of making enough money that you don’t NEED to work a job that you don’t want to. Instead you spend your time and energy pursuing ventures that you are passionate about whether that’s running a non-profit or taking up underwater basket weaving.
2. An Evolutionary Fact that Dictates How we Sleep
Human beings were NEVER meant to be woken up by an alarm clock. Want proof? Our ancestors slept around a fire and woke up to the sun. To mimic this idea (sans flames), try sleeping at a time that allows you to wake up without needing 16 alarms and notice the difference in energy levels and focus the next day.
Just based on a few months of data points, I know I NEED between 7 to 8 hours of sleep to wake up without an alarm (so envious of friends who are fully functional with less!).
Pro-tip: If you want to take your sleep routine one step further, try to wake up to natural light if you get any in your bedroom or buy one of these fancy sunrise lamps.
3. A New Way to Discover Shopping Trends
Need inspiration? See this list of businesses built on Shopify that get the most hits (ignore myshopify.com)
Source: MyIP.MS
Notice that apart from ColourPop, a secretive L.A. Cosmetics brand, and JB Hi-Fi, an Australian home entertainment retailer, ALL the rest are Apparel or Shoes brands.
But not as surprising when you consider that almost one third of ALL apparel sales take place online.
The more you know:A record number of people shopped online over Thanksgiving weekend with $5.4 billion spent (a 22.3% increase Year-over-year) on Black Friday alone.
Source: CNBC
4. Shower Thoughts of the Week
This week’s shower thoughts (via Reddit) are…
Everyone you see in a retirement commercial are not actually retired since they are acting.
Somewhere, someone in the entire Google corporation thought “let’s just drive a van down every street on the fucking planet”
There are two types of car owners. The first is upset when it rains because the rain is getting their car dirty. The second is happy when it rains because the rain is getting their car clean.
You rarely see people sneeze on live television
Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!
Rohail
More of one thing, less of the other? Comment here or reach out on Twitter (@rwk93) - Instagram (ro.khan)