1. How I Used & Abused My Tesla — What a Tesla looks like after 100,000 Miles, a 48 State Road trip, 500 Uber Rides, 20 Rentals & 2 AirBnB sleepovers.

Have you ever wanted to own a Tesla? Yeah, I thought so. Everyone I know that owns one loves it. This is a fascinating window into the capabilities of the car through one adventurous owner.

2. This Mom’s Facebook Post Is Going Crazy Viral for Reminding People That Parenting Is Hard AF

PLEASE be better than the people in this post. Be kind to mothers (and fathers) who are overwhelmed by their kids in public. The best thing you can say is, “You have a hard job. I’m sure you’re doing your best. Kids will be kids. You’re doing a good job.”

3. 50 free Google Chrome browser extensions

Chrome has a lot more power than you know about. These extensions will help.

4. Dropbox employee’s password reuse led to theft of 60M+ user credentials

After four years of having the same password on Dropbox, I updated mine this week. If you have a Dropbox account you should update your password RIGHT NOW. This tells you why.

5. 10 Insights of Remarkable Parents from a Family Therapist

Therapists are smart. They get the chance to learn from hundreds of people. This is a great list if you’re a parent who is willing to learn.

6. Print Is Not Dead, Says Science

Are you a print or electronic book fan? I like them both for different reasons. In my mind I keep thinking print is dead. Turns out, I’m wrong.

One sentence summary of this week’s links: Work smarter by ignoring the advice of your friends, but use Evernote to help you become an expert while talking about it on Slack.

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1. Working smarter has been haunting me. It’s the key to unlocking our potential and increasing our impact while we’re still alive. I’d like to get better at batching my work to increase my activity. Nicole Avery’s article is a wonderful place to start if you too want to improve on this.

The Science and Art of Batching to Increase Your Productivity

 

2. Are you prone to taking advice from others and automatically agreeing with it? In a recent conversation, my smart friend Jeff told me, “Some decisions other people can’t make for you.” Nathan Barry, who I’m also proud to call a friend, is the founder of ConvertKit. He recently ignored some advice, and I totally agree with his logic for doing so.

Why I Ignore Advice From My Smartest Friends

 

3. Evernote is the most important tool in my business. Their new CEO had two great quotes in a recent interview that say a lot about how he views his new company.Talking about being a sustainable company, “We call it Evernote for a reason.”This is exactly how I sell people on why they should use Evernote, “Your brain is just a terrible place to store things.”

Evernote’s CEO on ‘unlocking the potential of every idea‘

 

4. Isolation is a highway to killing your hope, ideas, self-worth, and spiritual health. So many of us feel alone. Please remember that you’re not alone.

You’re Not Alone

 

5. I’m reading Cal Newport’s newest book Deep Work. My friend Scott Meyer recently wrote about how becoming a master at something (which we must do deep work to achieve) is the best path to more profit. Read his post more than once. It’s that good.

Want To Charge More? Be a Master

 

6. Most people hate email. (If you’re reading that from inside your inbox you’re likely aware of the irony.) Slack has become a popular alternative to email for many businesses. It’s better than email in many ways. If you do use it or, you’ve thought about using it check out another post by Scott.

14 Slack Hacks Every Slacker Should Know

Here are some links you’ll like. Forward this to a friend if it makes you look smart and resourceful, because you are.

NOTE: TakePermission.com is having some internal surgery so if the site doesn’t show up when you click a link…it’ll be back next week.

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1. Kendra Harrison broke a 28-year-old world record and had the best reaction when she found out (Humanity)

This woman didn’t make the Olympic team but she just broke a world record. They mess up her time at first then repost it. Look at the GIF in the lower part of the article. What a beautiful picture of joy.

 

 

2. The Scientific Argument for Mastering One Thing at a Time (Habits)

 

It turns out the best way to change your life is to not try to change your entire life. This brief article has changed the way I approach my goal setting.

3. Life is Boring Otherwise (Take Permission)

We spend most of our day avoiding risk but what are we missing when we live that way? Going to counseling, having a difficult conversation, writing every day, all risky but all will likely improve your life. 21 Things That Will Happen When You Publish Daily

 

This is something I’ve been working on for a long time. It will help your marriage, your parenting, your work life, pretty much everything. Highlights…

1. Not talking when others are speaking
2. Letting others know you’re listening through facial expressions and verbal sounds (“Mmm-hmm”)
3. Being able to repeat what others have said, practically word-for-word

 

5. 21 Outcomes of Writing A Daily Blog (Habits)

 

What would happen if you did start a habit of writing publicly every day? I think these 21 things would happen, and they’re not all good. More critics, some immediate unsubscribers, but still worth trying. Are you in?

Facebook did a study of their site and found 2/3 of people are less happy after visiting. I’ve had a nagging feeling the last few months that I’ve been documenting my life instead of living it. I also never feel alone. This isn’t good. Do you ever feel the same way?

 

BONUS LINK:

Schoolboys find brilliant way to get around no shorts rule (Humor/Taking Permission)

Their school wouldn’t let them wear shorts so they took permission and did this…

 

Sometimes you love getting an email. Usually, you don’t.

One of my favorite emails to get is from a writer and artist named Austin Kleon. He sends a weekly email with great links to interesting articles, most of which aren’t written by him. I like the way he sees the world. He also just came out with a new calendar. I bought one. They look cool.

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This is a new newsletter project that includes links you’ll like so it’s called Links You’ll Like. Below is the first volume. Every week I’ll post it here on my blog and email it to you if you want it. To get this delivered on Saturday mornings enter your email below.

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1. Email is ruining your flow
Email is like a drug. We love it for awhile then it starts to control us. We want to stop checking it, but we can’t seem to stop. It turns out you’re probably doing email wrong. They’ve studied how to use email effectively and here’s what they came up with.
 
Here’s the most efficient way to check your email, according to computer science
 
2. Put your phone to work (Android)
Google can do more than you think. I recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and have been surprised and encouraged by the amount of functions Google performs on an Android phone.
 
OK, Google: 160 valuable voice commands for Android
 
3. The “live webinar” scam
Massive sums of money are being made by marketers that seek to deceive their customers. This practice needs to stop so I wrote (and talked) about how they pull it off. There’s a way to fix it, but it requires you knowing how to spot the deception.
 
Exposing The Dark Side of Evergreen Webinars & How We Can Fix Them
 
4. Why People Buy Stuff
Every day we wake up wanting to be better versions of ourselves. That’s why we buy things. This is a powerful truth for consumers and sellers.
 
People Don’t Buy Products, They Buy Better Versions of Themselves
 
5. Is “grit” the answer?
Simplicity is beautiful, but it’s not always realistic. Is having more grit the answer to business and educational success? Maybe things aren’t that simple.
 
The Limits of “Grit” – The New Yorker
 
6. Writing is about more than your blog
Your mental health can improve through exercise, reading motivational books, praying, and improving your diet. But what about writing? It turns out it’s great for you in more ways than you knew.
 
The Psychological Benefits of Writing Regularly