Practice active observation and thinking first before passive consumption
Hey there,
It’s me, Al.
I’ve been away for a while because I moved my content to LeanAnki.com…but I’m seriously thinking about reviving Improveism because it’s really my only “thought outlet”, you know what I mean?
Anyway, I’d like to share with you a life lesson I learned this early 2020, (I think) but wasn’t able to share before.
It’s a totally boring thing, but the impact is incredible.
I’m talking about observation and thinking.
I've learned so much out of observing how others do stuff as compared to listening to "what they say they do".
Sometimes, the latter even leads me to trouble. (More on this later)
You see, the problem is that we're constantly dependent upon passive consumption when learning.
We've forgotten the "lost art" of thinking, observing, and talking about ideas which, by the way, are the only tools those eccentric, bearded philosophers had back in the day.
Back in College, I started to think that maybe Straight-A students aren't really gifted — that they just knew how to study the right way.
Whenever I ask them how they studied, they'd say silly things like "discipline" or "hard work".
Well, I tried that and it OBVIOUSLY didn't work.
I always felt that “work harder” is like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.
It’s just generic advice, and I feel like we say only it to feel good about the effort we’ve put in.
Anyway, as I’m saying…
As I tried observing how they actually studied, I figured they were all sleeping 8 hours per day, constantly testing themselves without looking at their notes, and reading textbooks for the fundamental subjects.
It wasn't that they were eating dark chocolates or following these silly "learning styles" you see online.
They were doing the right strategies all along, albeit intuitively, so you just had to observe to decode them.
“But wait, Al. This is common sense.”
Not for everybody, and especially not for the past version of me.
And the bad news is, this intuition to observe didn’t stick for long and would lead me to all sorts of wasted time and disappointment.
After I finished College, I started looking at the adult stuff. (Wait, don't get dirty on me here...)
I searched for opportunities online, and I'm not ashamed to admit I wanted to get rich quick without much effort.
The opportunity I discovered was "creating an online business" that thrive on ads and affiliate links — commonly marketed on YouTube as "how to buy a freaking island in 1 second using affiliate marketing" with a (leased) sports car thumbnail, with a matching "rich mindset" video.
That was something new for me at the time, so I immediately clicked.
I've always thought of online businesses as "e-commerce" stores, but I never knew these huge websites were actual businesses and that they were "easy" to create. (Or so they say)
Also, the fact that you can compete with others for their Google rankings through keyword research also lit up a fire on my rear.
So, I decided to give it a try.
I started creating articles on studying effectively, because that’s what gets the most searches.
“Aim high,” right?
But, because I didn't actually learn the "observation" principle consciously, I fell victim to these charlatans who try to sell you their "make money online" courses that give zero results.
I didn't actually buy anything, but I wasted a LOT of time doing what they said would work, rather than what they're actually doing. (Note: If you set aside the ethics, you'll see that they're actually pretty good at marketing their shit)
I wasted time watching videos about their students who, apparently, created "an empire" from scammy methods.
In hindsight, it was my greed and laziness that made me extremely gullible.
Little did I realize that I was inside their Matrix all along.
I was trying to create these generic, low-quality articles filled with fluff and cliche so that I can get "views"...except I didn't have "The Resistance" to free me.
That is, until I discovered guys who give the real deal and started to observe how they did it.
"Damn, it wasn't easy." I said.
But it was like seeing the light at the end of a tunnel.
Those were the days I started getting real education on this whole online marketing thing.
I realized the real purpose of creating articles, the purpose of emails, how to create a profitable product — which can be boiled down to one thing: To fulfill my audience's needs and create a win-win situation for both of us.
This was the "red pill" that allowed me to see online businesses as they are.
From then on, I was able to observe—and thus, learn—how real marketers did their work.
I realized that sales funnels aren't that complicated, and surely doesn't require a whole movement on it.
I also realized that sales copy doesn't start with persuasion techniques — it starts with knowing your audience's needs and objections, and then knowing how to communicate the transformation they’ll get to them.
More importantly, I realized that until you have massively improved the right skills, you really can't have huge results with little effort.
Now, all I'm saying is that it's you can get a totally free, valuable education nowadays if you observe and think before you consume.
Of course, as a total newbie, it's hard to get something out of sheer observation because you don't have your "decoding lenses" yet, or that you might have the wrong one.
In that case, let me share with you a few "real deals" I consume in case you’re either interested in starting a business, or you’re already running one:
Nat Eliason
Derek Sivers
Andre Chaperon
Miles Beckler
Nathan Barry
Billy Bross
Tom Libelt
Shane Melaugh
Tiago Forte
David Perell
I'd avoid productivity bloggers when consuming online, though. (Btw, I don’t consider Tiago one of them)
They're just regurgitating what they read and making them seem like magic pills or something.
For productivity, read "The Effective Executive" and just follow Tiago Forte's principles on integrating your software.
Anyway, I hope this email gave value to you today.
cheers,
al
P.S. I’m currently procrastinating on my assignments right now in grad school, but I that’s because I want to get this out of my head: Would you like to see Improveism again in the future?
Now that I’ve separated the “Anki” and “school learning” part of it, I think it would be the perfect place to share with you the lessons I learn from my experiences in productivity, marketing, critical thinking, and continuous learning—basically, no BS advice applicable to you if you’re already done with school.
If all goes well, I think I’ll just start it again by December or January. I’d like to know what you think about it, though…