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5 Share Friday

5 Share Friday 10 May 2019

Welcome to 5 share Friday! This week you’ll find the 4 key elements to entrepreneurship, the top app instagram users are using, and thoughts on a future economic crash (that hardly anyone in the media is talking about).

Enjoy!

Quote I’m pondering – “I will prepare and someday my chance will come.”Abraham Lincoln

Blog post that changed my thinkingSeth Godin wrote a 2 minute piece last year on entrepreneurship. With so many people graduating at this time of year, it’s pertinent to remember that entrepreneurial behaviour is about the desire for the journey. Unfortunately I hear about so many graduates want to make money without putting in the work. Entrepreneurship is now a journey I’ve set myself on, in the the Seth Godin way where my goal is not a passive income.

Favourite new purchaseWord Swag app. This little beauty allows me to quickly configure text on images, which can then be shared across multiple social media sites. It’s a low cost subscription, one that’s is well worth the investment, especially if you’re looking to use Instagram or simply play around with images and text.

Book I’m readingThe Laws of Human Nature  By Robert Greene who wrote the fantastic 48 Laws of Power, one of the few books that changed my life significantly (20 years ago). In his new book Robert Greene focuses on 48 aspects of humanity through the lens of history, philosophy, psychology, and wisdom to explain how people behave. He argues that, as social animals, it is essential to understand our own motivations and those of our associates in order to function more effectively. It’s wonderful so far!

Why I’m ok about the upcoming economic meltdown – As Gary Vaynerchuck puts it “The next economic meltdown is going to be the beginning of happiness at a bigger scale”

He wrote a 2 minute read at the end of last year that’s really interesting

We know it’s going to happen, we just don’t know when. So taking the advice of Abe Lincoln ( the quote I’m pondering this week), preparation is everything. Even with the job I currently have, I’m prepping my micro org within the company to be able to do more with less, while at the same time increasing impact for our customers. I’m prepping personally too, in part by improving my minimalism and reliance on ‘things’.

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I hope you have a fantastic weekend doing what you love.

Missed last weeks 5 Share? Find it here.

If you like this 5 share, please share with others. You can also get notified by email every Friday, simply sign up using the sign up box on this page.

For other blog posts on work and life go here: https://www.marcuspurvis.com/category/posts/
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5 Share Friday

5 Share Friday 3 May 2019

Quote I’m pondering “If they can train you to do it, then eventually they will train a computer to do it.” – Naval Ravikant

The best 1hr 16 mins I spent this week – Watching Call to Courage with Brene Brown. It’s funny and potentially life changing. Pertinent for me was the focus on ordinary moments i.e. the moments you’ll miss when they’re gone, yet might annoy while they happen. Things like having to get your kids out of bed for school in the morning, or walking your dog in the rain and getting wet. When these moments are gone it’s most likely we’ll want them back, even though at the time they were seen as bothersome.

Forbes did a great write up on why you should watch this here, it’s worth the read.

Quick inspiring read – Seths blog in early April described the Avocado principles beautifully. In essence – Plant your tree before you need the shade.

Favourite appHemingway app (desktop not phone) – I’m doing more and more writing lately. Most of it is sh#tty first drafts, yet I’m getting better from using the Hemingway app (free in web browser, $19.99 for desktop). This app highlights potential areas that need improvement. It even has WordPress integration.

If you write anything from emails to actual published content, the Hemingway app could easily become a critical tool for you (great alternative is Grammarly).

LinkedIn – I’m still trying to use LinkedIn for content, both reading and publishing. It’s a clunky tool that does has a lot of advantages. The problem I still have is the algorithms and how ineffective they can be.

When I compare Medium or even Facebook, content gets to more readers. So what is it about LinkedIn that’s not working? I’m still not 100% sure, though this article from a few years ago still has some truths. For now I’ll keep going, as I’m convinced the more I learn, change and adapt, before it gets really good, the more effective it will be as a platform.

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I hope you have a fantastic weekend doing what you love.

Missed last weeks 5 Share? Find it here.

If you like this 5 share, please share with others. You can also get notified by email every Friday, simply sign up using the sign up box on this page.

For other blog posts on work and life go here: https://www.marcuspurvis.com/category/posts/

 

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5 Share Friday

5 Share Friday 26 April 2019

Quote I’m pondering “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” Anthony J. D’Angelo

Facebook’s role on Brexit – If you vote for anything, in any country where  Facebook is used this is a must watch 15 minutes. It’s an unmissable video showing us how our decisions are now influenced by criminal activity, that we don’t even realise is criminal. If all voters, whether in America or the UK watch and learn from this, there’s a chance  our future will include true democracy again.

People vs devicesThis article really visualises what using your phone is like in other peoples company. I heard a Jennifer Anniston interview recently, where she said Friends the TV series could not be made now. The reason? No one that age sits in a coffee shop and just talks anymore, they’re constantly looking at their devices and using social media..

What I’m watchingThe Good Fight season 3 continues this series’ highly intelligent and humorous drama within an American law firm. What I’m really liking about Season 3 is the focus around politics and fake news. Many people I speak with don’t know or believe there are troll farms and millions of $ being spent on advertising fake truths, Here’s a funny short video I like, on what a Russian troll farm is, made by the Good Fight team.

In an eye opening interview with Eric Schmidt (ex Google CEO), Tim Ferriss manages to highlight so many lessons all of us who work in software companies can benefit from. A key one for me is hiring. This scaling teams lesson with Reid Hoffman (co founder of LinkedIn) is unmissable for anyone building or scaling teams/ companies. I wish more companies would listen and implement the lessons from this class.

In that class, Eric makes a statement that really hits home for me. For a while in the early days, my career trajectory was slower than I expected. I now know it was in part due to others valuing specific experience, rather than my actual offering. Here’s that statement:

“The industry over values experience and under values strategic and intellectual flexibility”- Eric Schmidt.

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I hope you have a fantastic weekend doing what you love.

Missed last weeks 5 Share? Find it here.

If you like this 5 share, please share with others. You can also get notified by email every Friday, simply sign up using the sign up box on this page.

For other blog posts on work and life go here: https://www.marcuspurvis.com/category/posts/
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5 Share Friday

5 Share Friday 19 April 2019

Quote I’m pondering – “Your praise is contagious – So is your complaint. What are you carrying today?” – Steve Furtick

Spotting fake news – Kids are learning how and so should we. This article explains how the News Literacy project is teaching kids how to spot real news and fake news. With large numbers of people getting their news from social media, we are now entering a real crisis, one where people are making decisions and judgements based on trusting without verifying.

New favourite iOS appSnapseed is the most fantastic free photo editor I’ve ever used on my iPhone. If you take photo’s with your phone then this app is a must have.

Free stories – I’ve joined Storybird where I can get free stories (including kids ones). The main reason I’ve joined is to start publishing my own stories to see how they do and get help and advice from others. I’m only writing short children’s stories at the moment, if anyone is interested just reach out to me and I’ll send a link when I post a story up.

LinkedIn Algorithm explained – This article explains how LinkedIn gets posts in users feeds really well. It’s insightful and I’m adding this to my notes on effective usage of the LinkedIn platform. Here’s a handy graphic from the site.

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I hope you have a fantastic weekend doing what you love.

Missed last weeks 5 Share? Find it here. If you like this 5 share, please share with others. You can also get notified by email every Friday, simply sign up using the sign up box on this page.

For other blog posts on work and life go here: https://www.marcuspurvis.com/category/posts/