Hey friends,
Welcome to my first ever newsletter!
I've only gone and done it. I have finally managed to put pen to paper, or should I say finger to key. Having toyed with the idea of beginning my own weekly newsletter for the past few weeks now, only to find myself constantly delaying its production.
A bit about myself
My name is Dylan and I am currently a final year university student studying BSc Actuarial Science, with a keen interest in minimalism, philosophy and pretty much a new thing every week at this point (working on this 🥴).
For the past 2 years, I've become an avid reader of newsletters and blog posts; through which I've been able to accelerate my learning in the fields of Productivity, Technology and Personal Finance (to mention a few).
Up until 3 weeks ago, I had never considered myself a writer. In fact, I'd always held onto my self-imposed identity of being a 'numbers' person whilst accordingly 'bad at English'; as though writing were a skill that one is born with and unable to hone as an adult.
What will I be writing about?
In this newsletter I hope to share with you my learnings or insights on projects I am currently undertaking; hopefully finding my niche along the way and not restricting myself to write about any one particular topic.
I'll be breaking it down into the following structure:
A personal insight
A quote I resonate with
My favourite read / listen / video of the week
A question
Why have I started writing a weekly newsletter?
To hold myself publicly accountable
To connect with like-minded people
To improve my writing skills
To build a creative outlet
To leverage media
Why did I not start earlier?
Time anxiety - I believe this concept is best explained by a linked article from Ness Labs. This refers to the idea of being anxious at the thought of trying to spend your time in the most meaningful way possible and thinking it is 'too late' to start something new.
An insatiable appetite for perfection - this is probably the biggest obstacle I have faced in leading to this project, and one that I still face, but can hopefully somehow manage to control. It's strange to think that when it comes to running, I have great deal of patience in seeing improvement over time and just making sure to 'turn up'; though with writing I do not feel qualified to even begin a newsletter unless my standard of writing is similar to that of a well established author.
Fear of taking on too much - The idea of committing to writing one article a week for the foreseeable future seemed a scary concept to come to terms with, especially with my finals looming. But hey, this is where time management comes into play, and I guess it's at least worth having a crack at it.
Embarking on a new venture?
"Embrace accountability, and take business risks under your own name. Society will reward you with responsibility, equity and leverage." — Naval
So here's to starting!
Starting with changing my self-imposed identity.
Starting to learn in public.
Starting... to create.
Quote of the week 💭
"You want to spend your time earning, learning and relaxing (with the exception of fitness)." — Naval
A recommended read 👨💻
📚 Greenlights by the Matthew McConaughey has to go down as one of the most inspiring autobiographies I have ever read (now 3 in total 😅).
He shares his journey to fame, outlook on life and how we should all aim to try and catch as many 'Greenlights' as possible.
Here's one of the greatest Oscar acceptance speeches of all time:
A question❓
What's stopping you from getting started?
I would love to hear from you if you share an interest in the topics I write about, have any feedback to help me improve or just want to say hi 👋
Feel free to dm me on Twitter or Instagram, let’s connect!
Subscribe here to follow me on my journey and receive my newsletter directly in your inbox at 7PM GMT every Sunday!
Have a great week! 🙌
found the link on Insta page and was a good read, keep it up!
So excited for this Dylan! Very proud of you