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Sloww Sunday Newsletter 016 (May 10, 2020) — Stories vs Reality, Words of Wisdom, Mental Models, & More
Hi friends,
Sloww Sunday is a weekly newsletter sharing inspiration to awaken the art of living.
In a modern world focused on the trendy, here’s your weekly dose of the timeless.
1 // Sloww Stuff
In Case You Missed It:
The New Science of Self-Actualization: “Transcend” by Scott Barry Kaufman — Full book summary now live!
Why we Need to Evolve Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from a Pyramid to a Sailboat Metaphor — Short post that provides the overarching metaphor from the book Transcend.
New Premium Posts:
Approaching 100+ members! Learn more about Premium Membership.
So excited to share these posts with you. They are the deepest dive I’ve ever done into Maslow’s concepts of self-actualization and transcendence. If you have been considering Premium but haven’t made the leap yet, I hope these alone make it worth it!
How to Reach Self-Actualization & Be a Healthy Self-Actualizer (+ 2 Infographics)
How to Reach Transcendence & Be a Self-Actualizing Transcender (+ Infographic)
2 // Video I’m Watching
The Fundamental Difference Between Stories And Reality (YouTube | 28 mins)
This video is the first in a new 3-part series on the relation between stories and our identities. It’s fascinating, incredibly well-edited, and one of the best I’ve ever seen on the concept of the hero’s journey and how it relates to real life.
Pair with the spiritual hero’s journey of Siddhartha and the possibility that our own lives may simply be sine waves of repeated hero’s journeys (premium).
“It seems as if there’s a part of us that desires the purposeful structure of adventures. That wants stories to be meaningful, heroic journeys. That longs for that innate destiny. But, why?” — Tom van der Linden (Like Stories of Old)
3 // Podcast I’m Listening To
A Conversation with Naval Ravikant on the “Save Planet, Get Rich” Podcast (52 mins | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Breaker | Overcast)
The first podcast interview in a year with Naval Ravikant—entrepreneur, angel investor, philosopher and bibliophile. As usual, this one is jam-packed with insight-dense words of wisdom.
Pair with my previous favorite timeless thoughts from Naval.
PS: I tweeted out a thread of the top 50 quotes from this new podcast:
4 // Article I’m Reading
Upgrade Your Thinking and Make Better Decisions With Mental Models (Pocket | 5 mins)
I’ve started venturing down the rabbit hole of mental models. This article is a good intro with an overview of 9 mental models that will help you think better.
What is a mental model?
“A mental model is simply a representation of how something works. We cannot keep all of the details of the world in our brains, so we use models to simplify the complex into understandable and organizable chunks. Whether we realize it or not, we then use these models every day to think, decide, and understand our world.” — Shane Parrish
Want to jump straight into the mental model deep end? Check these out:
Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions — From Shane Parrish, Founder of Farnam Street (~100 models)
Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful — From Gabriel Weinberg, author of Super Thinking (~200 models)
5 // Quote I’m Contemplating
Quote: “Let us think of life as a process of choices, one after another … To make the growth choice instead of the fear choice a dozen times a day is to move a dozen times a day toward self-actualization.” — Abraham Maslow
Question: Are you making more growth choices or fear choices? What’s your ratio each day?
Sharing: If you enjoyed this issue of Sloww Sunday, please share with a friend or two (or post socially). It’s easy for them to subscribe for free here.
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Also, please let me know if you come across interesting content on the same wavelength as Sloww. I may be able to include it in an upcoming newsletter.
Have a transcendent week!
Go with the Sloww,
Kyle Kowalski
Founder, Sloww
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