Sunday Post-Thanksgiving
How do you assess the system and decision matrix?
Subscriber lead question post for November.
I recently came across Obsidian, a localized writing application with an incredible feature: it visualizes your thoughts and patterns through a dynamic graph. Using this tool, I analyzed the last six months of our newsletter content, which led me to ponder how we process and store information in what some refer to as our second brain.
Cool ain't it? Or am I a nerd? 🤓 From my analysis, I've found that content typically undergoes four phases before becoming a core memory:
Publishing formal notes requires a level of rigor that I can't maintain weekly, so expect the content to largely fall within the first three categories. How do you process the information you consume daily?
This week, an interesting pattern emerged. I received the same question from three different people on the same day:
All of these questions circle back to one theme: Influence Without Authority. This means you are not in a position to give orders, make decisions, and have little control of the outcome. I've been contemplating this topic for the past two months, particularly focusing on people with low agency—those who procrastinate, lack confidence, and avoid risks because they feel powerless. They lacked knowledge about how to influence.
When we make an elevator pitch, focus the benefits about the recipient, not ourselves. “Why should they care about what I have to say?” State your most important idea up front and elaborate only if needed, then minimally. Postpone all complications and elaborations if it's prompted.
Though it's tough, I've found that practicing succinct articulation improves clarity and influence.
I hope you find these insights useful.
"you can't change the past, but you might learn something from it."