The Manual #14 - Don't Worry About Being Clever
One of my insecurities.
One of my biggest insecurities growing up as a teen was worrying about if I was clever enough. As kids, we’re told constantly that you have to do well in school to do well in life. To have a successful career. To aspire to be a doctor, engineer, or lawyer.
It comes at us from every single direction and it’s tiring. As a teen I was tired. I was sick of school. I hated it. Everything about it was awful for me. I didn’t fit in. I was trying my best in exams. I was seeing my friends doing much better than me, they were getting top grades in maths and science.
At 16 I didn’t get the grades I needed to do chemistry or maths in further education. I was told by my parents that I needed to be a doctor so I genuinely thought at that age that’s what I was going to be. Now it wasn’t going to be possible.
At 17 though I switched my career path. I ended up taking IT, business, and accounting. I thought I could become an accountant. A professional job that pays well. Also super boring.
Then at 19/20 I realised I could make money on the internet. I could sit behind a computer and do stuff I absolutely loved doing, whilst also getting paid. As I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters and videos, I did a mix of stuff including blogging on theultralinx.com, designing websites for clients, and selling themes.
None of this required any sort of certification. It didn’t require me to be good at exams. It didn’t require me to have some high-level academic education. I was the most average person ever and I was passionate about making money on the internet whilst doing stuff I enjoyed.
Now that I’m 28 I see friends from school who were top-level achievers, now doing jobs they hate doing. Friends and people who I thought were going to be super successful.
I realised in my early 20s that I didn’t need to worry about being clever. What was important was how I applied myself.
The reason some of my friends were so good in school was that there was a structure and system that they were good at following. They were good at being told what to do. But now that there’s no one telling them what to do, they don’t know how to take that extra step.
Most people never take the extra step.
Pro Display XDR
I finally purchased the Pro Display XDR. Is it overpriced? Sure. Would I buy it again? Yes.
It’s worth purchasing for the 6K resolution alone. For that little bit more of productivity I get out of it everyday due to the more screen estate, it’s so far been a worthy investment.
Editing videos in Final Cut Pro gives me a lot more room for my timeline and viewer. I can fit a lot more of my designs in Figma on the screen all at once without having to move around each of the artboards.
I definitely wouldn’t recommend this monitor to most people. I would recommend the LG 5K UltraFine instead to Mac users. But if you’re in a career where you edit video, edit photos or design and make more than 200k a year, the Pro Display XDR is worth it.
Unique Mac Apps
I made a video on some of my favourite unique mac apps that might not have heard of. It’s been awesome to see so many great suggestions in the comments too — worth checking them out. If you have any Mac app reccomendations, leave them in the comments.
Link Lowdown
A collection of links to stuff I think are worth sharing.
How to beat Amazon with your E-commerce company — Some interesting thoughts here on how shopping on the internet is evolving.
Tech savvy people of Reddit, what is a computer tip you are sure most haven't heard of? — Awesome computer tips. Why do I love reading stuff like this lol.
Steam Deck — Can’t wait to order one of these. Very keen to get my hands on it.
eastofnowhere.co — Cartographic artwork. They look so good. Going to order one or two myself at some point for my new office space.
The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday — Love this and worth a read.
setups.co — A friend of mine who is curating some of the best looking setups around, including mine, which is definitely number 1.