The Manual #5

It's all been done before.

It’s all been done before

Common questions which I see from strangers and friends:

• But isn’t it saturated?

• But I don’t know how I can do it differently?

• But it’s all been done before?

These are the common hurdles everyone comes across before they even start. They’ve already put a wall in-between their idea and executing it.

I’m asked very often by friends about starting a YouTube channel. They seem to always think “but it’s been done before”. What they seem to miss is that, everything has been done in some way or another.

Instead of looking at what’s already been done by someone else, they don’t think about what they can personally bring to the table.

Every idea, every product, every thought is usually a transformation or remix of something else. Rarely do we as humans have completely original thoughts.

So next time you want to start something, instead of thinking “it’s all been done before”, think about how you would do it differently.

---

Freetrade

I’m asked often what app I use to buy and sell shares. Freetrade has been my favourite ever since it launched. It does seem to be limited to the UK only though.

I’ll most likely do a video at some point going through my trading strategies and how I think of my investments.

You can sign up here to get a free share!

---

New Workspace Setup

I recently shared on my latest workspace setup. You can watch that here. But if you don’t care to watch it and just want the product links, I’ve curated that here.

• New M1 MacBook Pro with LG 5K UltraFine Monitor — many asked why I didn’t go for the Pro Display XDR. Price and overkill for what I need. But I may treat myself at some time in the future anyway.

• Monitor arm and laptop tray really helped free up desk space and lets me push the monitor back further towards the wall.

• Also includes the new full grain leather desk mats we recently launched on ulxstore.com. Super proud of this product because of how high quality it is.

---

HTML & CSS Book

I’ve shared this numerous times but I’m still asked often how I learned HTML & CSS. This book was definitely one of the main ways I learned all of the basics and understood how it all worked. You can get it here.

From there I went on to learn how to use HTML & CSS by just building my own personal site and playing around with Tumblr themes.

---

Link Lowdown

A collection of links to stuff I think worth sharing.

Note: I noticed 50% of you reading these emails click on the links which is nuts! 😱

I’d love to know what links you appreciate most and would like to see more of. So leave a comment, tweet, or message me on Instagram — @ultralinx.

Open Subscription Platforms — If you’re looking to start some sort of online subscription business, highly recommend checking out this directory of open platforms and which platforms to avoid.

Dropover — A neat drag and drop utility for Mac that makes it easier to move files on your system.

Pixelmator Pro — A really good Photoshop alternative. I pretty much don’t use Photoshop anymore.

Blocs — A website builder for Mac. Built for M1 chips too!

Base Object 06 — A sweet looking incense holder.

Game Room Gifts — Sweet new and different looks to popular games.