#9: The Wedding
Got married last weekend and it was the best
Hey friends,
In this edition, I talk about the following:
the best weekend ever!
extending my productivity course deadline
3 tweets I liked
Book recommendation: “33 Strategies of War”
App recommendation: brain.fm
1/ Got Married last weekend
I apologize for not sending out the newsletter last week. I assume you’ll forgive me, as I got married.
I won’t bore you with the details, but I can tell you it was my best wedding ever! Of course, it was my only wedding ever.
But joking aside, it was in a lovely setting, a short holiday for 64 of our closest friends and family, in an idyllic setting.
We had the best time and I cannot express how happy I feel to have met my wife with whom I already share some great memories and I’m sure we will share even more.
And I’m also very grateful for all the people who were there for us, especially since I know it was not easy to get there. And I love you from all my heart. (One of our friends traveled for more than 15 hours from Berlin to Romania, being 7+ months pregnant).
I guess there were several emotional moments, including our vows, how the rain almost crashed our wedding, and our first dance, which I was stressing about for weeks before.
All in all, I think it was a magic moment, a memory that will forever fill our hearts, in our best moments and probably in our “not so best” ones.
But now I’m back in the saddle. Work, Twitter, and building my online empire.
2/ Ending the Productivity Course discount
Speaking of online business, my Productivity course already has a significant number of sales, but because I could not send the newsletter last week and didn’t actively promote it, I decided to extend the 50% promotion until this Sunday, June 11th.
The course is 97 USD but you can buy it for 48.5 USD, until Monday, if you use the code AGILE50 at checkout.
The course is packed with scientifically proven techniques, tools, and strategies that have helped thousands of professionals enhance their productivity, manage their time efficiently, and achieve their goals—all while reducing their working hours.
It has over 3 hours of video as well as different templates, including a Notion one for organizing your whole life.
This code will become inactive on Monday.
https://www.leoalexandru.com/agile-productivity-sales
3/ Tweets I liked
3 tweets that made me think, educated me or amused me over the last week.
One from Jon Brosio, about why we should start now
Why we should have optimists in our lives:
This underrated career skill
4/ Reading: “33 Strategies of War” by Robert Greene
"33 Strategies of War" is a book written by Robert Greene, popular author of "The 48 Laws of Power", that seeks to instruct the reader on various strategic maneuvers used throughout history.
Greene distills strategic lessons into 33 distinct strategies drawn from warfare, politics, business, and personal life, each one underlining a timeless, universal law of power and human behavior. The book delves into grand strategies, guile and deception, chain-reaction strategies, passive-aggressive strategies, chain-of-command strategies, and decoy strategies among others. Each of these strategies is brought to life with captivating historical anecdotes and the author's sharp commentary.
For example, in explaining the "Chain Reaction Strategy", Greene uses the story of the political maneuverings of Otto von Bismarck, who unified Germany under Prussian rule in the 19th century. Bismarck's strategic brilliance lay in his ability to trigger a sequence of events that would eventually lead to his desired outcome. He initiated a war with Denmark alongside Austria, knowing it would create tensions between Austria and Prussia, which eventually led to the Austro-Prussian War. After winning, Prussia was able to take control over the North German Confederation, setting the stage for the Franco-Prussian War which resulted in a unified Germany. This shows how one action can set off a series of reactions that achieve your ultimate goal.
Greene's work in "33 Strategies of War" thus illuminates the application of these strategies not only in warfare but also in politics, business, and other aspects of life.
The idea behind all his books is that even though we want to think that most people are good and we should be kind to one another, in reality, everyone has their hidden agenda and will do anything possible to make sure they reach their goals.
It’s quite a ruthless mindset and even though I want to disagree with it, I’m afraid he is quite right.
And the stories in the book are magnificent.
5/ Using: Brain.fm app
Brain.fm is a mobile and web application that uses AI-generated music to help enhance focus, relaxation, and sleep.
The music generated by Brain.fm is designed with strong rhythmic and harmonic structures that aim to engage the brain in a process called 'neural phase locking.' The theory is that this allows more consistent neural oscillations, which can lead to improved mental states.
The application offers several listening modes to cater to different needs. For instance, the Focus mode aims to aid concentration and productivity, the Relax mode is designed to assist with stress relief, and the Sleep mode to help users fall asleep more easily. Each mode has a variety of soundscapes to choose from, such as classical music, nature sounds, or ambient noise.
There is scientific research suggesting that certain types of music can influence brainwave patterns and cognitive performance.
Brain.fm asserts that its technology goes a step further by creating music specifically engineered to drive these changes.
In collaboration with academic institutions, Brain.fm has conducted and published several studies to substantiate their claims. These studies suggest that their AI-generated music can enhance focus and decrease mind-wandering, improve relaxation, and assist with sleep.
blood flow in the brain: FMRI studies.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging measures blood flow in the brain, showing which brain regions and functional networks are more active in response to brain.fm versus other music.
You can read more about the studies and subscribe to the 7-day trial here:
https://www.brain.fm/science
Thank you for reading, and let me know if you liked something in particular in this newsletter.
Until next time,
Leo
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amazing wedding Leo, congratulations! :)