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- #52: I love a good list
#52: I love a good list
Shem Opolot
December 29, 2023
Hi! Welcome to The Friday Fix! You’re reading this because you probably stumbled upon this post somewhere on the internet instead of where it should be—in your inbox. But no worries; we can fix that.
Who am I? I’m Shem Opolot, a health professional turned content creator, passionate about helping people be their best selves in life and work.
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Happy Friday 🎉 Welcome to a special listicle issue.
After a nearly 20-hour travel itinerary with Zion, my first name is “Sorry,” and for 15 hours this week, Zion was the most (in)famous 2-year-old in the world as he ran a solo relay up and down the entire plane, passing the baton to himself. The bad news was he cried a lot—when everyone tried to sleep. The good news was he cried a lot—when I needed to skip a long queue.
I’ve published an issue of The Friday Fix every week this year. That’s 52 issues for 52 weeks. I’m so proud of myself. I plan to make The Friday Fix the best newsletter in the world, so please fill out the last survey of the year. It’ll take 5 seconds max if you don’t count your internet loading time.
Estimated read time: 5 minutes
50 THINGS I’VE LEARNED
I love a good list.
Gif by MicrosoftCloud on Giphy
Some of these I’ve learned first-hand; some of them I picked up from others. Some of these are esoteric; some are universal. All the same, I hope they help you.
Always carry money in the local currency of the place you’re traveling to.
Show up! For your people, for your work, for yourself. Show up.
Use MTN’s Freedom bundles and stop worrying about data and airtime.
Bulkload money on Safeboda and use cashless for all your zip trips.
There’s no middle class; you’re either rich or trying to stay afloat (@gregisenberg on Twitter).
Time dragged as a kid, but as an adult, it zips fast, with each moment blowing by faster than the last.
When you're 18, your situation reflects your upbringing; when you’re 38, your situation reflects your decisions; when you’re 68, your situation reflects your impact on others (@gregisenberg on Twitter).
If you’re good at something and you know what that thing is, you can get paid to do it.
If you’re afraid of a little embarrassment, you might never reach your full potential.
Go outside.
Writing, storytelling, and basic analysis are some of the most important skills to master.
Read more fiction.
Do hard things.
Place your perishables in the fridge door shelves so you can see them easily.
A specialness spiral is when you wait for the perfect time to use something, then end up never using it at all. Wear your nice clothes now.
The surest way to lift a community out of poverty is to empower its women.
The older you get, the less you like getting wedding invitations.
Most videos on the internet can be watched at 2x speed.
If you use a gas cooker, buy 2 gas cylinders because gas never runs out at a convenient time.
The best way to gain confidence is to gain a skill. Do a thing over and over again, and then stack other skills on top of it until you’re a guru. (Source)
3Ms: Mastery (learn a skill), media (publish content that demonstrates your mastery), and monetize (Source)
Build a product and price it. Then ask five people if they’d pay for it. If you get 3 consecutive yes-es, increase the price by 1.5 or 2.
And when you get too many NOs, change your target demographic.
Don’t charge too little for your product. Your customers may not know it, but they won’t respect the product.
On Personal Branding—if you can name an issue, you can own it. (Source)
If you build something and one unbiased person pays for it, you can build a business from that product.
“On the days you only have 40%, and you give 40%, then you gave 100%.”
A quick way to improve your mood is to clean your space.
Go outside again.
Getting older can be a blessing
Get an alarm clock and put your phone (and laptop) in another room while you sleep.
Compliment people often. They love it.
Drink more water.
It’s never too late to start over.
It’s never too late to start saving and investing.
Start traditions with your loved ones. It could be anything. For instance, before putting my son to bed, I wrap him in a blanket like a burrito and flip in the air like this. He loves it. He looks forward to it every night.
Journal. It doesn’t have to be arduous. You can start by writing one thing you’re grateful for every day. You’ll thank yourself later.
If you want to buy something non-essential, leave it in the shopping cart for a month, and if you still want it then, get it.
Floss every day. Dental care is expensive.
Wear sunscreen.
Pour more into your relationships with your loved ones. Visit, call, text, write letters, buy gifts, etc. Do more!
Wash your dirty dishes after each meal.
If you have an idea, write it down in as much detail as possible. Writing gives clarity.
Don’t give up.
You have everything you need in your ordinary life to do extraordinary work (Austin Kleon).
There likely wasn’t much difference between you and Albert Einstein, Shakespeare, and the like. But,…sometimes we like to believe in genius because it gives us the excuse to be lazy. (Paul Graham)
The fastest way to be great at something is to find someone to copy. I started a YouTube channel because of Ali Abdaal. I started a newsletter because of Ali Abdaal, but when you look at The Friday Fix now, there may not be a trace of him. But it’s there. I copied a lot.
If you have to ask if something is offensive, it probably is.
You’re only responsible for your happiness. No one else’s.
“In Africa, children are raised by God and supervised by parents.” You’re more likely to be a good enough parent than not. Don’t beat yourself up too much.
SHAMELESS PLUG
The best newsletter in Africa is turning one year old. Subscribe to get VIP seats at the party.
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MY FAVOURITE THINGS
A quote
What’s your favorite opening to a book? This one cracks me up:
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
My favorite businesses in UG
I’m compiling a more extensive list of these in the spirit of sharing nice things, but here are the top 5 I swear by this year:
MeTime by Sheenz: I buy their body oil in bulk. It’s that good.
BangBangUg’s Spicy peanut butter is the icing on top of my bowl of oats every morning.
Eve and Nico Beauty: I get my Crest toothpaste, my Nivea deodorant, and my Cerave hydrating foaming cleanser from here
Talking Tees and More: If you need branded clothing, she’s kind, competent, and efficient.
The Good Library
Read a book this weekend.
PRO TIP
My top tech tools of 2023
Arc: Simply the best browser out there. The Windows version is coming soon.
Perplexity: has practically replaced Google for me.
Omnivore: It’s free and helps me store all the gems I find on the internet
ChatPDF: upload a PDF (up to 137 pages!) and ask anything about it. Magic!
Beehiiv: In case I’ve inspired you to start a newsletter, Beehiiv is the way to go
Gamma: The first time I used this app was to create a presentation for a job interview, and it got it right on the first try. I’ve been hooked ever since.
BlockSurvey: One of the perks of content creation—I get to use this powerful survey tool for free. If you’ve taken one of my surveys, you know they’re beautiful and highly customizable.
Excalidraw: quick and clean illustrations
In a few minutes, I used Excalidraw to create this image to roast a friend in the group chat.
WHERE FUN GOES TO FLOURISH
My Top Songs This Year
Courtesy of Spotify Wrapped:
Brain teaser
From Braingle.
This one’s old-fashioned maths: There was a sale going on at the CD store. To make it easier for the store, they needed to find out how many CDs were in each different style of music. 25% were blues, 15% were pop, 25% were classical and 15% were rock. The remaining 24 CD's are jazz.
How many CDs are in each style?
How many CDs are there in total?
Answer below
Shem’s picks
✔️ Authors select their top books from 2023
✔️ Crying is good for your mental health, so this site helps with that
✔️ This word game will show you how slowly you type
Brain teaser answer
Answer: 30 + 18 + 30 + 18 + 24 = 120 CDs in total.
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
Et cetera
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