Hey friend,

Greetings from Boise, Idaho where I’m attending my first conference in 4+ years. And I gotta tell you — it feels damn good to be around so many friends and roaming the hotel lobby.

This week, I’m sharing the results of a deep dive into the classic goal-setting framework of OKRs. It came from my deep desire to reconcile a long-term vision with daily planning and accountability. A vital — yet tricky — combo necessary for both business and life. I’ll be hosting a free workshop on OKRs in late July, click here and you’ll be automatically added to the list.

We also have two free upcoming events:

• ​From consultant to creator with Michael Ashcroft: Michael jumped off the hamster wheel and walked away from a stable and high-paying job to start an online business from scratch. Learn why this was the right decision for Michael and how you can do the same.
• ​How to increase the leverage in your operations workflow: Georgia Cyr (COO at Notion Mastery) and our own Marian Knopp (Product Manager at RadReads), will share how they utilize high-leverage strategies to optimize their teams’ operations. You'll learn how they manage their teams (and their CEOs) as part of their operational roles.

How to break down goals into a plan that works

Every time I struggle with my parallel parking, I'm reminded of the movie Austin Powers. During this classic scene, Powers is trying to "course correct" his parking job, by pivoting inch by inch in a narrow corridor. Yet despite his herculean effort, he makes zero progress.

With my road test firmly ensconced in the past, the Austin Powers parking fiasco now reminds me of something else: Being an entrepreneur. It's frigging hard. You have imperfect information. You have limited resources. You have infinite decision-making paths. You have countless stakeholders to please.

And you need to constantly balance where you want to be in 5 years, versus what you need to do tomorrow.

The challenge becomes exponentially harder as you grow your team. Here's how the lines of communication multiply as you go from 3 employees to 14 employees:

And as a CEO (or manager) the number of hours that you "become responsible for" also grows. I manage five employees on 30 hour work weeks. Therefore I am responsible for the direction of 150 hours of work a week.

The average manager has 7 direct reports (and assuming 40 hour work weeks) is responsible for the direction of 280 hours a week.

Jane Fraser (the CEO of Citigroup) sits atop 210,000 employees for a whopping 8.4 million hours a week.

Now if there are people below who depend on you, you must avoid one thing at all costs: Being Austin Powers. Yet how do you ensure that everyone rows in the same direction?

Here are this week's top reads:

// one

The rise of the internet's creative middle class

17 minutes | The New Yorker
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Kevin Kelly famously proclaimed that you could earn a living on the Internet with 1,000 True Fans. But with a skyrocketing number of aspiring creators, does Kelly’s theory still hold? It depends on the long tail — the precarious position of selling lower amounts of niche items (as opposed to selling large amounts of a few popular items).

→ Read the article​

// two

How founders can hack metabolic health for peak performance

25 minutes | On Deck
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Last year I learned I was pre-diabetic. Despite 90 minutes of exercise a day for nearly 2 decades, eating “healthy” and weighing a whopping 148 — my body was not “working” as expected. What ensued was a full-scale redesign of my diet (mostly keto-ish and zero added sugar) and daily finger-pricks. Thankfully, my blood sugar levels are now back to normal. But more importantly, energy levels (and general contentment) are through the roof. Knowing what I know, I’d make those changes again even without the diagnosis

→ Read the article​

// three

On needing to find something to worry about - why we always worry for no reason

4 minutes | The School of Life
​

It’s very human to feel anxiety about the future even when there’s little on the horizon to worry about. It’s as though we are waiting for the alarm to go off because we feel comfortable in panic mode. Though easier said than done, we can do something about this perpetual worry; self-compassion, and a curiosity around the real source of unresolved trauma that’s flaring up our worry. In many cases, psychoanalysts say, the catastrophe we fear will happen has already happened.

→ Read the post​

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// four

8 ways leaders delegate successfully

5 minutes | Harvard Business Review
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Evidence shows that when leaders fail to delegate, company culture suffers. Companies run by leaders who effectively delegate grow faster, make more money and create more jobs. Where should leaders start? Pick the right person to delegate to, be clear on your responsibilities, describe desired results in detail, make sure your team is well resourced, create a motivating environment and tolerate mistakes.

→ Read the article​

// five

Practices for building async culture in a distributed team

5 minutes | @dj_curfew​
​

Even though many employees have returned to their offices, remote work is here to stay. Which makes it crucial to explore new ways of collaboration in the post-cubicle world. Here are 8 tips to improve productivity and build a team culture if you’re managing (or working in) a remote team.

→ Read the tweetstorm​

// from our sponsors

It’s easy to think you’re productive only to realize later you were just busy. In fact, this is a common discovery for the entrepreneurs, investors, and executives in RadReads’ community of high-performing professionals. So one simple way to turbo-charge your productivity is to make your phone work for you.

Below the Fold

ICYMI

• ​Newsletters: Building a community you can own - Join a free conversation on how growing an email newsletter.

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LAST WEEK'S MOST READ

• ​Is life lived in seasons? (RadReads, 745 clicks)
• ​Your life journey exercise (Ray Dalio, 437 clicks) ​

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And finally, KRS-One rapping to Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

With gratitude,

Khe

PS We have one remaining slot to the $10K Accelerator, our invitation-only community. The community features 6 live trainings a month plus access to Supercharge Your Productivity Cohort 11 in October. It's a one-time payment of $1,794, here's the application to the $10K Accelerator.

PPS Refer 2 friends and get the Weekly Review Cheatsheet. Here is your personal RadReferral link: https://sparklp.co/9ac1b50d

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