BrainPint - Raising Others' Expectations

Hi everyone,

This week we're covering the high-return activity of raising others' expectations, Lego's growth story and career advice for young people.

Cheers,
Janel

The high-return activity of raising others’ aspirations
"At critical moments in time, you can raise the aspirations of other people significantly, especially when they are relatively young, simply by suggesting they do something better or more ambitious than what they might have in mind. It costs you relatively little to do this, but the benefit to them, and to the broader world, may be enormous."

How Lego Grows
A wonderful read about how the Danish toy company used incremental, planned and disciplined innovation to grow. Brings you through the history, growth story and pivot of one of the most recognisable brands on the planet.

How To Stop Worrying About Work On Vacation
It's summer, stop reading your email while you are holidaying with family. Read some simple tips that can help you decompress without thinking too much.

Career Advice For Young People
Sahil Bloom shares sage advice for young people pursuing careers. Here are some favorites:

• Swallow the frog for your boss: Observe your boss and figure out what they hate doing (their "frog"). Learn to do it, and take it off their plate.
  
• Build storytelling skills: The best leaders are good at aggregating data and communicating it simply & effectively
• Build a reputation for figuring it out: People love hiring people who just get it done.

50 Simple Ways To Make Your Life Greener
Simple tips on how you can make your life more sustainable. Here are some of my favorites:

• Shop little and often: Most of the waste created by households is food waste. The less stuff you buy, the lower the likelihood that your food goes bad.
• Optimise your white goods: Switch your large electronics if they are >10 years old.
• Organize clothes swaps: Clothes swaps are one of the greenest ways to refresh your wardrobe. My friends and I organize clothes swaps 3 times a year, bring all the clothes we no longer want to wear and place them on a table, and everyone can pick whichever clothes they'd like to keep. Leftovers are donated to shelters or charity.

Introductions and the “forward intro email”
Looking to expand your connections? Your network is happy to introduce you to their contacts, you just need to ask. When they offer to make an introduction, send them an email they can forward along. A well-written intro email makes it more likely you'll connect with the recipient.

1. Explain why you want to connect with this person
2. Include a short background on yourself or your company so the receiver understands the context
3. Only use as many words as necessary - the recipient will skim the email to decide if they want to meet you
4. Sound like your authentic self
5. Start a new email chain with a clear subject line for each introduction
   

Claude - A next-generation AI assistant for your tasks, no matter the scale. ChatGPT competitor that does marvels with long summaries. Have been using this for a couple of weeks now, and it's incredible. Wonder Tools has a great guide on how to use it.

ConvertFiles.ai - Free image converter that helps you convert image files to your desired format without any quality loss.

Clay - Your relationships are relationships, not contacts! Don't settle for caring for your relationships in your contacts app. Meet Clay, a private social network, address book, and more. I've been using Clay for months now, and really dig it. I get frequent reminders to follow up with the people I care about.

The Boonly is a gift every Sunday for anyone craving a spark of wholesome curiosity, an antidote to "hustle culture", and the permission to rest, relax and enjoy your Sundays.

Setapp takes dozens of high-quality apps and bundles them into a subscription to help make you work more productivity. Big fan!

Meco is a distraction-free space for reading and discovering newsletters, separate from the inbox. Add your newsletters in seconds and liberate your inbox, for free.

Share your work with >6k curious BrainPint readers by reserving a spot in Brain Snacks!

The Password Game - Another fun minisite by Neal Aggarwal that makes you do unhinged things. An intentional UX nightmare!

My 90s TV - Actually watch TV from the 90s online (and well, other decades before and after that!) and relive your nostalgia.

Tabletopia - Play thousands of licensed board games online, just like you would in the real world.