At 106 mph, the fastest pitch ever thrown is faster than a human eye can blink... which means that if you blink, you will literally miss it. 

I'm finding that with top performers, something that comes up, again and again, is speed. 

Ludwig van Beethoven produced 722 works over his lifetime (much of which he composed entirely deaf) which dwarfs many composers' body of work, even those that many would consider "great". 

Vincent van Gogh created more than 2,000 works of art over his career, which works out to something like a new piece every 36-hours.

Stephen King has written over 60 novels, hundreds of short stories and at a pace of roughly 2,000 words per day. 

At the risk of repeating myself –– because this isn't the first time I've written on the topic of speed and its relationship with greatness –– some of the most successful individuals I know tend to move at speeds that are difficult to fathom. 

Being that I operate heavily in the world of advertising and writing, I see this speed most in regards to going from "idea" to "execution". 

These people will constantly astonish me where one day they will be talking about an idea that has been circling their brain and the next day I'll scroll through Instagram or Twitter, or dig into my inbox to find that the idea has suddenly become something more than just an idea: a living, breathing thing. 

In Insomniac City, Billy Hayes writes of his relationship with the late, great neurologist and naturalist, Oliver Sacks.

In one passage he shares a moment where Sacks was musing on the difference between plants and animals... 

" 

He looked at me like I held the answer, but continued on:

“Certainly they do, but they cannot respond to feeling as quickly as we. Plants are rooted in the ground. They can move, yes, but not at the speed that an animal can. It may take years for a tree to grow, days for a flower to bloom. Is it speed then that differentiates us — this capacity for speed? You could do time-lapse photography of a vine crawling and see that it does, indeed, move, but one would have to speed it up a thousand times to match the speed with which an animal can react to threats or changes in the environment the way a human can.”

O tilted his head, seemingly focusing on a corner of the room.

“Yes, perhaps speed is at the essence…”

" 

The very thing in Oliver's mind that separates animals from plants is what separates humanity's greats from the rest of humanity.

While skill and God-given talent certainly play a role in it all, it's their ability to move at an astonishing pace that seems to widen the gap between us and them.

Perhaps, it's through prolificness, one can become profound.

But, I digress. 

By Cole Schafer.

P.S. Move quick, fast and in a hurry down this newsletter... there's plenty more to unpack and divulge. 

Here's a free share of stock (and some unsolicited investment advice).

Robinhood, the trading platform that a bunch of GameStop traders got pissed off with earlier this year, is responsible for arguablly the most successful rewards program of all time.

(I'm going to give you the TL;DR but if you've got time I wrote an entire breakdown of its pure unadulterated geniuses here.)

A little while back, Robinhood offered all of its users a free share of stock for both them and the friends that they referred to the platform. It has worked brilliantly because it incentivizes both parties.

The current user is incentivized to share because they get a free stock and the new user is incentivized to download and make an account to get their free stock. 

Everybody fucking wins. 

While I'm by no means a day trader, I do believe in investing mainly because I don't want to spend my entire life having to bust my ass for every dollar that I make. It'd be nice if, one day, I can rely on some of my money to make some money for me.

I'm not big on using a bunch of fancy-schmancy technical analysis tools. I couldn't tell you a damn thing about candlesticks.

I instead like to make investments in companies and hold for years at a time. 

How I decide on whether or not a stock is worthy of my money is with one question and one alone... Do I use the company regularly?

If the answer is yes, then I invest. 

If just in the past year you were to follow this strategy and invest in the companies you use, here's the percentage increase you'd see (assuming you use them)...

* Apple (up 30% year to date).

* Uber (up 25% year to date).

* Airbnb (up 145% year to date).

* Facebook (up 17% year to date). 

That's not too shabby of a return...

This shit ain't free, unfortunately.

Look. I don't mean to shove these products down your throat but each week I keep sending you these newsletters that take a whole lot of time and cost a good chunk of change –– Mailchimp ain't free –– and you buying the shit I'm selling (or sharing the shit I'm selling with your friends or mortal enemies) allows me to keep doing this shit for free.

So, if you have some extra change lying around, perhaps consider picking up one of these books or guides or subscriptions or mules... 

* HTWWTSLAFSCVOTHDOTY to write better.

* $100k to make more dough.

* One Minute, Please? to smile.

* After Her to cry.

* Chasing Hemingway to smile and cry.

* Buy me a Moscow Mule to get me drunk.
 

David Ogilvy was his client's most loyal customer. 

David Ogilvy believed that when an advertising agency did business with a brand, it was the agency’s responsibility to use the products and the services of that brand.

In his own words…

“I always use my client’s products. This is not toadyism, but elementary good manners.”

Ogilvy was under the conviction that showing unwavering loyalty to the brands he serviced (who were paying he and his agency millions of dollars a year) wasn’t being “a kiss ass” but, instead, a gentleman.

In Confession of an Advertising Man he describes this loyalty in splendid detail…

*David Ogilvy is writing now*

“Almost everything I consume is manufactured by one of my clients. My shirts are by Hathaway, my candlesticks by Steuben. My car is a Rolls-Royce, and it’s tank is always full of Super-Shell. I have my suits made by Sears-Roebuck. At breakfast I drink Maxwell House coffee or Tetley Tea, and eat two slices of Pepperidge Farm toast. I wash with Dove, deodorize with Ban, and light my pipes with a Zippo lighter. After sundown I drink nothing but Puerto Rican rum and schweppes. I read magazines and newspapers which are printed on paper from the mills of International Paper. When I go on vacation (in Britain or Puerto Rico) I get my reservations through American Express and travel by KLM or P&O-Orient Lines.”

Ogilvy closes with…

“And why not, pray tell? Are these not the finest goods and services on Earth? I think they are and that is why I advertise them.”

P.S. If this newsletter made you weak in the knees, you can share it with the world by selecting one of the four icons down below...