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This edition is brought to you by Deel

Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Wednesday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring one short story about a person, a company, a high-performance tool, a trend I’m watching closely, and curated media to help you build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself. 

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Today’s edition:

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.

Stories of Excellence

Person: Richard Branson

Richard Branson is a British entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group. Born in 1950, he started his first business at 16 with a magazine called Student. By 20, he had launched Virgin Records. Branson's empire now spans over 400 companies in various sectors. Known for his adventurous spirit, he's attempted world records in hot air balloons and kitesurfing. Branson's unconventional approach to business has made him a billionaire with a net worth of $4.8 billion. He's also passionate about social causes and space travel. In 2021, Branson flew to the edge of space in his own Virgin Galactic spacecraft. "My mission in life is to make people's lives better," Branson once said.

Key Lessons from Richard Branson:

• On note-taking: "Always carry a little notebook in your back pocket. I think the number one thing that I take with me when I'm traveling is the notebook… I could never have built the Virgin Group into the size it is without those few bits of paper."

• On risk-taking: "You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over."

• On leadership: "Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to."

Read More.

Company: Apple

Apple was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in Jobs' garage. Jobs and Wozniak, college dropouts with a passion for electronics, aimed to make computers accessible to everyone. Their first product, the Apple I, was hand-built and sold for $666.66. In 1977, they introduced the Apple II, which became a massive success. The company went public in 1980, raising $101 million. Jobs was ousted in 1985 but returned in 1997 to save the struggling company. Under his leadership, Apple launched iconic products like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Key Lessons from Apple:

• On simplicity: Ruthlessly eliminate. Jobs was famous for his "simplicity meetings" where he'd force teams to justify every feature, button, and pixel. If it wasn't essential, it was cut. No mercy.

• On pricing: Charge a premium. Unapologetically. Apple's never competed on price. They charge what they think their products are worth. Period. It's kept their brand exclusive and their margins fat.

• On marketing: Sell the feeling, not the specs. Apple ads rarely mention technical details. Instead, they show how their products make you feel. Creative. Connected. Cool. It's emotion, not logic.

Read More.

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Accelerants

High-performance tool

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Devil's Advocate Position

The antidote to confirmation bias.

It involves forcing yourself to view a decision from the opposite viewpoint or finding people who disagree with you.

It forces you to create a more compelling argument.

Don't take my word for it:

Insights

Tactical reads

⎯

> When making difficult decisions
To Change, or Not to Change? Just Flip a Coin (Read it here)

> When studying goal-setting theory
Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation: A 35-Year Odyssey. (Read it here)

1 question

That’s all for today, folks. As always, please give me your feedback. Which section is your favourite? What do you want to see more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.

Have a wonderful rest of week, all.

Recommendation Zone

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Why Faster Than Normal? Our mission is to be a friend to the ambitious, a mentor to the becoming, and a partner to the bold. We achieve this by sharing the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world's most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.

Faster Than Normal is a ‘state' of being’ rather than an outcome. Outlier performance requires continuous, compounded improvement. We’re your partner on this journey.

Send us your feedback and help us continuously improve our content and achieve our mission. We want to hear from you and respond to everyone.

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