To the first installment of the “Pursuing Progress” newsletter 🏅
With my senior year of college rapidly approaching, I couldn’t think of a better time to start this newsletter. Drastic changes in my personal life have allowed me to explore areas of interest I otherwise wouldn’t have. After my soccer career was cut short, I pivoted to online writing, started a Twitter account, and now, I’ve released my first newsletter. If you’d like to know more about the catalyst to this journey, check out my first post here.
Building in public has opened my eyes to opportunities I didn’t know existed. And I’m confident that writing online is one of the best decisions I've made. Connecting with like-minded creators has never been easier or more encouraged. Putting myself out there through my writing and Twitter was nerve-wracking at first, but I’m immensely grateful for the people I’ve met because of it. Special shoutouts to Brandon, Cullin, Jamie, Josh, and Ryan — just to name a few.
This weekly newsletter is a platform to share my insights on the various articles, podcasts, documentaries, visuals I’ve consumed throughout the week in hopes of providing you with valuable takeaways. I’m overjoyed to have started this and I can’t wait to see what Installment 10, 50 & 100 has in store.
If you’re not subscribed, do so below so you don’t miss future installments.
Now, to Pursuing Progress ⚙️
1. Best Principles to Build a Powerful Community on the Internet — From Nigeria to New York City
Co-authored by my good friend, Jamie Russo, this article highlights the vitality of community for online creators. Similar to tribes in the Stone Age who relied on each other for food, shelter and safety, online communities are the safe-haven for creators to share, support and grow together. The key is to find like-minded folk who inspire you to be authentic in your form of expression. Frequent engagement with those who want to see you as you are is the shortcut to genuinely prolific creation.
Favorite Nuggets:
“The best communities, create environments that make it easy for members to connect and create value for one another. And sometimes the connections in themselves create most of the value.”
“Here’s my secret: “Your vibe attracts your tribe.” By sending out signals of kindness and positivity, I create a multiplier effect that reverberates across Twitter.”
“Writing about the reasons we fail is more important than writing about our biggest win.”
Curious Crumbs:
How will you make someone else’s life .001% better for having interacted with you?
Use what you have and do what you can. What will you do to engage with your community?
2. This clip from Jaylen Hands
With 2 minutes to go in overtime, UCLA found themselves chasing Oregon with a 2-point lead. After turning the ball over on a fast break, Jalen Hands runs up to the player who lost the ball and forced his chin up.
This is one of my favorite sports clips of all time — a demonstration of tremendous leadership when everything seemed to be falling apart. Instead of yelling at the player that he messed up, Jalen encouraged him to keep his head up — there’s still 2 minutes left on the clock!
As a former soccer captain, it brings me joy to see leaders who lead through action. I have no doubt in my mind that Jalen has the utmost trust and respect from every player on that team — and it’s because of gestures like this.
3. Performative Speaking
The most exciting development of the summer has been my partnership with Robbie Crabtree and his brand new course, Performative Speaking. I discovered Robbie on Twitter and decided to reach out because he seemed pretty cool. I hit the nail on the head with that one!
Robbie told me about his new course and I immediately began brainstorming ideas for the course community. Jack Butcher’s Permissionless Apprenticeship sprung to mind and I thought, “What’s the worst that could happen if I gave him a few ideas?”
Long story short, I pitched my proposal to Robbie and he appreciated the value I provided. So, for the foreseeable future, I will be developing the Performative Speaking community and doing all I can to make it the best online community in the world.
I couldn’t be more excited to be on this journey with Robbie and the rest of the PF team. If you’re looking to improve your public speaking, there is no better course out right now than this. Performative Speaking Cohort #1 launches on October 19th! I can’t wait to meet all of you who join.
If you have any questions regarding the course, please reach out - I’m happy to answer anything you may be curious about.
I’ll be doing a thread on how exactly I got this opportunity on Twitter. If you’re interested, go give ya boy a follow!
If you’ve made it this far - thank you.
Any and all feedback is appreciated. You can do so by replying directly to this newsletter or sliding in my DM’s on Twitter.
Don’t be that person who misses Installment #2. I know you won’t.
Till next Sunday 🤙🏼
“Light by Light, we lift each other up.”