Birthdays, impostor friends, and an AI-powered newsletter jukebox

Hi nerds -

I salute you today from Panama City, as I drink matcha to ease the jet lag and get used to the tropical weather.

Tomorrow marks my 28th birthday 🎉, so I’ve decided to make this edition about the key insights I’ve learned within the past year.

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3 brain farts

🚀 Compounding life: Every decision we make, big or small, has a compounding effect towards “something”, even when we’re not necessarily strategic about it.

• Eat a candy a day and we’ll gain weight and disease.

• Workout a few times a week, and we’ll live a healthier life.

• Replace Netflix with a coding tutorial every night and I’ll inevitably be better at my job the next day.

Everything we do compounds and being strategic about it is the best way for us to reach the best version of ourselves.

Key insight: My present self is always working for my future self. When micro decisions repeat, they start forming habits. I no longer take these lightly - I know my future self won’t.​

♻️ Power of sharing: Writing and publishing consistently has been one of the best personal and professional moves I’ve made in my life (enrolling in a coding bootcamp was the other big one).

Sharing my learning journey has had three key benefits:

• Learning about myself: Setting my ideas on paper requires heavy note-taking and thoughtful introspection, both of which compound to a more aligned version of myself.

• Sharing with others: whether it’s validating people’s beliefs or adding new insights, it's always fascinating to see what layer people add to your thoughts.

• People’s replies: when an idea connects with someone, they reply with a perspective I often hadn’t thought about. This is usually the seed to a next thought, slowly helping me build my idea garden. 🌳

Key insight: I’d been trying to launch my newsletter for at least two years before actually doing it. Seeing the results now has only proved as a reminder that I can do anything as long as I prioritize and organize.

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👩🏻‍🎤 My friend, the Impostor: This year I got promoted to co-lead the Engineering team of the biggest account in my company.

Impostor syndrome, followed by fear, followed by excitement, followed by empowerment - I went through the same range of emotions as when I first got promoted to Lead Teacher for Le Wagon.

Thing is, the more I repeat this loop, the faster I’m able to reach the empowerment state.

The more challenges I overcome, the easier it becomes to loose fear of the unknown and trust that with Google at my disposal and my ever-growing second brain, I have the tools necessary to complete whatever challenge comes my way.

Key insight: Impostor syndrome is something we should always be striving for, not fearful of. If I’m not feeling it, it must mean I’m stuck and not taking enough challenges to grow.

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2 intellectual goodies

“If at first an idea is not absurd, then there is not hope for it.”

~ Albert Einstein

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“Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.”

~ Albert Einstein

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1 funky audio

The beat of this song is nice and catchy, but what really gets to me are the lyrics. Great to play on your birthday and sing along with the people you love. ✨​

& a featured snack

= my section for cool products I find online ⭐️

Problem: You enjoy receiving insightful newsletters every now and then, but are not sure how to find the best ones.

Solution: The Sample is an AI-powered newsletter jukebox. Every x amount of time, they’ll send you a sample newsletter, you rate it, give it feedback, and in only a few days, you start receiving newsletters tuned to what you're interested in learning about.

I've found some of my favorite newsletters thanks to this site. Highly recommended for those who appreciate a good read.

Thanks for reading.

As always, feel free to connect by hitting reply and sharing a juicy thought 💡 or wish me happy birthday 😛.

We all help the curious community grow.

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Best,

Jules 🤸🏻‍♂️