I can't remember the last time that I stepped away from my laptop for more than a couple of hours. It's the centre of my life; it's sad but true. This week I've been on holiday in Tenerife. It's been great to reconnect with the pages of a book, interrupting my borderline unhealthy laptop relationship—introducing a paperback mistress.
The book I've been reading is Lost Connections by Johann Hari. In medical school, we learn that depression is caused by a combination of biological, psychological and social factors. However, the psycho-social factors aren't particularly emphasised.
This book uses research, Johann's personal experiences and the experiences of individuals from across the world—woven together with brilliant storytelling—to outline the 9 causes of depression and anxiety. If you're suffering from either of these, I believe it may be helpful for you.
I'm going to use the concepts from this book, alongside PsychoLogical by Dean Burnett, to create a series of YouTube videos on depression and anxiety. I believe that we need to talk more openly about mental health and these videos will be my personal contribution to that dialogue.
🔊 Resonators
Here are 3 things that resonated with me this week.
Johann Hari: Everything You Think You Know About Meaning & Happiness Is Wrong (Podcast)
If you're not completely sure if you want to invest hours into reading Johann's book, this is a great introduction. I immediately bought Lost Connections after listening to this podcast. Steven Bartlett described him as one of the best storytellers to come on his podcast; this proves why.
Audience-First Products (Blog)
I read this article a few years ago and it made me rethink the process of entrepreneurialism. I always find myself gravitating back to it. I always thought an entrepreneur built their product, then used marketing to find their customers. David Perell believes there's another way. He discusses the process of building an audience first, then building your product with their help and feedback. This changed the way that I think about business, I hope it may do the same for you.
Abstract: The Art of Design (Netflix)
Neri Oxman might just be one of the coolest people I've ever seen. In series 2, episode 2 of this Netflix series, she cultivates new materials that emulate nature, opening up the possibility of designing the way out of our ecological crisis.
During the episode she shows her 'Krebs cycle of creativity'. It attempts to understand the relationship between art, science, design and engineering. In my opinion, it does a pretty amazing job of it.
Quote
“Loneliness isn’t the physical absence of other people, he said—it’s the sense that you’re not sharing anything that matters with anyone else."
— Johann Hari