Collecting Questions, Smoking Brisket & a CRM for Friends

Hey :)

After being inspired by a talk on personal newsletters by Rob Dix, I’ve created this newsletter to keep in touch with friends and share a bit about what I’m up to and thinking about.

Collecting Questions

I’m a little obsessed with collecting great questions.

Especially the kind that leads to a breakthrough, highlights a blind spot, shortcuts years of trial and error, or finds the signal in the noise.

I have a Google Doc of questions that I’m always adding to. July was a great month for discovering some great new questions including:

• Where am I confusing activity and sweat for productivity?

• What do I secretly want?

• Is this project making me a better person?

• What am I avoiding that will bring me relief if I just do it?

• What one change will make 100 positive changes?

If you enjoy journaling, I can highly recommend this.

Smoking Brisket

About once a year, I attempt brisket. It’s a tricky cook as there are so many ways to die. It’s long, unforgiving, and requires babysitting through the night.

In the spirit of making lemonade, I decided that as Keira’s waking a lot through the night at the moment, it was a good time to take on the 6kg hunk of Aussie wagyu I was gifted by my father-in-law (long story).

This was a Texas-style brisket with just salt and pepper (ground to the obligatory size 16-mesh for optimal bark) smoked over oak, and broadly following Aaron Franklin’s method.

There’s a fair few things I’ll do differently next time around, but after 16 hours of cooking I was relieved to see I had jiggly, juicy brisket!

A Personal CRM

My track record for keeping in touch with people is patchy.

I don’t use social media. It takes me days to respond to WhatsApp messages, and making time to reach out just doesn’t come naturally.

So too many potential friendships slip into acquaintance territory.

In tandem with this newsletter, I set up a personal CRM in July using Clay to try and do a better job of reaching out to people on a regular cadence and keeping track of conversation notes.

It feels a little contrived trying to build a system around this but when the problem is inconsistency, a simple system can make all the difference. And if that difference is being a better friend, I’m all for it.

🔗 Bits & Bobs

• A tool I started using: Yuka – scans food/toiletries and tells you if they contain harmful ingredients and suggests a better alternative.
  

• A book I’m reading: The Anxious Generation – explores the effects of screen time on children. Well-researched and robust arguments, but about twice as long as it needed to be.
  

• A thing I’m looking forward to: No trips for a while! I’ve just got home from two weeks in the Lakes, Scotland and at DCxLondon. It’s been energising but I’m looking forward to a few calmer weeks at home.
  

• A thing I’m working on: Alpha launching GTFO. Initially, this was going to be a ‘Systems Accelerator’ with system sprint workshops but this didn’t land – so we’re pivoting to an online community for founders to build and share systems to get out of the day-to-day.

• An article I enjoyed: Extreme brainstorming questions

Cheers!
Marcus

P.S. One of my goals this year is to spend more time with friends. If you fancy hanging out together – hit reply! I also do walk & talks on Thursday afternoons.