#57 Monitoring Accounts, Mind Enhancement, and Magic Words for Saying NO

Welcome back to another edition of OTF!

In the fitness world, people strive to achieve PRs, or Personal Records, for each exercise in their routine.

Like any record, it’s meant to measure your highest level of performance and give you new goals to achieve.

At OTF, we’re all about being personally (in all ways) and professionally fit, so it’s fitting that we use this theme as a means to share our latest accomplishment:

This week, we 4x’d our previous PR with almost 250 NEW SUBS!

What we’re feeling:

Happiness? Yeah, but…

Excitement? Well, sure…

Honestly, there are two emotions that overpower the rest.

The first is gratitude. We are incredibly thankful to and humbled by both our new subscribers and everyone who’s helped spread the word.

The second feeling is motivation. Just like with a fitness PR, we’re not content.

We’re not going to stop trying to get bigger and better with each passing edition.

Our inspiration to build the best product and community possible has never been higher.

So let’s get to it. Time for some growth (without the weights).

Here’s What’s LIFTING Us Up This Week:

💰️ Why You Should Check Your Money Accounts Every Week

👍️ How to Say NO

💡 AI and the Human Brain

➕ Much. More.

Expert Advice 🤝 

Expert Advice features words of wisdom from successful entrepreneurs, content creators, authors, psychologists, Fortune 500 CEOs, and more to give you fresh perspectives applicable to your personal and professional growth.

What is Law of Thinking?

• Described as a “digital sanctuary…crafted to unravel the secrets of the human mind” by founder Yashdeep Vitthalani, it is a website offering life-coaching and a blog (coming soon).

• The X account has blown up, with over 202K followers and gem after gem regarding self-transformation.

Who is Mark Manson?

• We all know who he is by now, right? An OTF favorite, we’ve featured Manson tweets in this section several times over the past year.
  

• For our new readers:
  
  - Author of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” and two more NYT #1 bestsellers.
  
  - Renowned content creator with a newsletter, podcast, and video content. He also has 461K followers on X.

Making Cents 💰️ 

Making Cents will share (or review) financial concepts in a casual and accessible way to help you better manage money and build wealth.

Why Should You Be Checking Your
Bank Account / Credit Credit Statements Every Week?

Short and Sweet: Don’t let your spending become an unknown; dive into your financial health weekly to empower your spending and saving decisions.

Why It Matters: Because it keeps you in control.

Wondering why you keep seeing Apple charges every month? Understand where it’s coming from.

Unsure how much you spent on Amazon last week? Stay on top of it.

Whether it’s money coming or going, knowing the current state of your finances is crucial information for future decision-making.

💡 Let’s Get Specific: 4 Benefits of Weekly Account Reviews:

• Spot Errors and Fraud Early: Catch unauthorized transactions or billing errors quickly, making it easier to dispute charges and protect your finances.

• Keep Spending in Check: Watching where your money goes can help prevent overspending and encourages more mindful financial habits.

• Understand Your Financial Habits: Consistently reviewing your statements increases your financial literacy and awareness. Understanding where your money goes is the first step in taking control of your finances, enabling you to make informed decisions about saving, investing, and spending.

• Avoid Unnecessary Fees: Many people pay for subscriptions or memberships they no longer use without realizing it. By reviewing your accounts weekly, you can identify and cancel these recurring charges, saving you money that can be better used elsewhere.

🎬 Let’s Take ACTION: 3 Steps You Can Take Right Now:

1. Set a Weekly Alert: Choose a specific day and time each week to review your statements. Setting a reminder on your phone or calendar can help make this a habit. (It shouldn’t take very long, so don’t overthink the day and time.)

2. Involve Your Family: If you share financial accounts with a partner or family members, involve them in the process. It can help ensure everyone is aware of their spending and contributions to the family's financial goals.

3. Start This Week: Don’t procrastinate. Don’t wait until you get paid next or for a free moment next weekend - start now and commit to taking control of your accounts.

PSA: We are not financial advisors; we simply share the best information we find each week regarding money management and wealth-building.

Hustle Hub 📈 

Hustle Hub is designed to provide inspirational stories and valuable tips to help entrepreneurs, online creators, and side-hustlers on their journeys.

• YOUR SUCCESS: Whether side-hustler or entrepreneur, here are 15 ways to be seen in an ultra-competitive freelance marketplace.

• THEIR SUCCESS: This 42-year-old turned a $1,000 investment into a $33K-per-week Amazon side-hustle.

• YOUR SUCCESS: Are corporate politics bringing you down? Surviving that day-to-day can feel like a hustle (or worse), so here’s some advice for coping with office drama.
  

• THEIR SUCCESS: Sometimes you have to create your own opportunities - take inspiration from Carrie Sun, who shares her experience landing an interview with a Wall Street billionaire.

Cool Communicator 😎 

Cool Communicator shares tips on how to improve your communication skills - written and verbal, in-person and digital - so that you can be more efficient and effective as a communicator and feel more confident while networking and building your brand.

👍️ SAYING “NO”

Whether running your own business or working as a part of someone else’s, saying NO is important sometimes.

We feel so pressured to say YES all the time; after all, NO’s lead to lost business and missed promotions, right?

Wrong, as long as you know how to do it properly.

Here’s a deep dive on “The Best Way To Say No,” courtesy of Diane Solomon (PhD) writing for Psychology Today.

TL;DR Takeaways:

1. It’s both healthy and necessary to say NO sometimes. If you say yes to everything, you may burn out or become resentful of your peers, and your mental health could take a turn for the worse.
   

2. Saying NO to things you don’t really want to do frees up time and energy to say YES to things you’re more passionate about.
   

3. The Magic Words: “I would love to, but I can’t.” Why does this work so well?
   
   - It sounds nicer.
   
   - It shows (or feigns) a willingness to do the thing you’re refusing, which encourages the asker to come back to you the next time they need something. (Hopefully it’s something you want to do!)
   
   - The length of the sentence gives you time to prepare a response in the event they ask, “Why?” It’s also vague enough to give you any number of outs.
   

4. Other Options: 
   
   * Divulge some of your current responsibilities and say, “I’m sorry, but my plate is too full.”
   
   * When talking to a superior, you could offer a half-yes, showing a willingness to complete the task before asking them their advice on re-shuffling your priorities. “Okay, I’m currently working on X, Y, and Z - how should I reorganize my list?”
   

5. It takes practice. You will need to get comfortable with the discomfort that comes with it. But remember: it’s much better for you in the long run, both personally and professionally.

O.T.F O.F.T = ONE FINAL THOUGHT

Your audience and other situational specifics will dictate the best way to say NO in a given instance. In the office, you know your boss and colleagues well enough to know what they will accept.

Examples:

• If you have a colleague who often expresses being overwhelmed at work, they should understand “My plate is full” with no questions asked.
  

• If you have a supervisor who you know to be family-oriented, “I would love to, but I can’t” with a child-related follow-up at the ready could be the way to go.

As always, it’s important to know the details of the situation in order to choose the right communicative approach.

Who is asking? How much do they know about your “plate?” When was the last time you said YES? If you’re running your own business, can you afford to say no? Can you offer an alternative you’re more willing to say YES to?

In short, think it through before you speak, no matter your answer.

Convo Starters 👍️ 

Convo Starters aims to give you three topics from different categories that you can call on when small-talking in the office or while networking.

• Self-Interest: Talk about how mastering your anxiety (instead of eliminating it) can unleash genius. 🚨 VIDEO CONTENT 🚨
  

• Human Interest: Talk about the guy who sunk $1.4 million into a California ghost town and whether he’s crazy or enlightened.

• Artificial Interest: Talk about the push for Universal Basic Income amidst AI fears and its impact on a changing economy.

Always Informed 🦾 

Always Informed keeps you in the know regarding artificial intelligence.

🧠THE HUMAN BRAIN:

The most common discussion in this regard is about AI replacing it, but the top stories this week come with an under-contemplated twist: how might this tech enhance our minds?

👍 Our favorite story this week is about AI’s ability to predict Alzheimer’s Disease risks seven years in advance. Early detection of this and other forms of dementia would be a major breakthrough. (This comes on the heels of an older story about using AI image-generators to help dementia patients visualize old memories.)

Anything that helps us take care of or enhance our minds has to be a good thing, unless, well…hmm…

🤷 Elon Musk’s Neuralink has reached a critical point with its first human subjects, and while it seems to hold a lot of promise - imagine a technology that can help paralyzed people function more independently! - it also comes with a lot of questions.

Right now, the main concern is transparency, with people across a variety of disciplines seeking answers that Neuralink is either unable or unwilling to provide.

QUESTION FOR DEEPER THOUGHT:

Assuming it’s safe, should we all get brain chip implants?

Before You Go

We hope everyone had a great February, from both personal and productivity standpoints, and for those who were with us for the duration, we hope OTF contributed positively in those regards.

In case you missed any of our previous February editions, here they are:

• 02/06 |#054| Handling Your Taxes, Humorbragging, & Happy Super Week!
  

• 02/13 |#055| Alternative Investments, AI Communication Tips, and Always Informed
  

• 02/20 |#056| Saving 10%, Starting a Successful Side-Hustle, and Specific Resumes by ChatGPT

For next week’s edition, you can expect to find a Cool Communicator that helps with self-communication and understanding, a Search Bar summarizing the past month, and a 2 DO for March.

See you then!

You are now On The Fly and In The Know.