Welcome back, and Happy March!

There’s just something about this month, isn’t there? It’s not quite Spring, and for many of you it’s still cold, but suddenly there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

With the turn of the calendar, there’s an unavoidable sense of optimism, of good things to come.

Which means March’s arrival is a lot like the intro to this newsletter: you feel great when you see it, and you KNOW that what follows will only get better.

So why wait? Let’s get to it…

These Highlights Come Marching One by One…

💰️ Framing a Positive Narrative on Your Financial Choices

👍️ 5 Questions to Better Understand Yourself

💡 A March 2-DO

➕ Much. More.

Making Cents 💰️ 

_{^{Making Cents shares (or reviews) financial concepts in a casual and accessible way to help you better manage money and build wealth.}}

Why You Should Put a Positive Spin on Financial Decisions

Short and Sweet: We should frame our financial choices as positives and remove all negative talk and tone.

Framing our financial choices as positives and removing the negative talk can actually empower us when dealing with our money.

Why It Matters: Because positive framing can empower us with our finances whereas negativity can bring us down and cloud our judgment.

Not to sound like some wu-wu-guru, but we want positive-wealth-framing-narratives…

💡 Let’s Get Specific: 3 Benefits of Positive Framing

• Resilience to Setbacks: A positive-wealth-framing-narrative helps you view setbacks not as failures but learning opportunities, making it easier to bounce back.

• Greater Financial Wellness: A positive-wealth-framing-narrative leads to better financial habits as you focus on growth and progress rather than limitations and mistakes.

• Increased Confidence: A positive-wealth-framing-narrative boosts your confidence, making you more likely to take informed risks and seize opportunities.

Now that we have specifics, why don’t we get into what you can do…

 🎬️ Let’s Take Action: 3 Examples You Can Use Right Now

Negative: "I can't afford this right now."

Positive: "I'm choosing to prioritize my spending on what matters most to me.”

Negative: "I'm too far in debt to ever get out."

Positive: "I'm on a path to reducing my debt, one step at a time."

Negative: "Investing is too risky for me."

Positive: "I'm educating myself on smart and safe investing strategies to grow my wealth responsibly."

Hustle Hub 📈 

_{^{Hustle Hub provides inspirational stories and valuable tips to help entrepreneurs, online creators, and side-hustlers along their journeys.}}

• YOUR SUCCESS: Here are 7 WFH side-hustles that are in demand right now (some pay over $100/hr).

• THEIR SUCCESS: Check out how this 50-year-old mom noticed a flawed service and turned it into a startup valued at $1.3 billion.

• YOUR SUCCESS: 5 common mistakes employers make that could result in big $$$ settlements. (If you’re an employer, don’t make these mistakes; if you’re an employee, make sure you’re being treated right.)
  

• THEIR SUCCESS: Marta Puerto couldn’t get an interview after being laid off; then she remixed her resume and broke LinkedIn.

Cool Communicator 😎 

_{^{Cool Communicator aims to improve your communication skills - written and verbal, in-person and digital - so that you can be more effective and confident as a communicator and self-promoter (building your brand).}}

You Can’t Accomplish Anything
Without First Understanding Yourself

Most often, what you find in this section is presented to help you communicate with others, but every now and then it’s important to remember: we can always get better at communicating with ourselves.

Communicating with yourself - reflection, contemplation, affirmations, self-evaluation, etc. - can help you better understand yourself in a variety of ways, leading to more confidence and a clearer vision of the future.

According to Psychology Today (which produces a lot of great communication content), there are 5 questions you should ask to get to know yourself better.

TL;DR Takeaways:

1. What are my fears and how do they hold me back? Being honest about your fears will help you overcome these barriers that “prevent you from reaching your full potential.”
   

2. What are my needs and how am I meeting them? Take time to identify your “emotional, spiritual, physical, financial, intellectual, and passion/purpose needs” and consider what you’re doing to meet them. This will help you properly reorganize your priorities.
   

3. What is my truth, and am I living authentically? Might sound corny at first, so let’s put it another way: Are you always honest with yourself? Anything you’ve been avoiding, denying, or suppressing? Confronting hard truths will lead to “greater self-acceptance.”
   

4. How do my fears, needs, and truths intersect? Examine possible connections looking for patterns. “Understanding these intersections can provide valuable insights into [your] motivations and influences” and help “identify areas where personal growth is needed.”
   

5. What steps can I take to address my fears, meet my needs, and live my truth? The longest question of the bunch is also the simplest to address - “once you’ve gained a deeper understanding of your fears, needs, and truths,” it’s time to set goals and take action!

O.T.F O.F.T = ONE FINAL THOUGHT

Better understanding of yourself can lead to better understanding of others; perhaps the very things holding you back, or your needs that aren’t being met, are shared by your employees, colleagues, friends, and family.

So asking and answering these questions yourself can also help you be more in tune with those around you. And the more in tune you are with others, the easier it is to communicate with them.

The Search Bar 📊 

_{^{The Search Bar keeps you up-to-date on what’s trending in the US.}}

As of 4:00 PM on Sunday 3/3:

• MOST-SEARCHED BUSINESS (past 24 hrs): Trader Joe’s - Between a product recall and a viral tote bag, TJ’s occupied 1st and 3rd place on Google’s Business trends on Sunday.

• MOST-SEARCHED $$$ ITEM (past 24 hrs): Dogecoin - That second spot belonged to the popular memecoin after a recent surge resulted in big wins for many crypto investors.

• FASTEST-RISING BUSINESS APP: BA Financial Calculator PRO - This app, which was designed to “help CFA candidates and charterholders on their way to success,” jumped more than 400 spots on data.ai’s “Trending Up” list for business apps.

Major Moves 🗞️ 

_{^{Major Moves isn’t simply a list of the most important stories in the business world. Its primary goal is to help you stay informed but focuses mostly on positive stories about Fortune 500 companies and startups alike.}}

😲 VIKING THERAPEUTICS:

Bursting Onto the Weight-Loss Scene

Move over, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk; there’s a new player in the weight-loss drug game. “Some Wall Street analysts said Viking’s experimental obesity treatment may be best-in-class following the release of midstage trial data.” In a market that could be worth over $100 billion by 2030, this is major. 

 🤖 dopple.ai:

More usage time than top social networking apps

Dopple.ai, which is an entertainment platform that allows people to talk with their favorite characters as AI chatbots, has arrived in a big way. “[They] recently surpassed a 55-minute average user time, beating out top social networks and video sites’ average user times.”

So the next time you see someone consumed by their phone, don’t assume it’s a TikTok rabbit hole; they may very well be chatting up Katniss Everdeen or Eric Cartman.

 📺️ BBC:

A big buyout for the British Broadcasting Corporation

“The BBC has bought out ITV from the international version of streaming service Britbox in a £255M deal.” This streaming service, which has almost 4 million subscribers across eight different countries, is now fully owned by the BBC. (It’s available in the US if anyone wants to check it out.)

💡 sunset & simpleclosure:

Two startups, one important job

Startups fail 90% of the time, and when they do, there’s often unused capital and other assets that need a place to go. There are also investors looking for some sort of return, despite the failure. It’s a situation that can get quite messy.

Now, there are startups that exist solely to clean up other startups’ messes: “Sunset announced it has raised $1.45 million in seed funding…and SimpleClosure, whose tagline is Shutting Down Sucks, announced that it has raised $4 million less than six months after it raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding.”

OTF Takeaway: There are infinite numbers of problems; if you have an idea to solve one, you’re in business!

🚨 Bay Area Times Newsletter

We wanted to share with you a newsletter the OTF team reads every day.

We are very selective when it comes to sponsors, but we truly feel this newsletter will keep you informed on all things tech, finance, and business.

What makes this letter so unique is that the news is shared through visuals, making it more enjoyable and easier to digest.

Simply put, they do an awesome job.

Visual-based newsletter on business and tech

We explain the latest business, finance, and tech news with visuals and data. 📊

All in one free newsletter that takes < 5 minutes to read. 🗞

Save time and become more informed today.👇

2 DO This Month 💡 

1. Ready Yourself Physically

If your muscles have been hibernating all winter, it’s time to get back at it. Spring isn’t here just yet, but if you want to feel better (physically and mentally) as the days get longer, there’s no time like the present to re-commit to your fitness goals. Here are some post-winter workout tips to help you get started:

2. Spring Your Professional Goals Forward

With more sunshine and better weather comes renewed energy and enthusiasm. Take advantage of it by devoting energy to planning and pursuing your highest-priority professional goals. Reflect on them, write out action steps you can take, and hold yourself accountable.

Before You Go

We hope you enjoyed this edition of OTF.

Next week, we’ll be back with Expert Advice, some new Content for Your Commute, and a Working With AI that focuses on using ChatGPT for analytical tasks.

See you then.

You are now On The Fly and In The Know.