📧 Elevate Letter #51: A productivity tool I'm obsessed with
Plus: Learn copywriting in 76 minutes, Things to call yourself out on, My new podcast obsession and How to find your Zone of Genius
Hey Ambitious,
Welcome to Elevate Letter!
If you're new here, this is the newsletter where every Sunday, I share the 5 best ideas I find each week to help you improve by 1% each day.
Let’s dive in!
This 76-Minute Video Taught Me More Than 4 Years of Writing Classes
Let me save you $40,000 in tuition:
It’s not a course.
It’s not theory.
It’s a masterclass on how to write things people actually want to read.
Harry built Marketing Examples—one of the most respected newsletters on the internet—not by writing smarter, but by writing clearer.
And if you publish anything online, you need to study how he does it.
Not someday.
Now.
Here are 6 takeaways from the 76 minutes that rewired my brain:
1. Write to one person. Not everyone.
Forget the crowd.
Good writing feels like a DM, not a TED talk.
Make it personal. Make it real.
2. Steal structure, not sentences.
Don’t plagiarize—deconstruct.
Study how great writers move.
How they start. How they transition. How they end.
Then make it yours.
3. Repeat. Then repeat again.
Repetition isn’t lazy. It’s deliberate.
When something matters, say it twice.
That’s how ideas stick.
4. Curiosity is the cheat code.
Don’t start with answers.
Start with mystery.
Make the reader need to know more. Curiosity = attention.
5. Cut 50% of what you wrote.
Then cut 10% more.
But don’t lose your voice in the process.
Brevity without soul is just silence.
6. Say the part everyone’s too scared to say.
The fear. The doubt. The unspoken objection.
Say it out loud.
That’s how you build trust.
You can either write to impress people, or you can write to move them.
Harry does the latter.
Watch the video.
Then watch it again.
Your writing will never be the same.
This $17 Tool Makes Me 10x More Productive (No App Required)
I’ve tested every productivity system under the sun.
To-do lists. Time-blocking. Notion dashboards that look like launch control at NASA.
None of them work without this one thing:
Urgency.
And the fastest way to create urgency?
A timer.
But not just any timer.
No apps. No noise. No distractions.
Just a giant red disc that slowly disappears—reminding you that time is actually running out.
It’s the most low-tech productivity hack I’ve found.
And it works.
You focus harder.
You finish faster.
You stop letting tasks bleed into infinity.
Parkinson’s Law in physical form.
Honestly?
It’s like giving your brain a deadline it can see.
If you struggle to get things done, don’t download another app.
Just buy this.
Set it.
And watch your distractions vanish along with the red.
You’re Probably Operating Outside Your Zone Of Genius (Here’s How To Fix That)
I stole this from Rich Webster, who stole it from Matt Mochary.
Which means it’s probably good enough to steal again.
Matt coaches CEOs at companies like Coinbase, Reddit, and Opendoor.
So when he talks, founders listen.
And here’s what he says:
You’re doing too much of what you shouldn’t be doing…
…and not nearly enough of what you were built to do.
He breaks your work life into 4 zones:
Incompetence – You suck at this. You know it. So does everyone else.
Competence – You’re average. Replaceable. Efficient mediocrity.
Excellence – You’re better than most. But it drains you.
Genius – You’re world-class. It feels like play. And it’s rare.
Now here’s the twist:
Most people avoid their Zone of Genius.
Why?
Because it’s terrifying.
It feels too easy.
You’ve been taught work should be hard.
You’re scared to build a life around your deepest strength.
So you stay in the Zone of Excellence.
And slowly burn out.
Here’s the hack:
You can’t identify your Zone of Genius alone.
Why?
Because genius is invisible to the one who has it.
So Matt suggests this:
Ask 5–10 people who know you well to answer these questions:
Copy. Paste. Send this:
“I’m trying to understand what I’m uniquely good at.
It’s hard to see it for myself.
Would you be open to answering a few quick questions?”
Then ask:
What do I do that feels world-class?
What do I do where I seem to have fun, peace, or joy?
What do I do well but clearly don’t enjoy?
What do I do that’s average?
What do I do that I’m bad at?
Do this. Seriously.
Your genius won’t announce itself.
But if you’re brave enough to ask—
Others will show you what you’re here to do.
A List You’ll Hate (Because It’s True)
A friend sent me a post last week.
Simple. Brutal. True.
A list of things to call yourself out on.
Originally from @everydaysolitude.
And it wrecked me.
Because most of us aren’t confused.
We’re just really good at lying to ourselves.
We say we want clarity, discipline, freedom.
But keep doing the exact things that guarantee the opposite.
Here’s the question that snapped me out of it—courtesy of Jerry Colonna:
“How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?”
Read that again.
Seriously.
Tattoo it on your mirror if you have to.
Because that gap between what you say you want and what you actually do?
That’s the pain.
That’s the tension.
That’s the part that eats you alive quietly—while you scroll, snack, and blame your schedule.
So here’s your move this week:
Don’t just reflect.
Confront.
Call yourself out on:
The excuses you dress up as logic
The habits you know are draining you
The patterns you pretend not to see
Not to shame yourself.
But to interrupt the autopilot.
To finally break the loop.
Because the truth is:
You don’t need more answers.
You need more honesty.
And maybe one honest question is enough to start.
This Podcast Made Me Rethink What “Health” Even Means
A few elite-tier feelings:
Finding cash in your coat pocket
Clean sheets after a hot shower
Discovering a podcast that doesn’t suck
This is about that last one.
Most podcasts are background noise.
A parade of fake-deep conversations and regurgitated advice.
But every once in a while… you find one that hits different.
Smart. Weird. Funny. Surprisingly emotional.
For me, that’s Ologies by Alie Ward.
Each episode dives into a different “-ology” (like volcanology, felinology, or egyptology) by interviewing scientists who are actually obsessed with their field.
No hype. Just real curiosity turned into real insight.
The one that stopped me in my tracks?
Yeah—never heard of it either.
Turns out, some doctors are done throwing pills at symptoms.
Now they’re prescribing community. Purpose. Meaning.
Things that actually heal.
Mid-episode, I ordered the guest’s book.
Didn’t even finish listening before hitting Buy.
That’s how you know it’s good.
If you want something that expands your brain and makes you feel more human, start here.
Ologies.
Start with Social Prescribing.
Thank me later.
Last Words👋
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All my best,
~ Elevated Path