055 • A few short thoughts from my first time travelling

Hey again, As you might know, I’ve been travelling around a lot recently for the first time since late 2018 (I was 15 back then so it doesn’t truly count either). I’ve learned a thing or two from the more recent experiences. For a bit of a change, today I’m going to be sharing these thoughts in a short list format. Here we go… The best experiences are those in between what you think will be the main moments - the person you meet over dinner at the hostel, the quiet side street you find yourself on whilst exploring. You don’t make much progress on your work when you’re moving around. The only way is to find some time to settle down for more than a couple of days to fit in some time for an undisturbed few hours. Try out the things you’d do normally - hit the gym, find a coffee shop to work in, sit and read a book in the park. The fact that you’re in a different place will add a new texture to the experience. Write about what you’ve done and how you felt whilst doing it. Memories inevitably fade and it will be nice to look back on what you thought in the moment some years in the future. Getting roaring drunk is pretty similar wherever in the world you do it. Treat with caution because you’ll be wandering around aimlessly the day after too. Lots of people speak English but try to learn a word or two in the local language to show some respect for the culture. I’m not a frequent flyer, so not the most qualified person to be listening to. What I am is a new traveller so I’m experiencing all of this for the first time. ...

June 18, 2024 · 3 min · Theo Stowell

054 • My methods for harnessing intuition and flow state

Hello again, Thanks for being patient with me whilst I procrastinated over sending this issue and the video issue for the previous week. I said that filming video wasn’t something that I’m confident with, and this showed in the time that it took me to get up and actually hit the record button. But it’s here now. I’ll normally share the previous issue’s video at the bottom of the current issue, but seeing as this is the first, I’m going to put it at this start of this one. ...

June 12, 2024 · 4 min · Theo Stowell

053 • Daily routine and habits give you freedom

There’s a quote from Gustave Flaubert… “Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.” I heard it first in the book that changed my life - Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. However today I just want to explore this quote, rather than the contents of the book (if you want BASB content then go here). ...

June 3, 2024 · 3 min · Theo Stowell

052 • Evolving my purpose + a whole year of Fundamentalised issues

The other day I talked to a friend - this particular friend has a knack for asking the most deep and sometimes prickly questions of anyone I’ve ever met. And he asked me this… ‘What’s it all for? What do you hope to get out of this work that you’re doing learning things and sharing it?’ Now if you’d asked me this a little over a year ago, at the point of beginning my newsletter and just having started earning royalties from the articles I’d been writing, I’d have answered ’to earn money'. ...

May 26, 2024 · 3 min · Theo Stowell

051 • Your gurus are human too, don't idolise them

The other day I listened to the entirety of a Chris Williamson podcast in a single afternoon. And it was one of the most formative episodes that I’ve listened to in a long time. The reason for this - someone I’ve admired greatly for his YouTube content came on the show, and Chris took this as an opportunity to give him some advice. You see my inspiration had positioned himself as a guru. In the majority of what he was saying he was convinced he was sharing universal truth. Or at least he spoke like it. ...

May 19, 2024 · 3 min · Theo Stowell

050 • Splitting life into seasons allows for greater depth + progress

It’s university exam season. One of the most intense, high-stakes times of the year in the university calendar. Even though I should be revising, I’ve got a lesson to dish out to you concerning this time of year. Also, I don’t want to break my newsletter streak (which has just hit 50 issues - thank you all so much). I want to talk about how having ‘seasons’ in your life is more effective than trying to juggle all of your life projects at once. ...

May 13, 2024 · 3 min · Theo Stowell

049 • How Tim Ferriss builds resilience by diversifying life projects

I was scrolling the YouTube subscriptions feed recently and I saw a clip from the upcoming Modern Wisdom podcast episode with Tim Ferriss (I think the full episode is coming tomorrow, not entirely sure though). In it, Tim was explaining what he does to avoid periods of bad mood. The strategy made a lot of sense and related to another idea that I’ve heard before, so I wanted to share it with you here… ...

May 5, 2024 · 3 min · Theo Stowell

048 • What to build first - physical or mental health?

What came first, the chicken or the egg? This is a cliché question and also not applicable to self-development in any way. So I’m going to ask a different (similar) question which is more important in context, giving my own experiences to answer it… “What to build first - the body or the mind?” Let me explain why this is an important question to ask… It’s clear that improving mental and physical health involves a positive feedback loop in correlation with each other - you improve one and the other likely gets better too. ...

April 26, 2024 · 3 min · Theo Stowell

047 • Making progress on the website + writing more (or trying to)

Last week I announced for the first time ​fundamentalised.com​ - my new WordPress website for all my writing on the internet. I’ve been working to add my past content onto the site, but it’s a drag. So I’m breaking it down into uploading ~10 pieces of content per day so that I have time for other things too (I still have university deadlines to meet). Keep checking the website though because there will be new stuff up there to read daily. I’m starting with all my old content too, so if you’re someone who’s discovered my work only recently then you can check it out to see how I used to write back when I first started publishing online. ...

April 22, 2024 · 3 min · Theo Stowell

046 • Where on Earth I've been for the last week

I’ve been almost completely silent on the internet since you last heard from me. That’s for a couple of reasons… I came back to university for an intense, 1-week module where I and a small group of others wrote, shot and produced a science film in five days. So that took up the daytime during the week. I’ve been spending the nights and other spare time building probably the biggest update to Fundamentalised since I started writing the newsletter. This upgrade is a brand-new, WordPress-based website for all of my content across the internet! ...

April 14, 2024 · 2 min · Theo Stowell