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Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Wednesday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring one short story about a person, a company, a high-performance tool, a trend I’m watching closely, and curated media to help you build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.
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Today’s edition:
> Stories: Karen Lynch & Puma
> High-performance: 6 ways to make faster decisions
> Insights: Learning how to learn
> Tactical: Prolific reader's habits
> 1 Question: Value proposition
Cheers,
Alex
P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.
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Stories of Excellence
Person: Karen Lynch
Karen Lynch is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for her young adult urban fantasy series, Relentless. Born in Newfoundland, Canada, Lynch credits her vivid imagination to the region's rich folklore. She began writing at a young age, completing her first full-length book at 14. Now based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lynch balances her writing career with a love for baking and spending time with her German Shepherds. Her journey to success wasn't quick. "I can manage one [book a year]," she admits. "I have come to accept the fact that I'm a slow writer, but I don't have to like it." Despite this, Lynch finds joy in her readers' responses. "It still feels a little surreal to know that people around the world are reading my books," she says.
Key Lessons from Karen Lynch:
On persistence: "I finished writing my first full-length book at fourteen, and over the years I never lost my love of writing."
On embracing your process: "I have come to accept the fact that I'm a slow writer, but I don't have to like it."
Company: Puma
Puma was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Rudolf split from his brother Adolf, who founded Adidas, after a falling out. Initially named Ruda, the company was soon rebranded as Puma. Rudolf's experience in shoe manufacturing at the family's previous shoe factory proved crucial. Puma's first football boot, the "ATOM," was released in 1948. The company gained prominence when several members of the West German national team wore Puma boots in their 1954 World Cup victory. Puma went public in 1986 and has since grown into a global sportswear brand. In 2022, Puma reported annual revenues over €9 billion.
Key Lessons from Puma:
On guerrilla marketing: Exploit loopholes in sponsorship rules. Puma gained attention at the 1968 Olympics when Tommie Smith raised a Puma Suede in the air during his protest. Sometimes, the most powerful marketing isn't paid for. Look for unconventional opportunities to showcase your brand.
On market expansion: Use sports as a cultural bridge. Puma's early entry into African football markets helped establish a global presence. Sports transcend borders. Find the universal languages in your industry.
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Accelerants
High-performance tool
⎯
6 Ways To Make Faster Decisions
Insights
Richard Hamming, learning how to learn:
"Now it is said that a happy person one who has some goals they achieve.
Well, starting the matter over and reading about it and talking to people, everybody pretty much up agrees that it’s not the achievement of the goal. That really is the best part is the struggle. The struggle to success is what makes you what you will be.
Remember, you all age, you to live with yourself. There’s no escaping live with yourself, your old age, you’re stuck with yourself. And in old age you can’t change much as you can when you’re younger. Consider the kind of person you wish to be in your old age and start now being that kind of a person."
Tactical reads
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> When learning from a prolific reader's habits
The Man Who Reads 1,000 articles a day (Read it here)
> When addressing technology's impact on focus
Digital Hygiene: How We Might've Fucked Our Attention Spans (Read it here)
1 question
What core benefit am I delivering to my ?
That’s all for today, folks. As always, please give me your feedback. Which section is your favourite? What do you want to see more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.
Have a wonderful rest of week, all.
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Why Faster Than Normal? Our mission is to be a friend to the ambitious, a mentor to the becoming, and a partner to the bold. We achieve this by sharing the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world's most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.
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