On Holidays, Networking and Sanity

Hello there,

You didn’t hear from me last week because I was on holiday and underestimated how much that would be. Or should I say I overestimated my optimism to still be able to write the newsletter while travelling and having fun non-stop across the UK?

I visited Manchester, York and Edinburgh. It was a good experience overall and I think I have a lot to write about the whole experience but I am yet to do that. for now, let me just share some titbits about my journey.

1. Manchester

Went to Manchester because it is one of the most popular cities in the UK. Had a great time there. What is probably good to say about my experience there is that when you get to a new place be prepared to be shocked. Things will not be as you used to know them to be and that’s fine. But good to know this and be prepared for it.

David Alade @DavidAlade__

August! One week around the UK. 1. Manchester

2. York

York is probably the city I enjoyed most despite the fact that it gave me the most difficulty. For instance, Uber is not active there and I didn’t notice that taxis were an option until when I was exiting the city. So my wife and I did a lot of walking. Talking about walking, we visited York Maze and when it was time to return to our hotel we had to trek for 30 mins to the nearest bus stop and then had to wait for 20 minutes for the bus to arrive. Lastly, there was no Nigerian restaurant so had to make do with what was available.

Yet, I enjoyed it most. Why? I believe largely it is due to the fact that I know York's history with the Vikings and I am fascinated by it. This makes me think that one of the secrets of enjoying a holiday destination is to know at least some bit of history about the location. It creates this sense of awe and sacredness. And except all you wanted was just to experience the current state of a city, I wonder how you can inhale the city to the fullest without knowing its history. York made me love history again.

David Alade @DavidAlade__

2. York

3. Edinburgh

Acclaimed for its beauty, I was not disappointed at all to have visited this city and I am returning there soon for something else. My wife and I couldn’t exhaust all the possible things one could do for fun. It’s the only city of the 3 that we both agreed it’s worth visiting again.

David Alade @DavidAlade__

3. Edinburgh

Work continues now

I am back to work now and glad about that. Let me share some tweets that I shared earlier that are worth thinking about:

1 - On Reading

David Alade @DavidAlade__

"One should not read like a Dog obeying its master. But like an Eagle haunting its prey" H/T: @FoundersPodcast I think this is the truth that evey voracious reader have come to find.

2 - Sanity is an Advantage

David Alade @DavidAlade__

Love this from Ryan Holiday especially when I consider how great sanity has given me mental advantages. "Be quiet, work hard, and stay healthy. It’s not ambition or skill that is going to set you apart but sanity." — Ryan Holiday

3 - Career Growth and Networking if you WFH

David Alade @DavidAlade__

I understand the sentiment in this statement but I also do not fully agree. I think what a lot of us are missing is that things have changed and we cannot fit a new wine in an old wineskin.

Philip The Creator 🤍🖤 @gutsyphilip

Unpopular opinion: Working remotely has very likely stunted your career growth more than you care to admit. It's probably also affected the growth of your network and the quality of your relationship with coworkers.

That’s all for today!

See you next week.