This edition is brought to you by Athyna

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:

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.

Stories of Excellence

Person: George Lucas

George Lucas, the visionary filmmaker behind Star Wars, transformed cinema with his groundbreaking special effects and storytelling. Born in Modesto, California, in 1944, Lucas overcame a near-fatal car crash at 18 to pursue his passion for film. He studied at USC, where he made award-winning student films. His breakthrough came with American Graffiti in 1973, but it was Star Wars in 1977 that catapulted him to global fame. Lucas pioneered digital filmmaking and founded Industrial Light & Magic, revolutionizing visual effects. Despite criticism of the Star Wars prequels, Lucas's impact on pop culture remains immense. In 2012, he sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.05 billion, stepping back from the franchise he created.

Key Lessons from George Lucas:

• On perseverance: "The secret is not to give up hope. It's very hard not to because if you're really doing something worthwhile I think you will be pushed to the brink of hopelessness before you come through the other side."

• On self-belief: "You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you."

• On learning from failure: "Failure is another word for experience."

Read More.

Company: Dunkin'

Dunkin' was founded in 1950 by William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts. Rosenberg, a high school dropout turned food service entrepreneur, started with a small restaurant called "Open Kettle" serving donuts and coffee. In 1955, the first Dunkin' Donuts franchise opened. By 1963, Rosenberg's son Robert joined the company, helping to expand it rapidly. The brand became known for its wide variety of donuts and its catchy slogan, "America Runs on Dunkin'." In 2018, Dunkin' dropped "Donuts" from its name to emphasize its beverage offerings. As of 2023, Dunkin' has over 13,000 locations worldwide and generates annual revenue of about $1.4 billion.

Key Lessons from Dunkin':

• On pricing: Stay affordable. Dunkin' has always positioned itself as the everyman's coffee shop. They've resisted the urge to go upmarket. This has kept their core customers loyal for decades.

• On simplicity: Keep it basic. Dunkin' didn't try to be everything to everyone. They focused on coffee and donuts. That's it. No fancy lattes or artisanal pastries. Just good, reliable basics. People appreciate knowing exactly what they're getting.

Read More.

Hire remote employees with confidence

Two years ago, I hired an offshore assistant , and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made. From marketing to customer support, it’s helped streamline work and boost productivity.

Athyna is a service that finds top remote employees in <5 days in Latam, Africa, and Sth East Asia. They cover roles in finance, creative, engineering, and product, sourcing top talent from companies like Google, AWS, Microsoft, and more.

If you’re in the market for talent, visit their website to explore options and cover all your hiring needs.

Accelerants

High-performance tool

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Load Theory

The amount of attention you have remains constant.

It just gets used differently depending on the demands of your situation—and maybe not how you want it to be used.

When you become fatigued, it’s harder to place your attention where you want it.

Insights

Tactical reads

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> When dealing with aversive mental associations around tasks
Ugh fields', or why you can't even bear to think about that task (Read it here)

> When you're thinking about product-market fit
When harnessing emotions to build momentum and motivation (Read it here)

1 question

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.

Recommendation Zone

⎯

Hire remote employees with confidence

Two years ago, I hired an offshore assistant for the first time. Since then, I’ve recommended many people do the same. It’s been one of the highest leverage things I’ve done, helping with everything marketing and customer support (for The Intelligence Age) and personal matters and email management.

Athyna is a service that quickly (<5 days!) finds remote employees across 150+ countries for you or your team. They cover roles from sales and marketing to creative and product, and have worked with companies like Facebook, Zoom, Uber, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Amazon.

I’ve personally used Athyna and recommended them to my Brother, Will, who runs a fashion label, and several close friends running their own businesses. To date, they’ve all had very positive experiences.

If you’re in the market for talent, visit their website to explore options and cover all your hiring needs.

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Alex Brogan

Find me on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok

Offshore Talent: Where to find the best offshore talent. Powered by Athyna.

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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