00:00if you're serious about your learning
00:01and you want to take it to the next
00:02level then you have to try writing mini
00:04essays and I warn you this will take a
00:05lot of time and effort but you'll gain
00:07so much wisdom and perspective in return
00:09they're also one of my most powerful
00:10tools for improving how I write it gives
00:12me the opportunity to practice and to
00:14really develop the skills and become
00:16familiar with the craft but what are me
00:18essays anyway well they're not the long
00:19boring ones from school where your
00:21teachers made you write 2,000 words on
00:23some you didn't care about
00:25these mini essays are actually fun to
00:26write and sometimes they're my favorite
00:28part of the day mini essays are short
00:30pieces of writing that surround a single
00:31idea or topic and in this case you don't
00:34have to get frustrated over choosing
00:36what to write about because it's already
00:37done for you and if that sounds bizarre
00:39it will make so much sense you'll see
00:41ultimately there are a tool for learning
00:42if I encounter something in a book that
00:44I find really interesting something that
00:46resonates with me I write a mini essay
00:48on it and that is true for any piece of
00:50content whether it's a book whether it's
00:52a video an article even tweets or even
00:55something that someone told you one day
00:56it doesn't matter where these ideas come
00:58from but as long as it stood out to you
01:00it's worth writing about and that
01:01writing takes the form of the mini essay
01:04which is essentially a detailed note and
01:06I write it as if I'm going to teach it
01:07to someone else and you'll see why
01:09that's so powerful very shortly so
01:10here's a great example I was reading an
01:12article on substack written by Rob
01:14Henderson who's an amazing writer by the
01:16way I'll link him down below in this
01:18article he shares a story from Thomas
01:19so's Memoir and it was about how even
01:22people who seem friendly and
01:23approachable at first can actually be
01:25deceiving and you may not always be able
01:27to trust them then on the other hand you
01:28have people who are kind of harsh and
01:30cold at first but as long as they're
01:32authentic you can trust them more and it
01:34can be bad enough that those people who
01:35appear nice actually betray you when
01:37push comes to shove this idea stuck out
01:39to me so I took the concept and I wrote
01:41A minay on it in my own words as if I'm
01:44going to tell someone else about it and
01:45it's not just some scribbled down note
01:47this has a start an end and a middle it
01:50has structure to it but hold on a second
01:52why go through all this trouble anyway
01:54what's the point yes these are short to
01:56WR but they still take a lot of time and
01:58effort so what what's in it for you why
02:01would you even bother putting in the
02:02effort to write these I won't deny that
02:04these are an investment they do take
02:06time and effort but in spite of that I
02:08couldn't care less because the reward
02:10you receive in return is so worth it
02:13every single minute of writing those
02:14mini essays is absolutely worth your
02:16time 100% ever since I started using
02:19these mini essays in my self-education
02:21you can say which was about 8 months ago
02:24a year maybe I have seen noticeable
02:26improvements in not only my reading
02:28quality but my writing has gotten more
02:30powerful too it's true that the
02:31investment is large but I see
02:33Improvement in two areas of life that
02:35really mean a lot to me and I bet it's
02:36the same for you so let me show you
02:38exactly how mini essays are so good for
02:40your reading and writing now the first
02:41huge benefit of mini essays is something
02:43that every reader would kill for it's
02:46the ability to remember and understand
02:48what they read enough to close the
02:50covers of the book and say I am
02:52confident in what I just read and I can
02:54now go and use this and recall the ideas
02:57in my daily life many essays help you
02:59achieve that by exploiting something
03:00called the fman technique and you've
03:02probably heard it before but if you
03:04haven't it's a technique named after the
03:05famous physicist Richard fman he's
03:07incredibly wellknown and he was a Nobel
03:09Prize winner so if he uses it as the
03:11backbone to his success then you bet you
03:13can too it's something that anyone can
03:14use whether you're a high schooler or a
03:17college professor it's flexible it's
03:19simple and arguably it's the best
03:21learning strategy ever now the first
03:22step involves the learning itself which
03:24is straightforward you pick up a book
03:26you watch something you listen to a
03:28podcast anything so long as you're
03:30actively learning and I would recommend
03:32taking notes in the process cuz that's
03:34actually how you force your mind to
03:36think and the second thing you do is you
03:37actually teach what you learn to others
03:39and when I say that I don't mean going
03:41out and giving a lecture on it but
03:43you're teaching an imaginary audience
03:45you're producing something as if you're
03:47going to tell someone else about it and
03:49you can see where this is going with the
03:50mini essays and this is where the fun
03:51part is because you can use any medium
03:53you want you can write on a whiteboard
03:55you can write notes to yourself you can
03:57film videos or even record audio
03:59whatever suits you best to communicate
04:01this point and understand it better now
04:03in this case we're using mini essays
04:04because I found that they're the
04:05simplest form of teaching they're easy
04:08they're accessible and anyone can do it
04:10almost anywhere and if it sounds
04:11intimidating there's no worries because
04:13I'm actually going to go into a a
04:14step-by-step process later on now this
04:16works because teaching what you learn is
04:18actually incredibly powerful for your
04:20own learning because not only does that
04:22mental work of writing Force the ideas
04:24to stick but it also let you spot gaps
04:26in your understanding and this is the
04:28magic of the third step when you write
04:30your mini essays you're forced to think
04:33when you put ideas onto paper they're
04:34exposed to the world and you can
04:36confront them clearly because there's
04:38been so many times where I've read
04:40something and it was quite insightful
04:42and I thought I understood it I was like
04:44yeah well that makes sense I'm happy
04:46with my reading but then I find that
04:49someone asks me about it or I try and
04:51talk about it on paper by writing and I
04:54realize I actually have no idea what he
04:57was saying I can't put it into words I
04:59can't articulate it but all that time in
05:01my head I thought I knew it and it's
05:03only until I started writing that I was
05:05able to see all the gaps in my
05:07understanding and even though this
05:08sounds annoying it's actually a really
05:10good thing it's a gift in Disguise
05:12because now you have the opportunity to
05:14make amends you've shown yourself that
05:16you're clearly lacking something and now
05:18the next step is to just return to the
05:20source material and kind of patch those
05:22holes and the benefit to Don't Stop
05:23pouring in because when you correct
05:25yourself when you revisit the material
05:27and find out what you missing that very
05:30act helps you remember more it's just
05:31like in school when you made a mistake
05:33you didn't really make the same mistake
05:35twice and if you can repeat that process
05:37you can learn anything you can walk away
05:39from any book any video feeling
05:41productive and satisfied with your
05:43learning it makes your progress as clear
05:45as it can be and that is really the
05:46backbone of a a good life of learning
05:48and I guarantee if you can take some of
05:50the most powerful ideas from a book you
05:52love and write many essays on them you
05:54will be unrecognizable Down the Line
05:56This is truly deep learning and there's
05:58nothing that Eng engages you more with
06:00the book than writing mini essays so
06:02just for that reason alone mini essays
06:03are wonderful but that's only half of
06:05their value now I'm on a journey to
06:07become a better writer every day I try
06:09and improve my skills and see where I
06:11can go and along the way mini essays
06:13have been my most precious tool for
06:14getting there there's three main
06:15benefits to them that combine into this
06:18perfect trifecta of writing the first
06:20benefit is volume many novice writers
06:22and this included me but they start with
06:25a burst of energy and confidence they
06:27have this excitement to become a writer
06:28they tell every one that they a writer
06:30they come up with plans they brainstorm
06:33ideas and topics all these different
06:34things but in spite of all this action
06:36and busyness they don't write anything
06:40it's sad and ironic probably the worst
06:42form of procrastination too now I'm not
06:44saying to be a writer you have to have
06:46written a bestseller or grown an email
06:48list to 10,000 subscribers but every
06:51writer has to have something to show off
06:53even if it's not the best quality work
06:55at least it's something and then you
06:56have to ask yourself the tough question
06:58are you a writer or are you a wannabe I
07:00was a wannabe but many essays offered a
07:03solution a way out of this black hole of
07:05procrastination because the only way to
07:07escape it and become a good writer is to
07:09put in the Reps you don't get strong and
07:11build muscle by going to the gym once a
07:13month and you don't become a good writer
07:16by spitting out 200 words once in a blue
07:18moon there are no hacks or tricks in
07:20this game and even though that sounds
07:22Bleak it's good news because the only
07:24thing that will reward you is effort
07:27consistent sustained effort every single
07:29day it guarantees that if you have that
07:31patience and that consistency you will
07:33become a good writer that's a promise
07:34from me to you and from every other
07:36great writer out there I make sure to
07:38write every day and I have been for a
07:40while now and over those months I can
07:43see a visible change it's like
07:44practicing an instrument if you practice
07:46every single day you won't really be
07:48able to tell the difference from day to
07:50day but if you stretch that time frame
07:51out over the weeks months even years you
07:55suddenly see how much you've changed and
07:57the progress becomes real and tangible
08:00and it's exactly the same in writing
08:01many essays are not a hack but they are
08:04a tool for helping you get that volume
08:06in and by putting that practice in you
08:08do get better but how comes how's that
08:10possible well a common hurdle for
08:12writers is not knowing what to write
08:14about and this is something that really
08:16affected me in the past I would be
08:18sitting there with a blank screen and
08:20I'd be confused not knowing what to
08:22write and you can just sit there for an
08:24hour with nothing happening but with
08:26mini essays this pain is completely
08:28absent it's gone it doesn't exist your
08:30writing topic is chosen for you already
08:33it's simply the interesting ideas you've
08:35read in a book and that frees up your
08:37mind to just sit down and actually write
08:39and get those damn reps in through the
08:41Synergy by combining my reading with
08:43writing mini essays I can easily clock
08:46about 800 1,000 words a day and if that
08:49doesn't sound like much to you it is to
08:50me because before I was doing less than
08:53500 a day so with one change to my
08:55routine I've almost doubled my writing
08:58output and in theory that means I'll
09:00improve my skills twice as fast so if
09:02you can fit mini essays into your
09:03everyday learning habits you will see
09:05your writing skills s now the second
09:08benefit to mini essays is novelty when
09:10you scroll through YouTube shorts or
09:12Instagram reals why are they so
09:14addictive what is it about them that
09:16keeps you glued to the screen every few
09:18seconds you can expect to see something
09:19new and that keeps you entertained
09:21whereas if you were to watch say a 2hour
09:24lecture on YouTube because nothing's
09:26really changing throughout that two
09:28hours you really you have to have a
09:30stronger attention span to stay focused
09:32by writing mini essays you're harnessing
09:34the power of novelty to keep you writing
09:36for long periods of time and you know
09:38what that means it means you write more
09:39every day it means you get better every
09:41day and it means you improve at a faster
09:43rate than ever before see you and I
09:45we're humans right we have different
09:46interests if I sat here and told you
09:48that you need to stick to your
09:50specialized field and you need to talk
09:52about this one topic all the time you
09:54wouldn't do that and I would hate to do
09:56that I would hate to bottle myself in
09:58into to one topic and manyi essays are
10:01completely against the idea too because
10:03in the space of 1 hour you can write
10:05about five different topics all of which
10:07are wildly interesting to you because
10:09each mini essay takes about 10 or 20
10:11minutes to write all in the space of an
10:13hour I can be writing about content
10:16creation drug cartels Pride or some
10:19literature I read I can switch between
10:21all these vastly different topics so
10:22quickly it keeps writing fun accessible
10:25and refreshing and that allows you to
10:27just do it for ages the third benefits
10:28your writing is that Min essays help you
10:30build a bank of ideas a lot of writers
10:32dread the blank page they sit at their
10:35computer screen paralyzed not knowing
10:38what to write about not knowing where to
10:39start trying to squeeze out an idea but
10:41nothing happens nothing comes out of it
10:43I know that feeling in action hurts and
10:45there's no good reason why you should
10:47suffer from it and even though I can
10:48relate to that feeling I haven't felt it
10:50in over a year just because of mini
10:52essays ever since I started using them
10:54I've never been stuck on what to write
10:56ever if anything I have too much to
10:57write and of course I'm not complaining
10:59at all about that and this is all
11:01because I built a bank of ideas that I
11:03can draw from whenever I need I use this
11:05note taking app called obsidian and with
11:08just the click of a button it slaps me
11:10in the face with this massive network of
11:12knowledge and because I tagged every
11:13note and connected it to similar ones I
11:15can just jump anywhere into this network
11:18and find some inspiration on what to
11:19write about for example if I felt
11:21inspired to write about a meaningful
11:23life I can click on the meaning tag and
11:25it shows me everything about meaning
11:27that I've written ever and from here I
11:28can look around and see what makes me
11:30curious and what I can maybe expand upon
11:32so for example here there's a note
11:34called meaning justifies suffering but
11:36then I also see a note about education
11:39and how we have to take it into our own
11:40hands immediately in my mind I see hold
11:43on a second maybe I could connect those
11:45two ideas somehow maybe how meaning
11:47applies to our self-education and being
11:50lifelong students for example these are
11:51two wildly different ideas coming
11:54together to form something new and
11:55exciting and that example is with a
11:57narrow view I can open up this entire
12:00graph to reveal a 100 maybe a thousand
12:03different entry points of writing
12:04there's just so much to talk about that
12:06you really never run out of ideas with
12:08this and as a bonus tip you can actually
12:09use each mini essay to help you write
12:12the final piece of work so for example
12:14if I want to flesh out an idea more I
12:16sometimes look back at the mini essay I
12:17wrote and maybe I really liked how I
12:19phrased something there or maybe I used
12:21a quote that was really powerful and
12:23Punchy or perhaps I like the structure
12:25and I want to kind of copy that into my
12:27bigger piece of work the mini essays
12:29always give you that foundation and that
12:31starting point I always think of it as
12:32my own personal writing assistant in the
12:34pal of my hand it's brilliant I couldn't
12:36live without many essays and if you
12:38think it's time for you to also step up
12:40your reading and writing game then you
12:42might be wondering how can I actually
12:44apply this how can I actually write them
12:46and where should I write them and all
12:48these different questions so now I want
12:49to dive into the raw details that can
12:51help you actually apply this concept and
12:53start writing your own so first what
12:55makes a mini essay what the dos and
12:57don'ts well first and most importantly
12:59they have to be short because if you're
13:02writing too many words then they just
13:04become full-blown essays and that's good
13:06in itself but it kind of defeats the
13:08purpose of this as a notetaking
13:10technique so if you feel that desire to
13:11write a fullon essay do that but keep
13:13the other mini essay shorter and more
13:15concise mine are roughly 100 to 300
13:17words long which is just a few
13:19paragraphs as a good rule of thumb I try
13:21and fit everything on one page without
13:23having to scroll this is important
13:25because it stops you from Rambling which
13:27I have the tendency to do it helps you
13:29practice being brief which is such an
13:31important skill for any writer out there
13:33exactly how you structure these mini
13:34essays is completely up to you in my
13:37case I write these knowing that I'm
13:39going to release them to the world at
13:40some point in time so because of that I
13:42try and keep it informative entertaining
13:44and actionable but of course that's just
13:46me you might have completely different
13:48needs and the structure of your mini
13:49essays should reflect what you want so
13:52for example you might be practicing your
13:53storytelling so maybe you want to
13:55include a story in each of your notes or
13:57maybe you love Pros or poet
13:59and you kind of want to integrate that
14:00element into it this method is yours and
14:03above all it should serve you to achieve
14:05your goals and that means you adjust it
14:07to your needs and you have that
14:08confidence to to carve your own path of
14:10learning and that remains true but
14:12there's one tip in writing these mini
14:13essays that will save you from a bunch
14:15of stress and that's to keep them
14:16restricted to a single concept or idea
14:19so what that means is every single mini
14:21essay should be about one thing and one
14:24thing alone and this is important
14:25because as soon as you try and integrate
14:27many different elements Concepts it
14:29starts getting complicated you start to
14:31lose the clarity of the message and it
14:33just becomes a jumble i' save the
14:34connections and the more complicated
14:36stuff for longer pieces of writing I
14:38know it's tempting to pull other ideas
14:39in sometimes but trust me on this one it
14:41will make the process so much easier if
14:43you stick to a single concept the final
14:46question is where do you write these
14:48essays I use a free note taking app
14:50called obsidian and that's where you've
14:51seen all the footage I put on the screen
14:53I would recommend it because it can be
14:54used offline and it has this really nice
14:56graph feature that just lets you see all
14:58the notes you've ever made in a visual
15:00format and of course it's simple it's
15:01minimalistic it keeps things focused on
15:03the writing rather than all these other
15:05gimmicks and features and after a whole
15:07year of using it it's continued to serve
15:08me well but of course the options are
15:11endless really there's so many not
15:13taking apps out there I would just
15:14recommend that you use something that a
15:15allows you to connect notes which is
15:17important and B allows you to use it
15:20offline that means you can of course
15:21connect ideas and form new ones and keep
15:23your knowledge somewhat arranged but it
15:25also means you can use it wherever you
15:27are and you don't have to rely on having
15:29an internet connection but whatever you
15:30choose the most important thing is to
15:32stay consistent the platform is not the
15:34important part the important part is
15:36showing up every day to write if you
15:38make many essays a habit I promise you
15:40you will become a better reader but also
15:42a skilled writer it's my favorite way to
15:44kill two birds with one stone and really
15:46make this life of learning I can be
15:47happy with I hope you can find Value in
15:49this method and of course if you have
15:50any questions on how you can set it up
15:53or which note apps to use or anything
15:55anything at all related to this my email
15:57is open the comment are open and as
15:59always I'm happy to help you there I
16:01hope you enjoyed the video and of course
