EMAIL NUMBER 35
TITLE:
The Book = One Step Closer to Completion
FROM:
Scott P. Scheper
Downtown San Diego, CA
TO:
You*
START TIME:
Thursday 3:50 p.m.
Dear Friend,
Last Friday was just one of those days. One of those… shitty days.
I woke up feeling tired, after having slept only five hours for some reason. I had a problem finishing anything. I would start making my cats their food, only to get distracted and find myself doing something else. Getting out the door was a challenge.
In my tired state, for some reason I decided to attempt to do something quite technical (I guess): I attempted to program my Tesla so that it would automatically sync with my garage door. That way, when I drove home I'd be able to automatically open the garage from my Tesla. I no longer would have to press the button on my garage door opener transponder thingy (my life would be easy forever).
In my mentally inept state, I somehow, someway ended up screwing up the garage door altogether. It was roughly 10:30 a.m., and I had a Zoom call scheduled for 11:00 a.m. The drive to my office is roughly twenty minutes, which meant I had to haul ass. However, there was only one problem:
My Freaking Garage Door Was Open and Wouldn't Close!
I didn't want to leave my garage open all day, because the area outside the gated community we live in is a bit sketch. Plus, I don't really know all the neighbors yet. But I was out of options. Out of time. Tough shit (as my crazy grandma would say).
So what did I do? I left, and I drove to the office.
When I got to my office, another annoying event happened. When I pulled my car to the gated entry, for some reason the sensor wasn't detecting my entry card. I had only ten minutes until my call started (and I refuse to be a second late). I believe in sticking to your agreements and showing up on time. Period.
So there I was, sitting there at the entry gate for what felt like forever. There I was waving my access card furiously, like a maniac, cursing that goddamn detector thingy until… finally… magically… it let me in.
Thank God… Eight minutes to spare.
So the gate opened, I entered the parking lot and I drove to the typical spot I park in. Except, for some reason, in my tired and mentally foggy state, I decided to back into the parking spot.
I backed in rather quickly (because I was in a hurry) and…
THUD. CRACK. BOOM. FUCK!
My head slammed against the back of my beautiful, over-engineered Elon Musk outer-space Tesla car seat.
Ugh!!! was the only thing that came out of my mouth.
WTF just happened?
I got out of my car, looked at the back of my car, and I realized what had happened.
The parking spot had a low-hanging blockade thingy for the air conditioning or some electrical unit. And I, in my tired and hurried state of brilliance, hadn't realized it was there. I backed right into it, and it blew a fist-sized hole into my back window.
Great.
Whatever, I'll deal with this later, I thought.
With only four minutes to spare, I went upstairs and had my Zoom call. On-time. Barely.
The call went OK, but I was tired. I made it through at least.
But still, overall, it was a shitty day.
So what did I do? How did I bounce back from such a crappy day?
I did two critical things:
First, that evening I bought a bottle of Chardonnay.
And second, I sipped a nice glass of Chardonnay from that bottle while I binge-watched the Star Wars series called The Mandalorian. And hot damn is it good!
Actually, I did three things.
The third thing I did was get to bed early and have a good night sleep.
Actually, four things.
I then spent that weekend taking time off, reading, and enjoying time with my family.
Fast forward to today, and I must say: Holy crap have things changed for the better!
This week has been a hell of a great week.
First and foremost, I finished integrating the copyedits into my Antinet book! Hell, fricken, yes!
That's right, I'm one step closer to being done with my 554-page beast of a book. It's titled, Antinet Zettelkasten: The Secret Knowledge Development System Evolved By History's Greatest Minds.
It is going to be one hell of a book (if you're interested in the true Zettelkasten—the Luhmannian one, the analog one, the one that turns you into a learning, reading and writing machine).
Second, not only has it been a freaking awesome week in terms of book writing productivity; it's also been an awesome week in terms of building out my top secret program (well, it's not so top secret anymore. It's called The Neo-Intellectual Institute.
I received many applications, and I'm super grateful and excited about helping people build the Neo-Intellectual Life for themselves.
True to my word, I've been super selective in who I interview and accept into the program.
The Neo-Intellectual Institute is for those who are interested in reading, writing, and thinking all day, while also building a tribe, and a community around their work so that they can make a comfortable living serving the people they want to serve. That is, it's trading a life of achievement, for a life of fulfillment (while also making a great living).
I'm happy to announce that my first class of Neo-Intellectuals is almost filled up. There's only one spot left.
Like I said, I'm only taking on three people total because I want to have a transformational impact on making the neo-intellectual dream a reality.
I've decided to apply my marketing and copywriting skills to helping people I like. Yes, the same skills that helped me retire at the age of twenty-eight, and the same skills that have helped me build multiple companies into multi-million dollar enterprises. I now get to apply these nunchuck skills to helping the people I like helping: those committed to growth, and learning. And those who are interested in becoming a writing machine, and making a nice living doing this.
Anyway, that's what I've been up to this week.
The overall lesson in all of this?
It's this: Celebrate the days that are shitty, because it means the good times are around the corner.
Or, perhaps another way of saying it is this:
Behind mountains, are more mountains. So you might as well enjoy the journey.
The journey of the Neo-Intellectual is one that revolves around embracing the high's and the low's of creative output.
Writing my book, and creating my latest program (Neo-Intellectual Institute), has been a hell of a ride. And it's just getting started.
Thank you all for being a part of this journey.
Thank you to my Antinetters.
And thank you to all of those who believe in developing knowledge the old way, the analog way, the best way.
Let's keep the momentum going.
If you haven't done so already, please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel.
If you haven't seen it yet, I just published a badass new video I think you'll like: [https://youtu.be/IiSov8Jt3Ik]
Warm regards,
And stay crispy, my friend.
Scott P. Scheper
"A Man Who Drives His Tesla Like It's a Jeep"
P.S. Here's what I have left to do with regards to the book:
#1: Complete a general todo list of 30 items (things like checking the consistency of the spelling of terms, etc.)
#2: Integrate the diagrams and illustrations drawn by my lovely fiancé
#3: Check footnotes and URL's and format (kill me).
#4: Get the book designed (cover, interior, etc.)
#5: Get the final designed version spell-checked a million times
#6: Get it printed
#7: Create digital version
#8: Get both physical and digital versions listed on Amazon
#9: Send free physical copies to my crazy early Antinetters who wrote to me by hand.
#10: World domination
END TIME:
Thursday 4:42 p.m.
AUTH TRUTH:
96
