Today we have a special guest named, Arjun Khemani.

Arjun is a self-described unconventional student and a fascinating young man.

If you’re a curious person, building and learning on the internet, my bet is you’ll hear more from him in the coming years.

I hope you enjoy the show.

You can find Arjun at

* Twitter

* YouTube / Podcast

Thank you for listening!

Today, we have part two of our interview with Pete Barron.

If you missed part one, you can catch up here:

In part two, Pete and I talked about:

* Topics we want to see in formal education

* The ways our education systems are failing (and not)

* Why we share our thoughts and ideas online despite the risk of making a fool of ourself.

And how living abroad can change your life.

Thank you for listening!

Enjoy the show.

Today, we have a special guest, Pete Baron.

Pete is a published author of the new book If Only We Knew, a Fairfield University Senior, and the assistant to the President at the National Urban League in New York City.

I’ve had the privilege to know Pete for over a decade.

We met as campers at a local basketball camp here on Long Island. And later I was his coach. It’s been a pleasure to watch Pete grow.

What did we talk about?

During our chat, we checked in on everything Pete’s been up to the past few years, touched on the power of writing, and Pete’s reflections on publishing his first book before bouncing over to personal growth, and philosophy (Western Stoicism vs. Eastern Daoism).

This is the first of a two-part episode.

If you’re in the US, my guess is you’ll be hearing this guy’s name more often in the coming years.

Enjoy the show!

Today we have our first guest, Eli Weaver.

Eli is a super genius who read 225 books in 3 years despite growing up dyslexic. Not only that, Eli recently became a professional ghostwriter. Boy was it a treat to talk with him.

Today we talk about,

* Was the Ship30for30 online course worth it?

* What is Ghostwriting (16:26)

* How Eli got paid to write by his first client (21:15)

* Our Plan to make writing our source of income (24:00)

And then we went down an absolute rabbit hole of practical psychology, human nature, and the best books of all time. I decided to give you the show in whole (almost two hours) because it was too good to cut up.

Also If you’re new to podcasts, I recommend you speed up the audio and listen on a platform like Spotify or Apply so you can save your place in the show. (Just Search Zeitgeist with Derek and Connor)

Enjoy the show!

In today’s episode, Derek and I talk about Persuasive Writing, and the classic book, Think and Grow Rich.

But since we recorded this conversation a lot changed in my life. I signed up for Ship30for30 from Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole. In short, Ship30for30 is an online cohort-based writing course that teaches you the fundamentals of digital writing and holds you accountable for 30 essays in 30 days. Joining Ship30 has more than 10xed my writing output over the last two weeks.

If you are curious, you can find my daily essays on Twitter:https://twitter.com/CopyWriteConnor

I would have paid thousands

I paid $250 to be a part of the April Cohort (they give “scholarships” if you ask) but if truth be told, it’s laughably affordable for the value you get. I simply can’t say enough good things about the course or Dickie.

Here are Dickie’s best Twitter Threads about writing. (more helpful than a college course & free):

By the way, Dickie, who played football at Princeton, recently quit his job at Blackrock (the super prestigious investment firm) to build full time on the internet. Cool guy.

Ship30for30 (Epic Course):

If you want to start a daily writing habit and learn all about writing online, you can sign up for the August Cohort.

August Cohort Ship30for30

I already persuaded my friend Shivam in India to sign up:

Can’t wait to hear from him in August.

Lastly,, here is the ghostwriter’s digital products Derek and I mentioned in the podcast:

https://joshualisec.gumroad.com/

(But Ship30for30 is better)

P.S. My Most Popular Essay This WeekHow Being Cheap Can Cost You Your Pants

In Constance, Germany, everyone rides bikes.

After I moved here, a teacher gifted me his old bike. The bike was perfect except for the cracked leather seat. But, I never replaced the seat because I wanted to save money. That proved to be a costly mistake.

Short Term (First Order Consequence)

In the short term, I saved money. Instead of spending 25 bucks on a new seat, I kept using the defective (but workable) seat. But, I wasn’t in Germany for the short term, and soon my cheapness caught up with me.

Long Term (Second Order Consequence)

The result was I lost my favorite pair of pants. Let me explain.Last year, my grandfather bought me a pair of carpenter pants. I love those pants because they are breathable, durable, and have perfect pockets. So, I wear them most days. But that also meant I sat on the cracked seat with them most days.

After a couple months, a hole started to develop right on the deepest leather ridge. When I took my pants to a tailor, she said they were beyond repair because too much of the fabric was thinning (in the exact pattern of my bicycle seat).If I wanted to replace my pants, it would cost 75 dollars plus the hassle of getting them to Germany.

The Moral of the Story

Your short-term wants don't usually satisfy your long-term needs. Part of growing up is aligning your short-term actions with your long-term desires.Don't be like me. Save your pants.

Thank you for reading ZeitGeist. This post is public so feel free to share it.

In today’s episode, Derek and I breakdown what makes a Gary Halbert sales letter so damn persuasive.

If you’re unfamiliar with Gary, he is a Copywriting legend who sold over one Billion USD of product by mailing letters to people and having them reply with a check or cash. Insane, I know.

But because his letters performed so well, they are one of the best places to learn practical psychology and understand what makes humans tick.

If you enjoy the show, please consider sharing it with your best friend.

Thank you!

Why I Changed my Mind about Sales

If you’re a normal person, you probably consider sales as something negative.

Maybe you picture the used car salesman who pushes a lemon onto a struggling working mother.

Or you picture a fat cat banker stuffing his pockets on the backs of working-class Americans.

At least that’s what I used to imagine.

But now I changed my mind.

Everything is sales

You see, I discovered that sales is not taking advantage of people and in fact, practically everything you do is “sales”.

* Going on a date?

* Have a job interview?

* Need a favor?

You’re selling yourself.

* Want your friends to watch your movie?

* Want to spread your message on social media?

* Want to convince your child to eat broccoli?

You’re selling your idea.

Often it’s unethical not to sell

For example,

A Roth IRA is a special retirement account where all future withdrawals are tax-free. (Investopedia)

Opening a Roth IRA is one of the biggest ‘no-brainer’ financial moves for a young person.

So, it would be unethical not to sell your brother on the idea of opening a Roth IRA. (Shoutout to Kurt I hope you have an account)

If you believe in something, it is your ethical obligation to sell it to other people.

In fact, Aristotle believed the same thing:

Those speaking the truth have an obligation to be persuasive.

(from Selected Political Speeches Cicero)

It’s Never Been More important to be Persuasive

Sales and persuasion are the two most essential skills that anyone can have today.

Why is that?

Because if you can write persuasively,

you can write words that sell at scale

I’ll say that one more time

If you can write persuasively,

you can write words that sell at scale

This is the best time ever to be alive

And the people who understand this are providing massive value and reaching financial freedom at a speed previously only available to Vanderbilts, Carneigies, and Rockefellers.

I’m not kidding:

Before the internet, these opportunities were not available. You couldn't reach every person for free and you couldn’t broadcast your unique point of view without permission.

The best you could do was write someone a letter in the mail which was 100x riskier and less effective.

That’s why I respect the legends of direct response mail marketing like Gary Halbert:

If you want to become more persuasive one of the best ways is to study the great direct mail sales letters. (Like this one from the WSJ in our last essay)

The inherent cost of sending a letter via mail created a feedback loop that meant only the most profitable letters could survive.

Studying them will change your life.

Here is one of Gary’s best:

Amazing Money Making Secret of a Desperate Nerd from Ohio

Bonus for Paid Subscribers:

Thank you for your support!

You can read my notes on the greatest sales letters of all time here:

Principles of Persuasive Writing

(This list will be doubled within the end of the month because I have new notes to transcribe.)

Why we left Long Island

Derek and I grew up on this Island:

After high school, we both left for college (Connor: Upstate NY, Derek LA), and even after graduation still haven’t returned.

In today’s episode, we reflect on why we left, why we have no plans to return, and what’s next.

Enjoy the show!

Quotes we mentioned:

Epictetus

“What would have become of Hercules, do you think, if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar – and no savage criminals to rid the world of? What would he have done in the absence of such challenges? Obviously he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into the mighty Hercules.”

Seneca

"How can you wonder your travels do you no good, when you carry yourself around with you? You are saddled with the very thing that drove you away."

In today’s episode, Derek and I explore how being generous and ethical helps you make more money in the long run. (Everybody wins!)

This conversation was inspired by tit-for-tat strategy from game theory and reciprocal altruism in evolutionary psychology and Naval Ravikant’s tweet:

For more on these topics, we recommend The Naval podcast and The Moral Animal by Robert Wright.

Enjoy the Show.

Concast Podcast has officially rebranded to ZeitGeist with Derek and Connor.

After rave reviews and enjoying our first podcast, Derek and I have decided to record more episodes together. New episodes will air on Tuesdays.

In this episode, Derek and I talked about habits, meditation, thought addiction, and our favorite topic, reading.

ZeitGeist is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Chapters

0:00 Introducing ZeitGeist

3:15 Habits

13:10 Connor’s reflections on 2 Years of Meditation

23:30 Dealing with thoughts

30:10 Flow + Feeling meaning

33:00 Desire is suffering

35:55 Thought Addiction

40:30 Reprogramming your mind

45:45 Meditation is essential for everyone

50:12 Reading

Please contact us with your feedback for the show or future topics you’d like to hear.

You can also listen on Spotify and soon Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening!

Derek Branch is a Real Estate Investment Consultant at Alden Pacific Investments (API).

Derek is a special guest not only because he was my first childhood friend but also because of his ability to inspire people to think bigger and create the reality they wish to have.

In 2015, Derek and I flew out to California to visit my brother, then a student at UCLA. A surfer at heart, Derek fell in love with sunny LA. He studied Finance and Accounting with an Italian Minor at Loyola Marymount University.

He now lives in the South Bay of Los Angeles.

Lastly, shout out to Ren and Charlie from Manhattan Beach. They overheard our conversation at a bar and encouraged us to start a podcast. Here is that manifested.

Our Conversation

Derek and I can talk for hours. In fact, we did before and after the recording and every time I speak to him, I get smarter.

Some topics we recorded:

* The value of having a mentor early in your career

* Derek’s top sales tips

* How to get comfortable asking questions

* Why fear is a cue for success, not an obstacle

* How to create wealth with leverage

* Why reading and focus is a superpower

* The unique challenges and opportunities for our generation

Network with Derek

Dbranch789@gmail.com

Derek's LinkedIn

Books:

Influence

Raising Capital