Hi everyone đź‘‹,
🔥 What I have been doing this week
👷‍♂️ I have been doing quite a lot of thinking and building in the background to determine the framework for this newsletter and the website. I’m about a month in since having the idea of sharing my processes and journey and it has really begun to take over my thoughts with the possibilities. It energises me when I think about it or work on it. Long may that last!
🕸 More work on my new website where the main articles will be written and posted. I am leaving it live so people can see it as it progresses. There are some fundamentals that I am working on such as the Grand Review Philosophy which I will also post so that people can see why each review is constructed in that way.
My daughter is having a bit of sleep regression so we’ve been having repeated disturbed nights sleep with 0300 wake ups before having to be up at 0530 for work. This really reduces the mental capacity I have to work on side projects like this and also my businesses. Hopefully she settles back in to sleeping through the night again soon.
🎧 I’ve been using an app called Snipd which enables me to learn on the go. In the past I have used podcast apps that work well enough but I struggled to highlight any interesting information to be able to return to at a later date without having to listen to a bunch of episodes again. Snipd allows me to capture the audio in the moment and tag it so that I can easily come back to it later. This week I have created our own MTBO group which will allow me to share snips of any interesting podcasts I think will be useful to you. It’s free to join too!
đź“ş I have now drafted the review for third episode of Grand Designs on Channel 4 (UK) with a focus to the detail. I will be publishing my lessons learned shortly, once I have finalised the design of the website and the post format.
Make sure you subscribe to this newsletter (or share it with someone you think might also enjoy it) so you can read the first two reviews when they are released.
Subscribed
đź“ť Where to begin?
✍️ Quote of the week
While working on the Grand Reviews Philosophy this week, I have been thinking about what the purpose is. This quote in Black Box Thinking is one that resonates strongly with me.
I am not currently in a position to begin sourcing land or building a property, and even if I did I think my chances of success would be significantly reduced because I am quite naïve of the full process and would be very reliant on third parties telling me the truth and guiding me through all the complexities. Therefore I want to create a sort of “Playground” where I can practice the craft before getting up on stage. And doing this in as financially friendly a way possible. That’s the underlying purpose of MTBO for me. To practice and therefore learn.
With that being said there is an importance to failing quickly and learning from mistakes then trying again. But staying in the game for the long term is also important as explained in The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. And a goal this large has the possibility of wiping me out completely and taking me out of the game, which would be disastrous for me and my family. There needs to be a middle ground where I can practice by failing quickly but without it wiping me out. The Grand Reviews are hopefully one part of that.
🕵️‍♂️ Property Glossary
A new feature to the newsletter this week is the weekly Property Glossary. I will add definitions each week of words that pop up now and then in the property world and can be confusing.
Curtilage
Curtilage is a legal term that describes the land around a house that is enclosed by a fence or other barrier. It is used to determine the limits of a property and to protect the privacy of the homeowner.
đź“– Interesting Things I’ve Read
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have outlined a framework for building a property. Using the experience of professionals like this can really shortcut the learning of the outline process. Read the article here.
🎥 Interesting Things I’ve Watched
Pete Matthew of Meaningful Money is such a generous resource for personal finance advice. I have read his book and bought a second copy to give to my mum. Following his advice has been a game changer for my personal wealth. I was watching it for ideas on how to plan out big goals as retirement is definitely just that.
đź”— Links
Here are links to books and other resources that I may have mentioned above or that I think you might find useful.
Book/Article Snippet
Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Apps I Use
Readwise – I’ve been paying for Readwise since 2021 and gained access to Readwise Reader Beta in 2022 and find it extremely useful for knowledge retention and research. I pass all my email newsletters through it and whenever I get a spare few minutes I can pick up where I last left off without any friction.
If you sign up using the link you’ll get an extra month free (two in total) so you can really test out the software without it costing you a penny. They don’t advertise widely so it is down to word of mouth like this that gets the tool new users. I find it invaluable.
Monzo – Carefully budgeting my spending is fundamental to being able to save towards the build. Monzo has helped me track and itemise spending for years. I now pay for the Premium account which gives me access to extra features and things like airport lounge access, phone insurance, worldwide travel insurance so it practically pays for itself. If you join using this link we’ll both get ÂŁ5 (which I’ll use towards the build!).
Focus@Will – This app has superpowers. It has the ability to allow me to switch off from a noisy home and get some work done and it seems to work for me in about 5 minutes.
Socials
I’m now on:
Instagram as @MeasureTwiceBuildOnce
Pinterest as @MeasureTwiceBuildOnce
Snipd for Podcasts @MTBO
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading!
Brendan