Have You Ever Fallen in Love? ❤️‍🔥

🍹Aperitif: I’ve Fallen in Love 🤩

❤️‍🔥 Main Course: What Did I Eat This Week? 🫛

🍨 Dessert: Master Your Sleep 🌙

I Fell in Love This Week … 😍

I’m a new man.

Last Tuesday, I fell in love …

With teaching people, and uplifting them.

I realized this when I was teaching a Master Class about newsletters to 20+ attendees.

I also realized that I’m good at it.

Call me Professor Young from this point on … 👨🏽‍🏫

Along with two journalist pals, I brought the cohort and their networks closer to their goal of sufficiency and independence.

Why Teach About Newsletters? 🤔

Using email newsletters, it’s my belief that powerful movements can start from a single blinking cursor on a laptop screen.

They’re a useful tool to make a name for yourself and get your work or ideas seen.

Why?

Because people check their emails, and if you’re trying to get your ideas seen, newsletters skip the line.

Therein also lies a seismic opportunity to make money and live without restriction.

I conducted this workshop in person back in August 📺 Watch on YouTube if you don’t want to miss out on the insights!

That’s why I brought the New York Association of Black Journalists (NYABJ) together for a deep dive into a critical question: how can our communities can escape this broken simulation?

The answer: Our words, our networks, and our communication.

For the journalists in attendance, we recognized that the climate of 2025 demands integrity — there is an urgent call to protect and deliver truth to our communities.

Our livelihoods depend on it.

What’s The Deal With 2025 Media? 😵‍💫🤯

This is a weird time, I know. Surreal and confusing.

It can be challenging to understand where the truth is at.

Since no one is reading newspapers anymore, most of that news is coming from the internet, in the form of content: tweets, podcast clips and … TikToks.

And there is so much of this content.

The more callous, obnoxious, or infuriating the content is, the higher it climbs on the algorithms — the same ones that mold our personal habits and outlooks on the world.

Most of it is not entertaining or informative anymore. And a good deal of it feels more like AI slop than relevant information.

Where Should We Look For Content and Information? 📲

So, about the good stuff – Where can we look for reputable sources, complete with updates and relevant information that we can trust?

We can look within our communities.

We can look to the individuals who have proven their character through years of honest production, unlike biased corporate media and sold-out influencers.

Where’s The Fun Part? 😒

And it’s not just headlines that you’ll find in a newsletter — there’s entertainment and playful storytelling, too.

During the workshop, attendees offered their ideas for their soon-to-be newsletters.

To help the exercise, we asked the crew to focus on their wheelhouse — what topics could they talk about forever? The more random, the better.

One friend cooked up an intriguing music/science hybrid for his theme.

Another composed the idea of a laid-back, Gen X-centric newsletter niche.

It was awesome to witness the fountains of inspiration in real time.

After the hour was over, I felt confident that the people around me are destined for decades of great things.

I am determined to bring them closer to that with each workshop, coaching session, or piece of content I develop.

And I know newsletters will continue to be my dependable tool for creating that reality.

The Future of People-First Media 🫂

I love newsletters now, but I love even more where they’re going, considering the rapid ascent of independent media.

When you give someone the power to tell their stories to the communities they cherish with no interference, a lot of good things happen.

That’s because inside each of us is a revolution — a burning story waiting to be told — garnering laughs, cries, and moments of awe along the way.

Then we all go up, together.

What story will you tell?

What Did I Eat This Week? 😋

🫛 Seapoint Farms Edamame I’ve been munching on these protein-packed peas all week.

They’re tasty, versatile, and loaded with fiber.

I put them in salads, scrambled eggs, and straight up as a post-workout snack.

Think of them as peanuts with more protein and a firmer crunch.

🧀 Anthony’s Non-Fortified Nutritional Yeast Like the name suggests, this is a deactivated yeast (no rising) loaded with nutrition.

It’s a cheesy, nutty-tasting topping, often a staple in vegetarian and vegan diets.

It’s packed with B vitamins, which give you energy and healthy skin.

It's also a good source of minerals like zinc, selenium, magnesium, and manganese, which play vital roles in immune function, wound healing, and metabolism.

It is nutritional yeast after all …

🍵 Listerine Pocketpacks Pausing to engage with my senses helps me get Down to Earth.

That can be sniffing something pleasant and focusing on the scent, massaging my hands or jaw, or enjoying the taste of refreshing mint.

When I’m feeling stale, bored, or understimulated, I grab a slice of Listerine.

Instantly, my focus is shifted to this sensation.

It’s like refreshing an unresponsive webpage – sometimes that’s all you need to do to get back on track.

😬 Xylitol Gum One of the most significant benefits of xylitol gum is its positive impact on dental health.

Unlike sugar, which feeds harmful bacteria in the mouth, xylitol reduces their growth.

Regular chewing of xylitol gum can reduce the risk of dental cavities and tooth decay.

Popping one of these serves as a mental refresher too.