Edinburgh

A 1-post collection

A week in Scotland, climbing mountains, and what it takes to make it as a comedian — Weekly Roundup

I’ve been in Scotland this week and, despite having a few days away from my laptop, it’s been busy.

I climbed a Munro — a Scottish mountain that’s at least 3,000 feet high.

I’d never have dreamt of tackling this just a few years ago — why climb a steep hill just to come back down the other side?

It’s a question I was pondering while stumbling up, plodding one foot after the other, being battered by high winds and chilling rain.

The rationale hit me after we reached the top and made our way back to the base. It feels great to accomplish something difficult.

Knowing I had managed to climb to the top of Ben Lawers, the 10th highest Munro, and knowing I had exerted all my energy to get there… it felt good.

Sometimes, doing something hard, no matter how useful, is a reward in itself.

A few other things from the week:

  • A wonderfully practical article on how to grow a newsletter from zero.
  • I spent some time at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Here are a few jokes from this year to keep you entertained.
  • Every time I go to the Fringe I’m reminded of how hard it is for anyone to break into the comedy world. You need to be funny, and confident in front of a crowd, you need to be a marketer, a sales person, and you need to invest huge amounts of time and money to have a shot at building an audience.
  • We’re already wrapping up series 5 of the EcoSend Podcast. I loved this episode with Michelle Miles on how to make weddings more sustainable.
  • I’ve posted a bunch more of the back catalogue of episodes of Lost + Founder on YouTube.

A quote for the week ahead

“Often it isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you out, it’s the little pebble in your shoe.” — Muhammad Ali