Hey Friend 👋

Another beautiful Sunday 🔅I hope you slept in, had a luxury breakfast and truly enjoyed the day!

I was up late last night watching Miami vs Nashville in the Leagues Cup final for MLS. I’ve been obsessed watching Lionel Messi (the greatest soccer player in the world if you’re unsure who that is).

It was a crazy tight game but Messi did put in an incredible goal at the 24 minute mark and they did clinch the win in penalties!

I needed the super chill Saturday — I rode into this weekend on two wheels…

This week was full of incredible projects, but tiring none the less. A few things I got to do:

• Connected with over 25+ churches in my leadership role with MissioDigital.com
• Put the final touches for the go live of gowellbeings.com for my friend Blake!
• Reviewed my marketing book’s feedback from my editor (We’re getting there!)
• Wrote a small book in one day where I give away all the MissioDigital.com secrets for small churches to grow on social media (coming soon!)
• Began the website migration for AlinDragu.com (Talk about more of that soon 😉)

To be honest, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. My journal is jam-packed with gratitude notes all week. I’m so honored to get to do what I do with Missio, Brightful, my book and the content I write weekly here with you guys.

My brain feels like it’s always going a million miles an hour but not in the “I wish this would stop I’m dying!” Kind of way but in the “I’m having so much fun let’s keep going!” Kind of way. 😄

More to come… more to come…

For now, here’s a snippet of feedback I got from my editor as she turned in my book back for me to make better! (She is the first person ever to read it!)

Alin. Great news. Your book is fantastic! Truly. I've edited many books, and your writing chops are really good. I did my best to maintain the integrity of your voice and it wasn't all that hard because you have a strong voice. The material is great. You do such a good job of making your principles really clear, backing them up with evidence and examples, and giving applicable take-aways in most cases.

While the hard work isn’t over, I’m incredibly encouraged to hear that this book isn’t absolute trash haha — it’s certainly not for everyone but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Praise God!

Sunday Six ☀️

👨‍💻 Ghost.org — I’m moving my website… let me explain: I cannot rave enough about the incredible people and platform that is Ghost.org. I currently host AlinDragu.com on SquareSpace (which I love!) and I send these emails out using ConvertKit.com (which is also great!).

I have personally set up SquareSpace + ConvertKit as a bad-to-the-bone combination for any entrepreneur building an email list like:

• Gowellbeings.com
• RobertMallon.com
• Mileswelch.coach

And all of these guys are doing an absolutely wonderful job helping tons of people! And I still recommend that set up for 98% of people…

But here’s why I am switching to Ghost.org:

• Integrate my website + email lists into one platform
• It’s specifically for writers doing emails and articles
• It eliminates all of the little steps of software to just let me write
• It has some of the most beautiful platforms designs I’ve ever seen

So next week, this Sunday Six will look a little different in your email AND… all of my previous Sunday Six and Build Better newsletter will be posted online for the first time ever!

I’ve been writing Sunday Six for over 8 months now every single week and I’ve never posted any of them online. Only email. And I have new subscribers ask me all the time to dig through the old ones (First off… you’re so kind 😢)

Ghost has helped me flip the script on my newsletter and articles. You’re going to see a ton more content coming from me and getting posted on the new alindragu.com starting next week!

Link to site: ghost.org

💰 How I Became a Millionaire in my 20’s by Ali Abdaal — Ali Abdaal is one of my favorite content creators, YouTubers and young inspirations. He is 30 just like me and has made millions of dollars online by sharing incredible content on his blog and YouTube.

In fact, he is one of the reasons I found Ghost.org! He made his first million as a content creator online by the time he turned 26 (but he started when was 13… just for context)

Here are his 5 key thoughts in his latest YouTube video of what he would have told himself in getting started to make millions faster:

1. Set a specific goal of your dreams and why
2. Start your own business (Service, Product, Content)
3. Prioritize action over anything else (Just do stuff and keep learning)
4. Learn your gaps then outsource them (Mostly by reading and contract work)
5. Expect to be in the game for 10+ years. Pivot when necessary. Keep going relentlessly.

Link to full video: https://youtu.be/mBTPvvgRICQ

🚶‍♂️ 18 Minute Walks — With working full time remote at home every single day, one of the problems I’ve been trying to solve is getting more sun and steps in throughout the day to keep my energy levels and overall mood high.

So after lunch this week, I’ve been going for an 18 minute one-mile walk in my neighborhood. It get 2,000 steps and about 20 minutes of sun while I listen to a great podcast.

I thought this would be helpful, it’s 10x better than I expected it to be. It skyrockets my energy, I get so much wisdom from great business podcasts that fires me up for great work. I stopped hitting 2PM energy slumps.

I cannot recommend this enough!

👟 Hoka Graviota 5 — With the bulk of my book done, I’ve been pacing up my running routine! I was down to 1-2 per week during the summer of writing this book, I’m working my way back to 4-5 per week.

One of the things I’ve always struggled with in running is my right ankle over pronates. For the past couple of years it hasn’t been that bad, I’ve been able to run in neutral shoes. I guess pulling my back miles during the summer, my ankle was hurting a bit more picking up the mileage now.

I went and picked up a stability running shoe to help my ankle. The Hoka Graviota 5. It’s been an incredible shoe and I’ve already got almost 30 miles logged in on it. If you’re having ankle pain while running, these Hokas might be a major solve for you!

Link to shoe:

📨 How To Grow An Email List of 100 Subscribers — Back in January of this year, I learned the importance or building an email list. Just like the one you are on right now. I have faithfully subscribed to a few email lists over the years such as:

• Seth Godin
• Nicholas Cole
• Eddy Quan
• Dickie Bush
• Justin Welsh
• Miles Welch
• Robert Mallon
• Dan Reiland

And a few other incredible leaders and creators out there. As social media platforms and algorithms change constantly, email virtually stays the same. In a good way though. People are still communicating via email professionally even in 2023, in fact more than ever!

Email is where I’ve gotten the most value and wisdom via the internet. People share their most valuable insights via newsletters to stay connected with friends and like-minded people without being subject to the volatile algorithms of Zuck.

All that to say, you should grow an email list. Share your insights, journey and thoughts with friends and family. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is. One of my greatest joys has been writing these emails and chatting with you guys in the replies. You actually care. Thank you for caring.

One of the best places to start is this article: https://ghost.org/resources/first-100-email-subscribers/#how-to-grow-from-0-to-10-email-subscribers

💬 Discord Community — Taking the next step in staying connected with friends and like-minded people, I’ve been doing research to create an online community for growth-minded entrepreneurs (like myself) to share insights, help each other and collaborate instead of compete.

Based on my research, the best online community tool by far that I found is Discord.

I also looked at:

• Circle.so
• Facebook Groups
• Slack

Here’s why I chose Discord to plant roots in:

• It’s free
• It’s conversationally-driven
• It behaves like Slack without the limitations
• The learning curve is a maximum of three minutes

Those other platforms are great in their own way but slack is more for business, Facebook Groups is algorithmically driven and circle.so has a learning curve that isn’t super appealing.

Link to software: discord.com

P.S. I wore the Off-White Air Forces to church today. Pastor wasn’t the only one bringing the heat, let’s go 🔥

Thanks for tuning into this week's Sunday Six!

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