Hello friend,

“So Google and Siri are brother and sister?”

​​My seven year old asserted.

“Yes”, I chuckled.

This is how it all started.

I am sitting on the living room couch after lunch this Sunday. Navya comes along and sits with me. She takes my phone, asks me to unlock it and initiates Siri.

She asks a few questions to Siri, which Siri answers.

Then Navya asks: “Siri, what’s your favorite toy?”

Siri doesn’t have an answer. So she replies: “I am happy to go with your opinion on this one.”

Navya persists: “Do you like Playmobil better or doll house?”

Siri gives up: “Hmm… I don’t have an answer for that. Is there something else I can help with?”

At this point, I had to stop having fun watching this conversation and intervene.

I inform: “Siri is a software. She does not like or dislike things. She does not play with toys. So she can’t answer your question.”

Navya is baffled.

“Oh, that means there is no one typing answers back when I ask them?”

(Hate to break the reality to her…)

“Yes, it’s just a software that’s programmed to answer certain types of questions.”

She pauses.

“So that means even when I ask Google, there is nobody typing back answers?”

“No, Google is also just a software.”

“Oh, then Google and Siri are like brother and sister?”

(I can not fathom what kind of connection is that, but I’m glad she understands it’s a software. So…)

“Yes”, I chuckle.

Kids of today are going to have a hard time distinguishing between real and artificial humans. It’d be smarter if we taught them to value real, human relationships.

How do you teach this to your kids?

Reply and let me know. Thanks.

Will learning SEO tricks help you grow in 2022?

Do you wish more people found your blog through search engines?

What if your blog posts appeared on Google’s first page of results?

We all work so hard to build an audience. So if we could pull in more organic traffic, we can expand our reach faster, right?

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Reply to this email with a “Yes for SEO” if you’re in.

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The habit of writing

How do you improve your writing?

Lots of techniques. But one you can’t live without.

Writing.

If you don’t write often, you won’t improve your style.

If you’re not sure what to write, get a few “writing prompts” books, or refer to some sites.

Write 75 words, write a few bullets. But write regularly.

If nothing else, the habit of writing will free you up from the fear of writing. Help you unblock the writer’s block.

Time for rest and relaxation?

When we do our goal planning, our attention is on things we want to accomplish and projects we want to complete. But you may also be tired and burnt out. You may be demotivated because you didn’t fully achieve your goals from the previous period.

How about making time for rest and relaxation? How about adding those goals to your annual planning?

We all want to be superhuman. But embracing our human-ness may be a surprising access to superhuman productivity.

Go ahead, revise your plans. 📓

🧠

Meditate on this

Ready to make 2022 better than 2021?

Do reply to this email with “Yes for SEO” if you want to learn SEO tricks.

Keep writing!