2 years ago, I learned about Tiago Forte's fantastic idea of the Second Brain via an Ali Abdaal video.

Yes, technically, the term "Second Brain" was already claimed by our stomach. But darn it, A "Second Brain" as our "Personal Knowledge System" just has a nice ring to it.

So, for 2 years, I've been building my Second Brain in Notion.

But it hasn't been pretty. No matter how many times I tore it down to rebuild it. It just wasn't translating to the sustained kind of output I was looking for. Then, I stopped making videos altogether on Youtube.

The birth of my first kid, then the second, and working a 9-5. There were other factors, but it just didn't work out.

Yet, I still believed the perfect Second Brain was my golden ticket.

Then, I learned about the Zettelkasten method.

It was then that I realized I need 2 halves to the second brain.

Left - Goal and output-oriented, a.k.a. The Second Brain
Right - Do what you like, a.k.a. Zettelkasten

Let me explain.

I realized having a goal of producing 1 video per week is good. But, that in itself was not enough.

In fact, focusing on the output has sucked the joy out of creation for me.

So, I took the counter-intuitive suggestion from to "How to take smart notes". I follow my curiosity and focused on finding insights for myself, first.

When notes on a topic hit a critical mass, I used my left brain to re-package them in a way that was helpful to people. (That's the goal anyway).

Truth be told.

There's a lot to learn when it comes to "packaging it", and it hasn't always worked out.

But when two sides of my brain clicked?

Here are the results below.

Zettelkasten vs. Second Brain - How Knowing the Difference 4x My Twitter Growth in 30 Days.

2 years ago, I learned about Tiago Forte's fantastic idea of the Second Brain via an Ali A

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