Kyle Steed:

There is never any secret to someones success. There is only one foot in front of the other. There will always be someone ahead of and behind you. There will always be an unfair advantage. There will always be an excuse not to do it.

Back in 2012, I went to the first Circles Conference, and Kyle gave the opening talk. He spoke about the challenges of design from both a skill standpoint and a philosophical standpoint. His point, in a nutshell, was that learning Photoshop is easy compared to learning how to solve problems.

When Marco shared his AppleScript for “Automatic Social Discipline” last fall, I built a Keyboard Maestro version of it. Except that my Keyboard Maestro version had this weird bug where it would just quit Tweetbot or Mail after 10 minutes the moment those apps were “out of focus”.

Marco’s new Mac app, Quitter, is much better.

Live smarter by knowing more about the place you care about most. Eve Energy understands your energy consumption — instantly see how much energy your devices are using, and switch them on or off with a simple tap or using Siri.

Taking advantage of Apple’s revolutionary HomeKit technology, Eve offers unparalleled ease of use, advanced security, and tight integration with Siri. Eve Energy connects directly to your iPhone or iPad using Bluetooth Smart technology, without requiring a hub, gateway or bridge.

* Know your home: instantly see how much energy your devices are using
* Convenient control: switch your devices on or off with a simple tap or using Siri
* Gain insights: understand your energy consumption
* HomeKit-enabled: unparalleled ease of use and advanced security
* Works with Siri: control your devices connected to Eve Energy with just your voice
* Easy setup: direct connection using Bluetooth Smart technology, no hub or gateway required

About Eve
With Eve, see your home at a glance, right on your iPhone and iPad. The Eve family of HomeKit accessories gathers data on air quality, temperature, humidity, air pressure, energy consumption and more. Gain insights that help you improve your comfort, and make your home a smarter place. Use the free Eve app to view all data collected by Eve and control all accessories featuring HomeKit technology.

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*My thanks to Elgato for sponsoring the site this week. [Sponsorship by The Syndicate.](http://synd.co/)*

Have you ever wanted to schedule your email rather than send it right away? Or wondered if the person has actually opened your email?

MailButler allows you to schedule an email to be sent at a specific date and time. Thus, you can fulfill lots of tasks beforehand by writing several emails at once and letting MailButler ensure their scheduled delivery later.

Or another familiar situation: you sent an email several days ago, but still haven’t received a reply. What is the best way to react in this case?

Email Tracking, MailButler’s new feature, allows you to know if the recipient has actually opened your email. If you know that the first email has already been read, you can proceed with a follow-up. If it has not been read, you should rather wait a few days.

There are 6 other cool features that MailButler adds to your Apple Mail, such as the ability to convert emails to notes, upload email attachments regardless of size, and more. The developers plan to add new things to this list.

Check it out now! Use this coupon code to get 20% discount on the original price (valid one month): MAILBUTLER_BLANC

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My thanks to MailButler for sponsoring the site this week. Sponsorship by The Syndicate.

ReadBundle is back, with an unbeatable collection of books and resources for freelancers, designers, marketers, startups, and growth hackers. In our second bundle, you can save 93% on 11 fantastic eBooks — usually $395, this bundle is yours this week for just $29!

In this bundle, books include Design for Founders by Heidi Pungartnik, Bootstrapping Design by Jarrod Drysdale, Emails That Win You Clients by Robert Williams, and Aspirational by Erin Walker.

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My thanks to ReadBundle for sponsoring the site this week.

We’ve all come to expect the most from our athletic clothes. But for some reason, the clothes we wear to work – when we’ve got to perform at our best — still hold us back. In an age where clothing is getting more and more capable, our everyday wardrobe still feels stiff and constricting — as if it were designed for a static mannequin, with fabric and construction that hardly changed in decades. The time for change is now.

Spearheading the long-overdue reinvention? Ministry of Supply, a menswear brand that uses performance technology and real-life experience to create professional essentials – think dress shirts, slacks, and sweaters — that wick sweat, ventilate, and enable movement just like your gym clothes do, while still looking like traditional office wear.

Take their Aviator 2 Suit, for example. It’s designed to enable extreme movement without losing its formal structure, thanks to a special stretchy knit fabric that looks and feels like traditional woven material. To prove just how capable the suit is, Ministry of Supply co-founder Gihan Amarasiriwardena ran a half-marathon wearing the Aviator 2 (along with a dress shirt and dress socks from the brand), and broke the Guinness World record for fastest half-marathon time while wearing a suit.

Not only do the garments adapt to factors like body temperature and movement, but their classic, minimalist aesthetics and color palettes work for virtually any occasion, whether you add a tie for a big meeting or go untucked for weekend errands. Give Ministry of Supply a try for yourself — with 15% off first purchases, now’s the time. Use the code TOOLSTOYS16 for 15% off your first purchase.

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My thanks to Ministry of Supply for sponsoring the site this week. Sponsorship by The Syndicate.

Half of us will lose data this year, but you don’t have to. Just back up your data using Backblaze online backup. A mere $5 a month gets you unlimited, unthrottled, uncomplicated backup.

With Backblaze, you’ll know your data is safe — movies, music, photos, tax returns, important work files, or anything else. Backblaze continuously, securely, and reliably backs up all the data on your computer and external hard drives.

Restoring files using Backblaze couldn’t be easier: You can download a single file or all of your data through any web browser, or even using your iPhone. Don’t want to deal with downloads? Backblaze can even FedEx you a flash thumbdrive or a USB hard drive.

You never know when disaster will strike. Hard drives fail, computers stop working, gear goes missing or gets stolen. A spilled glass of wine or a hard drop to the floor can destroy months or years worth of work. But that doesn’t mean you have to lose your data or stop working. Backblaze can help.

For just $5/month, you can securely back up all the data on your computer. It’s easy. Stop putting it off. Start your free trial, and get your backup started now.

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My thanks to Backblaze for sponsoring the RSS feed this week. I’ve been using Backblaze for several years — highly recommended. Sponsorship by The Syndicate.

As your company grows, so does your need for technology to support it. Even with a small number of iPads, iPhones, or Macs, it becomes time consuming to individually configure settings. It can be challenging determining which apps to download, how to distribute them, and who’s Apple ID should be associated with the app. Modifying even a single setting requires a user to manually update each device. This job often gets pushed to one or two people taking them away from their primary job function.

This is why we created Bushel — to help eliminate these manual tasks with an easy-to-use tool that requires little investment of time or money. Say goodbye to the manual configuration process of yesterday. By offering Bushel for free for the first three devices, we make over the air device management easy and affordable for organizations of any size. Additional devices are only $2/month with no contracts or commitments.

Save time and money all while keeping your company Apple devices secure. Sign up for free and try Bushel today.

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My thanks to Bushel for sponsoring the RSS feed this week. Sponsorship by The Syndicate.

This coming March 14-17, the organizers of CocoaConf will be holding a special event in the heart of Yosemite National Park. It’s called Yosemite, and it’s a conference for Apple developers, designers, and enthusiasts.

Speakers this year include Andy Ihnatko, Serenity Caldwell, Jonathan Mann, Neven and Christa Mrgan, Jean MacDonald, and Jim Dalrymple. The conference also features two photo walks led by TED photographer James Duncan Davidson, and a Breakpoint Jam with James Dempsey of James Dempsey and the Breakpoints.

Use code “BLANC” to save 20% on your tickets when registering at cocoaconf.com/yosemite.

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My thanks to CocoaConf for sponsoring the site this week.

ReadBundle is an unbeatable collection of books and resources for entrepreneurs, designers, marketers, startups, and growth hackers. You can save 90% on 12 fantastic eBooks — usually $285, this bundle is yours this week for just $29!

In this bundle, books include Everything I Know by Paul Jarvis, Email Field Guide by David Sparks, Design for Conversions by Brian Casel, and Build & Launch by Justin Jackson.

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My thanks to ReadBundle for sponsoring the site this week.

curbi gives parents peace of mind; helping manage screen time while providing the best solution so the entire family can enjoy the online world as much as the real world.

curbi is now available on Android as well.

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My thanks to curbi for sponsoring the sites this week. curbi is pretty incredible, especially if you’ve got a family of devices you’d like to help safeguard.

Just a friendly reminder that the special price for 2016’s big update to The Focus Course ends today.

As you know, The Focus Course was just updated with about 50 new videos! It’s awesome.

The Course is normally $350, but right now it’s just $297. And, if you hadn’t noticed, today is the last day it will be available at this price.

If you’re ready to bring your life into focus, I’d like to humbly suggest that right now is an excellent time to sign up. It’s the beginning of the year, there’s a slew of new folks just starting out the course, and, well, the price is right.

When you sign up, you’ll get instant access to everything in the course right away.

Now, of course, you don’t have to start right now. The Focus Course is self-paced and you have lifetime access. Which means you can start The Focus Course whenever you’re ready, and you can move through it at a pace which works best for you.

(In other news, tomorrow we’ll return to our regularly scheduled publishing, as Fantastic Friday will be making its debut appearance here on the website itself. And there are some awesome things in the pipe for the rest of January and February. But more on that next week…)

It’s Christmas Eve. And as I write this I’m in Colorado with my family.

Which is why today’s Elements of Focus video is all about community.

For those of you who’ve been taking the free class, you’ll know that everything we’ve covered so far — strengthening personal integrity, spending time on what’s most important, recognizing the progress we make and celebrating it, living a focused life, staying healthy when life is super busy, etc. — it is all enhanced through meaningful relationships.

Your whole life is enhanced through relationships.

So here we are. In the midst of the holiday season, where they say it’s better to give than receive. Which is true. But we still need to receive. Relationships are a two-way street, and you need comrades, input, and help. We all do.

Most of us like the idea of giving and providing value. In our work place, in our side-gig, in our down time. We love to help and serve. But what can be hard is asking for help… we don’t naturally seek out mentorship, assistance, and accountability.

That’s what today’s video is about.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch it. Then make a moment to give to someone else by encouraging, helping, supporting, or teaching them. But don’t stop there — I hope you’ll also ask someone for advice, feedback, support, or accountability in an area you need social support in.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I should link to another podcast episode.

Well, today’s your day. Because Katie Floyd and David Sparks were kind enough to invite me back on to their incredible podcast, Mac Power Users.

In the show we talked about all sorts of life-centric stuff related to living a focused life. And, of course, it wouldn’t be an episode of MPU if we didn’t also talk about nerdy topics such as workflows, favorite software, and more.