🚢Writing the Ship in 2023
Running Thoughts #90
Hi, I'm Scott, and this is my often weekly newsletter about life, learning, and whatever else runs through my head.
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Question of the Week:
What is one area of your life that would benefit from consistency?
Running Thought:
As quickly debriefed last week, 2022 served as my health and procedural reboot. Moving ahead, I intend to continue focusing on process-driven goals to narrow the gap between my ideal day and daily reality.
2022 served as a lesson that action and habit change mindset. It's hard for me to maintain forward momentum once I hit a single arbitrary target, or begin to realize my goal is out of reach. Building processes are critical for significant, long-term change.
One of my 2023 goals is to write at least 5 sentences a day. I'm attempting to mirror running a mile/day from 2022 with a similarly tiny target, but one that sustains my writing momentum. If I write five sentences, it's quite likely that I will write more.
To jumpstart the year, I joined Ship 30 for 30. The primary goal is to build consistency by publishing a brief "atomic" essay (~250 words) on social media for 30 consecutive days. So far, I'm 4/4. I'm also becoming a green tea drinker as I wake up an hour before the rest of my household to make this writing happen.
I'm tired, but I'm enjoying the process. I'll share links to my essays here each week, and will showcase my favorite in the next section below.
If anything resonates, I'd love to know why or discuss it further.
Essay of the Week
Thoughts I'd Like to Share:
What Are Your Chains? - Michael Kapla suggests we reflect on our internal beliefs. Do they still fit or do we suffer from Baby Elephant Syndrome, the lifelong wearing of breakable chains due to childhood conditioning?
Permission to Slow Down by Nat Eliason
When your goal is to be long-term productive, say by creating jobs for hundreds of people or publishing a few great books, you realize your day-to-day productivity isn’t what you should optimize around. Taking a strategic break from a problem lets your mind noodle on it in the background so you can attack it more intelligently afterward. Anyone who exercises regularly knows that rest is when your body gets stronger.
Nat provides a good reminder to think long-term -- which means adding in breaks and vacations. Don't commit to every battle only to lose the war.
All Success is a Lagging Indicator by Ryan Holiday
It’s what keeps my priorities straight as a parent. I want to have a relationship with my kids as long as I am able to—which means investing in it now. In twenty years, attendance at Thanksgiving will be voluntary. Attendance will be a lagging indicator of who I was as a parent today.
I’m guilty of waiting for lagging indicators to see whether life is turning out as I desire. But, with that kind of thinking, it's going to be too late. Am I investing in the right things now?
Photo of the Week:
Stay Curious,
Scott
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