(Significantly less than) 986 lessons I learned this month.
On August 14th, I wrote a piece titled: Today, I Write. It was about beginnings. It was about stepping into something new, even though I didn’t fully understand what that even meant.
I wrote about wanting to commit to something and see it through, even though in the past, I have been more interested in ideas than execution.
In that piece, I wrote about the fear of publishing my ideas, about the anxiety that comes from knowing that anyone can read what I’ve written.
Don’t read it. It’s a waste of your time.
But since then, a lot of what…
If I wrote a muse last night, but it published today, does that count as writing a musing today?
I don’t think it does. Instead, it’s a cheap substitution for doing the work. And I’m good at that.
I’m very good at tricking myself into thinking that I’ve done all the work and really done a good job, even when the truth is far less impressive and relevant. The truth is that I’ve only done just enough, rather than truly focusing on the task at hand.
Instead of writing aggressively, 500–1,000 words daily, I’ve written 100, or I wrote 2,000…
Don’t make any noise when you’re not moving, only when things are happening. In my past, I’ve made so much noise before anything is in motion, and you know what happens?
I don’t do anything, then.
I’m satisfied after I’ve made noise about it. People clapped for me and patted me on the back. I already got my “atta boy” and I don’t need to put in the work anymore.
Instead, I only want to be making noise after something has happened. I only want to talk once I’ve taken action, once things are in motion.
That way, I only…
Every single day, Seth Godin writes a short blog on his blog over at seths.blog. He’s been doing it for years, and that’s probably why you know who he is.
Well, that and his 20 books that have become worldwide bestsellers.
But his blog is my focus. Why? Because he’s been doing it for nearly 20 years. Want proof? Here’s his post from January 15, 2002.
They’re not all about marketing. In fact, most of them aren’t. They’re not just a journal, but some of them are journal entries. They’re not all about groundbreaking ideas, but some definitely are.
They’re…
And That’s Not Supposed To Be A Catchy Title
It’s been a while since I’ve written regularly. Things have gotten in the way over the last 6 months or so and have kept me from writing. Maybe they’re excuses, maybe they’re legitimate, maybe I was looking for excuses.
But whatever the internal motivations (or lack of) that got me here, it’s been several months since I wrote consistently, and instead these things happened.
I started a new job, working in tech marketing again. I get to do some cool things related to a blog program that pushes me a lot. …
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been reading and researching a number of different topics, including AI, relationships, content creation, podcasting, email marketing, Twitter, Instagram, Medium, starting and building a small business, personal growth, self help, the job search, and personal finance.
More precisely, even rather than trying to succeed at each of those platforms and topics, I’ve been researching how to succeed at each of those things. This subtle shift has given me a huge breakthrough.
They’re all the same.
The topics are different in nearly every fathomable way. From growth on a social media platform to personal…
We made it.
2020 is in the past. It was, in a lot of ways, the hardest year of my life. There were lots of deaths, hardships, financial stress, relationships lost, and more low-level anxiety across the entire year than any before.
But we made it.
And 2021 may be no different. It’s going to be what we make it. The calendar saying January 1st, 2021 rather than December 31st, 2020 doesn’t solve racial issues. It doesn’t cure the pandemic. It doesn’t bring anyone back who was lost.
But we can learn. We can grow. …
I thought applying to jobs when my latest internship ended would help me stay active and land in a new job quickly. After all, I’ve never been sharper than I am today.
Instead, I rolled into job interviews sluggish and worn out. I wasn’t able to be prepared properly, and I couldn’t find energy or interest in nearly any position.
I would scroll LinkedIn Jobs and Indeed for hours on end, searching with different keywords and filters to find the perfect fit for me and my skillset.
But instead of finding something I wanted to be doing, I just got…
The rollercoaster of life is an adventure with ups and downs, twists and turns, feasts and famine.
The sweetness of new relationships and the pangs of heartbreaks that end them.
But through it all, life keeps powering through.
No matter what’s going on in this journey, we always are moving through life and powering forward — that’s the beauty of it all.
There are things many of us miss, though, when we are young and impressionable. These things are a part of our journey, and we may all find them eventually.
1. Calmness can lay great things to rest
In the hardships and the pain, a steady approach and a stable mind can put great hardships…
Don’t You Wish You Could Do What You Were Hired For?
Before getting into the practical takeaways of the book, it’s important to address the biggest complaint with Deep Work.
It’s not written for the real world. It’s written for academics and writers who can lock themselves away for hours on end, shut away from the world, and unreachable by any distraction. And there is no consequence.
It assumes that you are already an aficionado at your craft and that the only thing missing from your legendary productivity is time.
Sadly, most of us don’t get to live in that world and most of us aren’t in the top percentile of…
