Modern luxury is the ability to think clearly, sleep deeply, move slowly, and live quietly in a world designed to prevent all four.
~ Justin Welsh
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Luxury →
How about ‘never’? →
One of the reasons we work in six week cycles, is that it gives us a different definition of later.
~ Jason Fried, from Avoiding pile-ups
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I often remind myself (in my mind, in my journals, in blog posts, in 7 for Sunday… because I need a lot of reminding) that all of my problems arise because I overestimate what I can get done in the short term. Yes, that usually has a second part about the long term. And that’s not where my problems arise from. For me, it’s all about teeing up too much to do. Working in relatively short cycles, as Fried describes, and put things into the “now” (in this cycle) or “never” (not “later”!) categories is a big part of how I manage to not explode into chaos and depression three times a week.
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Conversation as music →
Conversation is a musical thing, like jazz or birdsong: more ‘call and response’ than question and answer. It enables us to travel great distances, but the joy is in the journey not the destination. We are meant to sing and dance along the way, jamming with others, riffing off them, creating something new right here, right now, in a way that no one can alone.
~ Robert Poynton
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First priority →
Make your own recovery the first priority in your life.
~ Robin Norwood
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One big lift? →
Have you heard the phrase “a big lift”? It’s the idea of making a concerted effort to accomplish something big, in one steady effort. The idea being that some accomplishments just don’t quite ever get done via small, daily steps.
Each year, in NO!vember I set about weeding. I try to identify every single thing I’m doing, and then assess whether or not I want to keep doing that. This sets me up for December. In December everyone I normally interact with starts to assume everyone else is on holiday. Things generally get more quiet in terms of projects and work.
In December, I identify big things that I’ve either just discovered (perhaps I didn’t even see them until clearing out in NO!vember) or which I’ve been ignoring (which means they’ve been nagging at the back of my brain.) I try to find a big lift that will yield some sort of big benefit in the coming year—a big time savings, or a big force multiplier for me going forward.
In December, I point my efforts at one of those big lifts…
It invariably ends up being a huge effort—bigger than just “big,” several hours, every day! But each year, as I head into the new year, I ride on that bad-ass high of knowing I cleared the decks in NO!vember and picked off that one big lift in December.
Is there a big lift you can imagine that would shift your continents creating new opportunities or capabilities for you in the new year?
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The professional →
In my view, the amateur does not love the game enough. If he did, he would not pursue it as a sideline, distinct from his “real” vocation. The professional loves it so much he dedicates his life to it. He commits full-time. That’s what I mean when I say turning Pro. Resistance hates it when we turn Pro.
~ Steven Pressfield
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The corrections →
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get when you don’t.
~ Pete Seeger
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Pursue your dreams →
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
~ Henry David Thoreau
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