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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Anxiety

It is not speaking that breaks our silence, but the anxiety to be heard.

~ Thomas Merton

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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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Pure joy

I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe runs on an axis of suffering; Surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy!

~ Louise Bogan

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Grandiose fantasies

Grandiose fantasies are a symptom of Resistance. They’re the sign of an amateur. The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work. The professional concentrates on the work and allows rewards to come or not com, whatever they like.

~ Steven Pressfield

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Thoughtful solitude

One hour of thoughtful solitude may nerve the heart for days of conflict—girding up its armor to meet the most insidious foe.

~ Percival

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Between a rock and a hard place

I really enjoyed Curtis Cates’s episode 14, Transformation can be fun…!.

Lately, I’ve been back to my regular walking, and I’ve started getting serious listening time in. I was delighted to get a chance to hear from Curtis.

(Yes, yes, I’m way waay behind on the Hansel & Gretel Code.)

Like you, my to-listen-to podcast cup runeth over! I’m regularly adding newly-released episodes. But I also have a way of systematically looking through shows’ entire back-catalog. So I’m also, regularly adding very-old episodes.

Yikes!

…and I heard one of Curtis’s sound-bites as I typed that.

Anyway, if you’re already familiar with Curtis’s work, drop back into ep14 of H&G, just for fun. If you’re going “Curtis who?” … start below. And, you’re welcome!

art is personal
and what qualifies or disqualifies something as art is all up to you

~ Curtis Cates, from Kristo.art

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PS: I don’t subscribe to shows; I add episodes one-by-one when I see interesting episodes via my daily RSS-feed reading.


Understanding

Do not weep; Do not wax indignant. Understand.

~ Baruch Spinoza

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