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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Make your own recovery the first priority in your life.
~ Robin Norwood
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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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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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Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get when you don’t.
~ Pete Seeger
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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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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 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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