Is it already half way through Nov?? Where did the time go? I hope you’ve been enjoying my learning journey every week and what I find. Here’s another edition.
1. Building resilience. We’re headed into that space of holiday beginning this month where resilience is key. Whether it’s physical from the weather or seasonal changes around or us or the mental ones we have in the holidays around our family. Great article about resilience in general from a defining stand point, but then also from an ability to build it up. This has been a very hot topic in my work environment where expectations for achieving are constant and very high. Here it is: https://hbr.org/2002/05/how-resilience-works
2. Solid 2 minute article from Austin Kleon one of my favorite creatives who mixes the mediums of writing and art. Met him in NC this past year. Really cool human if you get a chance to meet him or go to a presentation of his. Here he deftly navigates our own procrastination and hesitation to actually move forward. This case it’s about writing, but honestly it can be about anything you’re trying to start. Here’s the short snippet: https://austinkleon.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=25a34f10515c4e9393e3da856&id=fb37012f59&e=9c1c33f38f
3. Journaling for me is about clear thinking. Getting out of my own head and putting it digitally in Day One or in one of my Moleskines is the best thing I can do. It frees up my head for other creative ideas. In our heads we have a capacity. Once that capacity is reached, your brain can’t take any more in until you get rid of something. It’s also therapy. A non-biased place you can unpack your thoughts. I’ve always had some kind of writing journal since I was a kid in one format or another. Here’s a start if you’ve been thinking about it yourself you can begin with: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryancollinseurope/2019/11/05/the-surprising-creative-benefits-of-journal-writing/
4. Negative mind-sets keep us fixed. With a success mindset we get to a breakthrough moment much faster. Negative mindsets and success mindsets are two different people. Which one are you? Some of the most confident people I’ve met and read have a few things they do to cultivate a success mindset. Here’s a quick read on some of them here: https://www.inc.com/andrew-thomas/10-ways-extremely-confident-people-train-their-minds-every-day.html
5. Dopamine fasting? Didn’t even know that was a thing. Let’s just call it distractions from being obsessed with notifications or emails. That sounds about right. But, hey, if you’re curious like I was by the title “Silicon Valley is obsessed with ‘Dopamine Fasting’ to stay sane.” It might actually work, but not because of fasting from dopamine. Enjoy the rabbit 🐇 hole moment: http://flip.it/13KYN_
6. Been struggling in a big way to get back into my flow this week of regularly closing my activity rings on the Watch. Mostly because I’ve been a busy guy. I found that “snacking” my activity might be a benefit to ease back into a rhythm lost. All about habits. You can find the article here: https://www.gq.com/story/joe-holder-exercise-snack-short-workout
7. What do you tell yourself? Here’s some of the saddest things we do and why it matters what you do say to yourself: https://www.forbes.com/sites/terinaallen/2019/11/15/this-is-the-saddest-thing-in-the-world-that-people-tell-themselves/
Enjoy the weekend with a dive in to one of the topics above. Do something different you’ve never done before. Be as surprised as I am at how useful it can be. But also be with a feeling of surprise and delight when you can use the information to help someone else.
✌🏻 Shawn
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