by Owen | Mar 11, 2020 | Impromptu
As companies and schools close their doors across the world, it’s clear that we are all going to be spending a lot more time at home. With anxiety and depression begin to creep up in the stir, it’s important to remember what we have in our control and that we need to keep moving.
As we hole up in our bedrooms behind our computers, we are going to feel helpless. It is natural. We may not have been able to prevent our classes from ending or our projects from being canceled, but that does not mean we can afford to slack off or give up.
It’s important to find outlets and work for ourselves. We must maintain some sense of normalcy. Stick to your practices, don’t fall behind. Perhaps it’s time try out a new hobby or exercise. Start writing. Whatever you do, take what you can and continue to put yourself to use. There are no excuses to let yourself fall behind. Online classes will be different, but its no reason to give up on your education. Pick up a book or find an online masterclass. It may not be perfect, but we will have to make it work.
Things may not be perfect or even ideal. But giving up on what we do have will only hurt us more. The best way to overcome a crisis, personal or otherwise, is to keep moving. Letting ourselves fall into the depths of depression and uselessness helps no one. So find a way to occupy yourself. Try to use the time and space you have been given for a useful purpose. How can you help yourself? How can you help others? There is always something to do or to contribute to. Take what you have and make it work. Keep moving, even when it feels like everything is grinding to a halt.
by Owen | Feb 26, 2020 | Impromptu
On his podcast, Tim Ferriss often asks his high-performing guests to name the most important thing they have bought for less than $100. My answer to this question is a no brainer. Books. Any and all books. Non-fiction, fiction, biography, philosophy — anything I can learn from or enjoy. I spend at least $100 on books every month. My library is the single greatest source of education and reflection I have in my life.
Perhaps it seems a little archaic or expensive to maintain a library. But let’s think about it. The average book costs between $15-$25. And yet, every single book I’ve ever read has been worth vastly more than what I spent on it. Choc full of information, advice, entertainment, and practices, books pay us back in dividends for our entire lives. They are an absolute steal. I’ve bought books for less than $10 that have paid me back magnitudes of order more because of their advice and what that meant for my career. Maintaining a library, reading, and re-reading is a lifelong learning opportunity. It connects you to a community, sparks new ideas, and, if it’s really good, will keep you coming back to it for the rest of your life.
Also, let’s be honest, it’s fun. I know we all like to joke about how we don’t like reading or laugh about how we are “illiterate” (I hear this one a lot in students,), but I promise you, when you find the right book, it will be more entertainment and fun than any iPhone game or Netflix show could ever give you.
So go pick up a book, any book. Start small. Maybe instead of watching youtube before bed, you take 30 minutes to read. I promise that small investment will soon become a mountain of progress for you, no matter what your goals are. The best thing money can buy is a good book.
P.S. If you are looking for book recommendations to get you started, keep an eye out for Friday’s article. Also consider signing up for my newsletter, in addition to post updates and exclusive emails, I send out a monthly reading roundup showcasing all the books I recommend that month.
by Owen | Feb 24, 2020 | Impromptu, Practices, Vocabulary
You wake up with a start. Look at the clock. Shit. You accidentally slept in — and you had the best morning planned too. You were going to go to the gym, spend a few minutes journaling, and eat a healthy breakfast. And now what? You are rushing to the shower, throwing clothes on (whatever is on top of the hamper), and running out the door — probably to Starbucks for a last-ditch hit of caffeine and a breakfast sandwich. The rest of the day, you can’t focus, you’re bleary-eyed and lashing out at co-workers. By the time you get home, you can’t be bothered to do anything but slump on the couch and watch TV before bed. A whole day wasted.
We’ve all had days like this. An extra hour of unintended sleep somehow puts our whole day to hell. But how do we keep something so small from affecting our entire day?
Think back to your bad mornings and rough starts. Those days you were in a rush. What was the one thing you could have done to set yourself up for success or energy? If nothing comes to mind, try thinking of your best days. How did they start? What made you feel the most energetic. The activity that comes to mind is our Daily Linchpin: the one practice that counts for a hundred others and gives us the motivation that carries us all day. This is what we need to prioritize. Some days we won’t be able to everything, but prioritizing our linchpin practice, even a shortened or sloppy version, can make all the difference.
My daily linchpin is exercise. Days, where I can’t go for a run or go to the gym, used to be the worst. I got cranky and depressed. My insecurities ran wild, and I would spend the whole day dragging my feet. Now, however, when I’m in a rush, I prioritize this activity no matter what. Maybe I only have 30 minutes. I’ll go for a quick run. 5 minutes? Stretching and pushups. No matter what, I make sure I start my day off with some exercise. Even though it’s not perfect, prioritizing that single activity can make all the difference in my day.
Find your daily linchpin and stick to it. No matter what. Even if it has to push some less important activities out of the way. And don’t worry if you can’t do it to the best of your ability, or you don’t have as much time as you would like. A little bit goes a long way. Maybe your linchpin is meditation, do a few minutes of deep breathing before you leave. No time to do your three morning pages? Try for one. Whatever your linchpin is, stick to it relentlessly. It can be the difference between our best days and our worst.
by Owen | Feb 19, 2020 | Impromptu
The word authenticity gets thrown around a lot today. Its become the go-to catchword for every artist and entrepreneur. Everyone wants to be authentic, true to one’s self, genuine, transparent. These are all fantastic goals in the face of personal growth and reflection. But is that something we can really work on? More importantly, how do we actually prove we are authentic? Saying you are authentic means nothing if you can’t back it up.
When we think of someone who is authentic. We think of someone who follows through. The person who you can always count on to be themselves and act as themselves in every situation. They live up to promises and show up every day to work hard towards the goals they set for themselves.
What drives change is not authenticity then, but consistency — of person and of action. We know that someone is authentic because they are consistent in who they prove themselves to be. As the marketing guru, Seth Godin says: “We call a brand or a person authentic when they’re consistent, when they act the same way whether or not someone is looking. Someone is authentic when their actions are in alignment with what they promise.”
Authenticity, while a great catchword, is not an actionable goal. Its a definition of something more –a state of character over time. Instead of trying to be authentic, let’s try to be a little more consistent. Be the person you want to be every day, that’s authenticity.
by Owen | Feb 17, 2020 | Creativity, Impromptu
We can spend a lot of our creative lives criticizing the work of others. We all want to believe we could have done a better job or had a better idea. “I would have done it this way instead” or “That color? Really?” Hell, a lot of people are all criticism and very little creativity. But let’s be honest, we don’t know any better. Not really. We are all lost on the creative path, trying to stumble on something worth sharing. Some of us maybe a little farther down, but we are all just trying to figure it out.
So why waste your time criticizing? Because the truth is that criticizing comes easier than creating. And that soothes us. Creativity and ego are a matched pair. As we start to build creative confidence, we inevitably want to show it off. As we develop a style, we are suddenly at odds with everyone else’s. So we point, and we criticize, and we nitpick and try to show how much more creative we are than everyone else. Creativity without creating.
The worst crime of all, however, is believing we have any say in what someone else created. The truth is it’s probably just not for us. We can dislike something, but if we do, well then, it wasn’t made for us, and that’s okay. Everyone is trying to connect with someone. That someone isn’t always you. So leave it alone. Maybe someone will come along and see beauty where you never could.
Don’t bother fretting about how it’s not what you would’ve done — go and do it.
by Owen | Feb 12, 2020 | Impromptu
One of the best things we can gain from our reading practice is a vocabulary of experiences. These are the nifty and perfect little phrases that somehow seem to sum up or represent a fundamental concept in our life or work. We plaster them on our walls, news feeds, and even on our bodies with ink. They become guiding principles and reminders of our development. These epithets reveal some core of our being, clarifying something we’ve always known but never been able to put into words.
They might show up as personifications of a struggle such as Steven Pressfield’s concept of Resistance in The War of Art. Sometimes they represent states of character, like Elizabeth Gilbert’s Trickster in Big Magic. Or a word may perfectly and poetically describe a personal experience, such as the Stoic concept of Sympatheia. Maybe one piece of vocabulary isn’t for you. But chances are someone somewhere has founds the words you are looking for, and they are worth seeking out.
Whatever you come across, hold onto that vocabulary. Write it down and reflect on it. Consider how it might apply to your own life. Try coming up with your own. Perhaps meditating on an experience, you can find some small piece of meaning worth holding onto or sharing with others. These words and phrases may seem insignificant, but in times of stress or uncertainty, they can act as small guideposts, bringing us back onto or revealing the path ahead.
