What I’m Reading: Do The Work – Steven Pressfield

The final book in The War of Art series, one of the most influential book series I’ve read. The first book explores what Pressfield refers to as “Resistance” the personification of the force opposing the act creation, The fear, and loathing we feel when we are at our most creative. The second book Turning Pro explores how we can overcome Resistance. This final installment serves well as an overview of the first two books. While there are no new concepts introduced, Pressfield does provide some interesting insights into the topics discussed in the first two books. I highly recommend the series to everyone looking to

What I’m Thinking About: Motivation: Identity and Achievement

I believe there are two main factors in how we motivate ourselves. I refer to them as the Identity factor and the achievement factor. The identity factor makes up our internal motivation. This motivation stems from how we identify ourselves. We are more likely to be motivated to do the activities and habits that we associate with that identity. For example, those that identify as athletic are more likely to work out more consistently. This factor provides more consistency but perhaps more gradual growth. Externally, we are motivated through achievement. These are the numbers, times and repetitions we use to quantify and measure our growth. When we see growth we are more likely to consistently return to that activity to try and compound on that growth. This factor can be effective for those who do not identify with that activity but are seeking new change.

What I Accomplished: 100 Days of Journaling

Last week I talked about my Morning Pages practice. Three stream of consciousness pages first thing in the morning. This week I hit a 100-day streak of my journaling practice, the complete opposite approach to the morning pages. The journal entries are limited to one page and focus on the reflection of that given day and gentle planning for the following day. The limitation forces me to be more concise with my thoughts and reflect more carefully. At the end of each entry, I rate my day between 1-5 on 7 categories: clarity, energy, necessity, productivity, influence, courage, and professionalism (Steven Pressfield’s definition).

Perhaps the best piece of advice I’ve gotten for starting to journal is “write less than you want to” This will keep you coming back day after day

The Quote I’m Thinking About:

“Hard cases make bad law”