Sunday Notes: Drop The "S"

We're deep into the first month of the new year and the excitement of a fresh start is probably already starting to fade. It's hard to maintain the enthusiasm towards dominating your collection of resolutions for more than a few weeks. That's why in the past few years I've made a fundamental change to my approach on new years resolutions - I dropped the "s."

Focusing on a single habit/skill/major accomplishment that I want to make a part of my life has been a really effective approach for me to actually succeed in accomplishing my resolution. I know there are plenty of world-beaters out there who dominate the traditional approach of having a list of resolutions, but for me, having a singular focus that I can chip away at daily is the way to go.

My first year trying this, I wanted to become a voracious reader and do away with my habit of only making it halfway through one or two books a year. I set out to read a book for 5-10 minutes a day (usually right when I woke up and/or right when I was going to bed). The little time frame made it totally manageable and while I didn't do it every single day, I definitely developed it into a habit that I enjoy and that has definitely had a positive impact on my life. (Pro-tip if you have similar goal in mind: take your smartphone out of our bedroom and get an alarm clock so you can read instead of wasting the first and last 15 minutes of your day mindlessly scrolling in bed.)

Last year, I wanted to develop a regular meditation routine. We've all heard a lot about the positive benefits of this ancient practice and how every tech exec in Sillicon Valley attributes their success to Ayahuasca trips and meditation 😂. I won't be ready to go full-Joe Rogan with the ayahuasca trip stuff any time soon, so I decided that I'd explore meditation as way to make a daily investment in my mental health. Taking on Sam Harris' 50-day guided meditation course to start the year was a really effective way to take on this often illuminating, sometimes confusing and always refreshing journey. 10-minutes a day to explore your mind, the most powerful thing you possess, like you've never explored it before is a pretty compelling exercise. I really encourage anyone to give it a try for 50 days (you have to stick with it even when it's confusing or you don't feel like you're getting anything out of it). Here's a link to a free month of access to his app so you can try it if you are interested: https://share.wakingup.com/7794e98814bf.

That brings us to this year's resolution and it's the very reason you're reading this right now! I write a ton for work, but realized that I had stopped writing "for fun" and that kind of bummed me out. So I made it my singular resolution to write daily in 2020 and see what comes out. This blog is my public outlet and starting to journal is my somewhat-daily personal outlet. I figure this exercise will have a positive impact on me personally and professionally, stoking some additional creativity and introspection on a regular basis. So far, we're 19 days in to the new year, I'm enjoying it and I hope you are too.

As the gurus say "less "s" is more," or something like that.

Happy new year and good luck on your resolution(s) this year!