Hello everyone,
The benefit of ending your streak
It's been a few weeks. After I caught a nasty flu I decided it was a great moment to free myself of the pressure of keeping up my streak. Last year I started writing the Do-It newsletter and I managed to sustain it for 29 weeks straight. I started this weekly writing habit to practice sharing my work and articulating my thoughts.
The only way to find your voice is to use it. It’s hardwired, built into you. Talk about the things you love. Your voice will follow. - Austin Kleone
However, at some point continuing the streak can become the goal. I noticed it was nearly more important to get something out each week, then to practice how I formed my thoughts.
Deliberatly breaking the streak is a healthy way to unshackle from this pressure. This is especially true in the world of gaming and gamified health apps, where pushing for a longer streak can mean sacrificing valuable time with family or friends.
Taking a break from a streak can also be an excellent opportunity to reflect on what has been accomplished and to recalibrate your targets. It also allows you to reevaluate how you approach each goal and what strategies may be more effective.
Lastly, by taking a break from a streak, you can come back feeling refreshed and motivated to make the most of the next period. Whether it’s the start of a new year or a new quarter, having a blank slate is stimulating.
Coming up in Q1
I set quarterly goals as opposed to yearly ones. That's because a quarter contains a more managable amount of uncertainty to start from. It's hard to define what you'll want to achieve a year from now, let alone how the external circumstances will change during that time. If you're interested in the principles of effective goal setting, I created a system and a framework for it which you can find here.
My focus for Q1 2023 will be narrower than in the past. I realized that I had gotten annoyed with making babysteps on multiple tracks at once. Quite often, that's actually the right strategy, but I really felt like I was holding back in some regards.
That's why this quarter I'll solely focussed on progressing the 5 acts model. The current progress can be found on my website overhere. I will flesh out the majority of the chapters and make the insights better understandable with visuals and first principles.
Interesting finds of the week:
🤍 Appreciated:
Every few months I like to indulge in a YouTube/Medium spree of Recommended Mac apps. This time I found two which are worth sharing:
QuickShade app for MacOS (free)
QuickShade allows you to quickly (artificially) dim the external monitor that your Mac is connected to. This is super useful if you work with a non-apple external monitor in the evening hours.
🔗 Link to the App store
Hidden bar for MacOS (free)
Hiddenbar is a simple app that allows you to hide topbar items behind and expand button.
🔗 Link to the App store
📖 Reading:
Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin To Munger by Peter Bevelin
I was surprised by how much this book is similar to what I was trying to do with the 5 acts. It's an amazing collection of the wisdom of different prominent thinkers in history.
🔗 Link to the Goodreads page of the book
🔊 Listened to:
Interview with Michael Levin on the Lex Fridman podcast
This conversation included a ton of mind-blowing insights. Most predominantly for me was that evolution has more substraits of information transfer than just genes and memes: namely electrical charges in the shape of algorithms. I highly recommend this podcast if you're a fan of David Deutsch, Darwin and Richard Dawkins.
🔗 Link to the Podcast Episode
Lane 8 - Winter 2022 Mixtape
Lane 8 just released a great new techouse mixtape which I've been enjoying while working.
🔗 Link to the the mixtape
That’s a wrap
Have a good one and see you soon!
, Edwin