OK, I'm on a role with small tasks that need doing. I've got one more big one that I'd like to do today, but I'm not sure it's actually going to happen.
I was recently hit again with the fact of my own mortality. Someone I love... actually, now that I think about it, two people I care about, have cancer that has a scary prognosis. I hugged one recently and they said, "treasure every day." Anyone can say that, but it hit especially hard, coming from them. We should all, always, be treasuring every day. There's not good reason not to. It doesn't cost you anything but awareness. But it is so easy to grow complacent while the sand in our hourglass slips away, never to return. Especially when we think we have a lot left. It can be a useful thought experiment to step into the viewpoint of someone who thinks they might not have much left.
What's really important to you? What is the good life, as Aristotle might have said. I have part of an answer, for myself. In spirituality I found an answer that satisfies me. God realization, Self realization, as the ultimate goal of human birth. I think, if I'm striving for that every day, I'm doing alright. But what does that mean? That's the part that so many people argue about. And that everyone has to find an answer for themselves, or else be ever uncomfortable, since other people's answers will end up chafing like clothes of the wrong size. What's good for one person may not be good for another. It's your own inner voice of truth that is the only truly satisfying one to listen to. Sometimes others will say things that remind you of what your own inner voice is quietly saying, but ultimately it's you who feels good about what you're doing or not.
I'm trying to live with truth, with love, and with a bit of play and laughter as well. I'm trying to do what is right, for my position in the world. Playing my part in the grand drama/comedy of life.
But it's easy to forget to even check in with yourself, about what your own quiet voice of rightness is saying to you. Sometimes, I even find it a little frightening, the thought of looking, maybe finding that the right action is something I don't want to do, because it's scary or uncomfortable or difficult. But ultimately, it has always been massively for my best and the best of all involved, as far as my limited ability to perceive is concerned, when I follow that inner voice to a tee. I've been trying to remember that, as of late, but it is so easy to forget, with all the distractions of the world constantly going on. With exhaustion, and the demands of work etc., to take that moment to stop, get quiet, and ask my inner voice of wisdom, "what should I be doing now?" (and then wait for an answer)
Oh, and sometimes there is no answer, it seems. Or put another way, the answer is, "you could do lots of different things, you choose what you want to do, and I'll let you know if that's ok." Rather than "here is the one pathway that is ok to take."
This is not a magical predictive voice of prognostication, it's just... you could probably simply call it your conscience. The feeling of what is right and wrong, devoid of outside ideas about right and wrong that other people have tried to put onto you.
When I ask my students, "is that a good thing to do?" they almost always know the answer, even though they may not be listening to it. If even little children have this faculty, one could assume adults do as well, though it may have gotten covered over with the over-thinking complexities of adult-hood. or atrophied through disuse. Sometimes we get good at lying to ourselves or justifying our actions, and we drown out that quiet voice, but it's still there, available if we choose to listen.
Live wisely, live well
With love,
Isaac
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Becoming more job-datable. Prioritizing organization practice. Practicing gratitude.
My desk is now mostly clean. I've got spots for everything to go, so I can quickly put things away. Except all my papers. I have yet to figure out a good method for dealing with them. I just end up having a bunch of papers spread out over my desk, reminding me of various things, and I want all of them there, reminding me.
I guess the reason is simple, I don't yet have a todo list system that I trust I'll look at regularly, or that will show me everything important I need to do at a glance. This is a systems problem, not a physical problem. I still haven't refined my system for dealing with various kinds of work, todo's lists of info, etc. I'm sure I could, given time, but I don't have the time I used to, back in the day. When was the last time I had an abundance of time... I think the main one was back in New York, after my acting conservatory ended. I worked as a freelance writer, and was experimenting with life-coaching, and started doing my early morning routines. It was wonderful. Before the life coaching, I was researching, reading, and journaling, trying to figure out what I really wanted to do, as a life work.
I tried a lot of different methods. I worked through an array of exercises with the "what color is your parachute" book and a bunch of other books. I made lists of the things I loved to do, the things I was good at, and where they intersected doing something that the world needed/I could get paid for. I prayed, I looked at astrology, I took signature strength tests, I tried to access my intuition. Etc.
I've narrowed it down to a point where I'm not desperately searching, and I'm starting to focus more on the skills needed, the 'improving yourself' section. As I improve with those skills, I'll have more of what Cal Newport calls, I think it's "career capitol" that is, having unique and valuable skills, which you can cash in for more ideal jobs. More autonomy, mastery, connectedness, in your work. Going back to the dating thing, that equates to being a 'good catch' I guess. You've got options to choose from. And while you still need to choose an option that really matches you, and not just the job that looks best on paper (or person that looks best on paper), there is at least the option or possibility of that choice, once you have the career capitol (or datability?)
I waited a while, to start dating, until I was ready to put in the time and energy. In the same way, I'm not looking for a new job now. I'm working on building my skills. But one of those primary skills is how to do the job well and not burn out.
This makes me think of the "date a book" analogy from some reading curriculum I was shown. The idea for finding a book you liked, was to date a bunch of books. Have coffee with them, get to know them a bit, then decide which you want to go steady with and finish.
In any case, this go derailed from my original thought train which was simply: I don't know if I currently have the time to refine my work-stream process, unless I set it as top priority for a while.
Anyhoo: happy Thanksgiving! a wonderfully named and non-denominational holiday. What better theme for a holiday than gratitude! sitting down and listing 5 things you're grateful for and really feeling it, is one of the better ways of increasing happiness in your life. Even just doing it once a week has significant benefits to you're well-being and perceived happiness. Give it a try. You can do two things at once, by saying something you're grateful for, to the person you're grateful to. You feel good, and they get to feel good. That's a gift that doesn't cost anything this holiday season, but has a high likelihood of making someone a little happier.
I'm grateful for all the support, love, and laughter I've received from friends and family over the years. I'm grateful for the guidance and magic that the universe has provided. I'm grateful to have such wonderful friends and family in my life. I'm grateful to have food and shelter and safety in this uncertain world. I'm grateful for all the opportunities I have to serve others, and to continue to learn and grow.
Happy holidays, may the warmth of love from those closest to you surround and nurture you, as you do so for others.
-Isaac
I guess the reason is simple, I don't yet have a todo list system that I trust I'll look at regularly, or that will show me everything important I need to do at a glance. This is a systems problem, not a physical problem. I still haven't refined my system for dealing with various kinds of work, todo's lists of info, etc. I'm sure I could, given time, but I don't have the time I used to, back in the day. When was the last time I had an abundance of time... I think the main one was back in New York, after my acting conservatory ended. I worked as a freelance writer, and was experimenting with life-coaching, and started doing my early morning routines. It was wonderful. Before the life coaching, I was researching, reading, and journaling, trying to figure out what I really wanted to do, as a life work.
I tried a lot of different methods. I worked through an array of exercises with the "what color is your parachute" book and a bunch of other books. I made lists of the things I loved to do, the things I was good at, and where they intersected doing something that the world needed/I could get paid for. I prayed, I looked at astrology, I took signature strength tests, I tried to access my intuition. Etc.
I've narrowed it down to a point where I'm not desperately searching, and I'm starting to focus more on the skills needed, the 'improving yourself' section. As I improve with those skills, I'll have more of what Cal Newport calls, I think it's "career capitol" that is, having unique and valuable skills, which you can cash in for more ideal jobs. More autonomy, mastery, connectedness, in your work. Going back to the dating thing, that equates to being a 'good catch' I guess. You've got options to choose from. And while you still need to choose an option that really matches you, and not just the job that looks best on paper (or person that looks best on paper), there is at least the option or possibility of that choice, once you have the career capitol (or datability?)
I waited a while, to start dating, until I was ready to put in the time and energy. In the same way, I'm not looking for a new job now. I'm working on building my skills. But one of those primary skills is how to do the job well and not burn out.
This makes me think of the "date a book" analogy from some reading curriculum I was shown. The idea for finding a book you liked, was to date a bunch of books. Have coffee with them, get to know them a bit, then decide which you want to go steady with and finish.
In any case, this go derailed from my original thought train which was simply: I don't know if I currently have the time to refine my work-stream process, unless I set it as top priority for a while.
Anyhoo: happy Thanksgiving! a wonderfully named and non-denominational holiday. What better theme for a holiday than gratitude! sitting down and listing 5 things you're grateful for and really feeling it, is one of the better ways of increasing happiness in your life. Even just doing it once a week has significant benefits to you're well-being and perceived happiness. Give it a try. You can do two things at once, by saying something you're grateful for, to the person you're grateful to. You feel good, and they get to feel good. That's a gift that doesn't cost anything this holiday season, but has a high likelihood of making someone a little happier.
I'm grateful for all the support, love, and laughter I've received from friends and family over the years. I'm grateful for the guidance and magic that the universe has provided. I'm grateful to have such wonderful friends and family in my life. I'm grateful to have food and shelter and safety in this uncertain world. I'm grateful for all the opportunities I have to serve others, and to continue to learn and grow.
Happy holidays, may the warmth of love from those closest to you surround and nurture you, as you do so for others.
-Isaac
A job that feels as good as my relationship?
Once again I have two blog posts worth of blogging to do. The weather is quite beautiful right now. I don't mind the cold so much, as long as there's sun. It's the cold and grey that really gets to me.
I keep trying to make Saturday mornings my work time, but I just can't get myself to work Saturday morning, after working so hard all week. I need to call up my montessori mentor and talk with her. I distinctly remember her saying, "if you're teaching montessori and your coming home exhausted every day, you're doing something wrong" which is both discouraging and hopeful. Discouraging because it means I'm doing something wrong, hopeful in that it's possible to teach and not be utterly exhausted at the end of the day.
I feel like this is my one big mid-term goal I'm working on. I've got my long-term goals: become a world class teacher and spark hearts alight. Enlightenment. (I aim high because why not?). But slightly more short short term is this issue of feeling overwhelmed with work, always behind. If my track record says anything, its that I can set a goal for myself, and if I keep working at it, eventually I'll achieve it.
These days, I often think about how wonderful my relationship is, and how that was something I was working on for a long time. What were the factors that made it finally click? I certainly worked on myself a lot, trying to become someone worthy of a really good relationship, but that wasn't enough. I eventually had to extend my work out to setting high expectations for what I wanted in another partner as well, and decide I wasn't going to settle for less than a great dynamic between us.
Perhaps that's the way it works with most things in life: whatever level we set our expectations at, we tend to settle at that level and no higher, because higher would require more time and energy, but often most of what is necessary is just saying 'no' a bit more until something comes along that is a strong enough yes. When you have a clear enough idea about what you want, it becomes easier to say no. Often we just say yes because we think that's the best we can hope to get, and it becomes a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.
I'm sure there are things that it is truly unreasonable to expect, but I feel like as long as what you want is kind and respectful to others, there's no harm in wanting the best. Perhaps part of the trick is making sure what you want is actually something that will make you happy. Often we want things that do not actually make us happier. Then even if we do get them, we end up disappointed.
But a relationship full of warmth, respect, friendship, and play is most certainly a genuine source of long-lasting happiness.
I think getting what you want is probably both: setting really high expectations and goals, and then knowing that you're going to have to work really diligently in order to make it happen. And then there does also seem to be an element of magic that can happen too. I think it's true, the universe, God, whatever you call it, helps those who help themselves.
In any case, I'm trying to figure out how to apply that now to job and profession. I like my job, but it's definitely more exhausting than I'd like, and sometimes more discouraging. But I imagine a job that fits as well and is as joyful as the relationship I now have, and think, well, if I could do it in the area of relationships, why not in the area of work? And I think how amazing life would be, if that were the case. I know it's possible, and I've set my sights on it. It may take a few years, but I have faith I will achieve it. It's hard to stop someone who is willing to keep experimenting and trying new things and never gives up. Eventually they're gonna get through.
OK, that's all for... last week. I Feel pretty talked out, so I suspect my second post may be a bit of a cop out 😄
I keep trying to make Saturday mornings my work time, but I just can't get myself to work Saturday morning, after working so hard all week. I need to call up my montessori mentor and talk with her. I distinctly remember her saying, "if you're teaching montessori and your coming home exhausted every day, you're doing something wrong" which is both discouraging and hopeful. Discouraging because it means I'm doing something wrong, hopeful in that it's possible to teach and not be utterly exhausted at the end of the day.
I feel like this is my one big mid-term goal I'm working on. I've got my long-term goals: become a world class teacher and spark hearts alight. Enlightenment. (I aim high because why not?). But slightly more short short term is this issue of feeling overwhelmed with work, always behind. If my track record says anything, its that I can set a goal for myself, and if I keep working at it, eventually I'll achieve it.
These days, I often think about how wonderful my relationship is, and how that was something I was working on for a long time. What were the factors that made it finally click? I certainly worked on myself a lot, trying to become someone worthy of a really good relationship, but that wasn't enough. I eventually had to extend my work out to setting high expectations for what I wanted in another partner as well, and decide I wasn't going to settle for less than a great dynamic between us.
Perhaps that's the way it works with most things in life: whatever level we set our expectations at, we tend to settle at that level and no higher, because higher would require more time and energy, but often most of what is necessary is just saying 'no' a bit more until something comes along that is a strong enough yes. When you have a clear enough idea about what you want, it becomes easier to say no. Often we just say yes because we think that's the best we can hope to get, and it becomes a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.
I'm sure there are things that it is truly unreasonable to expect, but I feel like as long as what you want is kind and respectful to others, there's no harm in wanting the best. Perhaps part of the trick is making sure what you want is actually something that will make you happy. Often we want things that do not actually make us happier. Then even if we do get them, we end up disappointed.
But a relationship full of warmth, respect, friendship, and play is most certainly a genuine source of long-lasting happiness.
I think getting what you want is probably both: setting really high expectations and goals, and then knowing that you're going to have to work really diligently in order to make it happen. And then there does also seem to be an element of magic that can happen too. I think it's true, the universe, God, whatever you call it, helps those who help themselves.
In any case, I'm trying to figure out how to apply that now to job and profession. I like my job, but it's definitely more exhausting than I'd like, and sometimes more discouraging. But I imagine a job that fits as well and is as joyful as the relationship I now have, and think, well, if I could do it in the area of relationships, why not in the area of work? And I think how amazing life would be, if that were the case. I know it's possible, and I've set my sights on it. It may take a few years, but I have faith I will achieve it. It's hard to stop someone who is willing to keep experimenting and trying new things and never gives up. Eventually they're gonna get through.
OK, that's all for... last week. I Feel pretty talked out, so I suspect my second post may be a bit of a cop out 😄
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Spacy Sunday
There is something that happens when you stay up really late -- I shouldn't put this on you, mysterious reader -- something that happens to me: I feel like I'm ten feet away from everything, watching. The word 'spacy' probably comes from this experience, because I feel like I'm floating in space, watching the world through my astronaut helmet. Then there's the stomach stuff. My digestion gets all weird, I feel just slightly nauseous and don't' want to eat, but then also worried that the spaciness is from not eating anything.
In any case, Friday night I did that and I'm still feeling a bit of it. There is kind of a lot going on in my life right now, on many levels, but I don't feel confident in my ability to skilfully describe it with proper discretion. I'd say there's too much going on. I only have so much awareness juice and time juice to put into things, and if there are too many things, each glass only gets a few drops. I think I've made this analogy before. Brain fog again. I think I need some time off, and I'm kind of going to get it, soon. come the holiday season, I'll be doing a lot of work, but it will be of a somewhat different nature. Practice teaching in an Elementary classroom. Rather than lead teaching a Primary classroom. And I'll also have some longer breaks. Hopefully I can get some of the built up work done then. It feels like I need the first day of the weekend just to decompress, and then Sunday has to be shared between the class I'm teaching, chores, and a little time for whatever project is on fire and due immediately. It feels cramped. I'm repeating myself a lot. Spaciness. I think I'm getting better at doing stuff? In general? But it's hard to tell, because if so it's happening slowly, and there are ups and downs along the way.
OK, I'm late enough for my next thing that I can stop doing this thing. Have a good week!
-I
In any case, Friday night I did that and I'm still feeling a bit of it. There is kind of a lot going on in my life right now, on many levels, but I don't feel confident in my ability to skilfully describe it with proper discretion. I'd say there's too much going on. I only have so much awareness juice and time juice to put into things, and if there are too many things, each glass only gets a few drops. I think I've made this analogy before. Brain fog again. I think I need some time off, and I'm kind of going to get it, soon. come the holiday season, I'll be doing a lot of work, but it will be of a somewhat different nature. Practice teaching in an Elementary classroom. Rather than lead teaching a Primary classroom. And I'll also have some longer breaks. Hopefully I can get some of the built up work done then. It feels like I need the first day of the weekend just to decompress, and then Sunday has to be shared between the class I'm teaching, chores, and a little time for whatever project is on fire and due immediately. It feels cramped. I'm repeating myself a lot. Spaciness. I think I'm getting better at doing stuff? In general? But it's hard to tell, because if so it's happening slowly, and there are ups and downs along the way.
OK, I'm late enough for my next thing that I can stop doing this thing. Have a good week!
-I
Entirely unproductive. Grit, Naughty Cats, Warren Buffet.
There's an apocryphal story that--if I'm remembering correctly--has Warren Buffet giving his driver or pilot life advice. The pilot/driver wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life, and Warren said write down a list of the top 25 goals/wishes he'd like to achieve, then pick out the top 5. Then, consciously ignore all the rest. The idea being if you try and do to many things you end up finishing none.
I did that a week ago in hopes of clarifying my goals and got a good start, but did that instead of writing a blog post, apparently, since I am once again writing last weeks post today (as well as today's post) ... But that might have been two weeks ago? Time blurs together. Someone asked me on Monday how Friday went, and all I could come up with was, "I don't remember. I guess fine?" When things reach a certain degree of overwhelm, there are less resources to reckon time with.
Someone earlier this week, who didn't know me that well, implied that they thought I should be able to find 3 hours in my weekend to catch up on an online course I'm taking, and I became a bit indignant. But looking back at my weekend, I guess the fact of the matter is I did have that time. That and time to spare. Saturday was spend in almost entirely unproductive activities. Part of this, perhaps the main part, was that Late late Friday night was spend it entirely unproductive activities (after I got back from games night with friends. Games night I consider highly productive in that it's deeply recharging, giving me play and deep chill time with some of my best friends.)
Me and my girlfriend are having some discipline issues with one of her cats, who has decided getting up on the counter and chowing down on whatever food is there is a great idea, despite frequently being squirted for doing so. But I suppose I can relate. Sometimes, because of patterns, because of the environment, because of who knows what, we find it almost irresistible to do things we know we shouldn't. I've read a lot of science (or, books that synthesize the science into layperson explanations) and it gives you sympathy for how addictive various things in our modern world can be, and how hard it can be to change those habits.
So you do them, and then get spritzed with a water bottle. Or feel bad the next day when you didn't get good sleep. On the plus side I did find a game that scratched my card-game itch. Hearthstone is kind of amazing. There are a million digital card games out there, but somehow Blizzard just does things better than anyone else. There's a certain amount of care that goes into their products. They are really thinking about the person who will be playing, and how to make the experience really fun for them. Whatever the medium, I always respect mastery or great skill. I aspire to have that some day.
There is a book by Cal Newport called, "So Good they Can't Ignore You" where he says beefing up your skills is much more important to job satisfaction than "Following your Passion." The title is taken from a Steve Martin quote, the idea being, just get so good they can't ignore you and you'll never be out of work. I think Martin had a passion for what he was doing as well, but the fact of the matter is there are lots of people with passion for something, but it's those that take the time, persistent effort, sweat and practice to become excellent, that get to do what they love for a living.
I think there is an element of matching job to person, where, if you want to master something, your going to be doing it a lot, so you'd better love practicing doing it for its own sake, or you'll never last. That's Angela Duckworth's book, "Grit" in a nutshell. "Grit" is passion and perseverance. Not the fireworks passion, but the steady burn, welding torch passion that you consciously hone through the ho-hum parts of the journey as well as the exciting bits. Hopefully making much of the ho-hum interesting in it's own right.
At the same time I don't think it's all blood and tears, I think the people who get really good at things, are practicing because they like practicing, even though it's hard and not flashy. That's really where you want to be, I theorize. Deliberate practice (the secret sauce to mastery) is not easy or fast, and so few people do it consistently. So if you can get yourself to be one of the people who does, you get your pick of jobs in your field. It's like the ultimate meta-skill for all skills.
Anyhoo, enough of this week-old post, time to write a quick new one.
I did that a week ago in hopes of clarifying my goals and got a good start, but did that instead of writing a blog post, apparently, since I am once again writing last weeks post today (as well as today's post) ... But that might have been two weeks ago? Time blurs together. Someone asked me on Monday how Friday went, and all I could come up with was, "I don't remember. I guess fine?" When things reach a certain degree of overwhelm, there are less resources to reckon time with.
Someone earlier this week, who didn't know me that well, implied that they thought I should be able to find 3 hours in my weekend to catch up on an online course I'm taking, and I became a bit indignant. But looking back at my weekend, I guess the fact of the matter is I did have that time. That and time to spare. Saturday was spend in almost entirely unproductive activities. Part of this, perhaps the main part, was that Late late Friday night was spend it entirely unproductive activities (after I got back from games night with friends. Games night I consider highly productive in that it's deeply recharging, giving me play and deep chill time with some of my best friends.)
Me and my girlfriend are having some discipline issues with one of her cats, who has decided getting up on the counter and chowing down on whatever food is there is a great idea, despite frequently being squirted for doing so. But I suppose I can relate. Sometimes, because of patterns, because of the environment, because of who knows what, we find it almost irresistible to do things we know we shouldn't. I've read a lot of science (or, books that synthesize the science into layperson explanations) and it gives you sympathy for how addictive various things in our modern world can be, and how hard it can be to change those habits.
So you do them, and then get spritzed with a water bottle. Or feel bad the next day when you didn't get good sleep. On the plus side I did find a game that scratched my card-game itch. Hearthstone is kind of amazing. There are a million digital card games out there, but somehow Blizzard just does things better than anyone else. There's a certain amount of care that goes into their products. They are really thinking about the person who will be playing, and how to make the experience really fun for them. Whatever the medium, I always respect mastery or great skill. I aspire to have that some day.
There is a book by Cal Newport called, "So Good they Can't Ignore You" where he says beefing up your skills is much more important to job satisfaction than "Following your Passion." The title is taken from a Steve Martin quote, the idea being, just get so good they can't ignore you and you'll never be out of work. I think Martin had a passion for what he was doing as well, but the fact of the matter is there are lots of people with passion for something, but it's those that take the time, persistent effort, sweat and practice to become excellent, that get to do what they love for a living.
I think there is an element of matching job to person, where, if you want to master something, your going to be doing it a lot, so you'd better love practicing doing it for its own sake, or you'll never last. That's Angela Duckworth's book, "Grit" in a nutshell. "Grit" is passion and perseverance. Not the fireworks passion, but the steady burn, welding torch passion that you consciously hone through the ho-hum parts of the journey as well as the exciting bits. Hopefully making much of the ho-hum interesting in it's own right.
At the same time I don't think it's all blood and tears, I think the people who get really good at things, are practicing because they like practicing, even though it's hard and not flashy. That's really where you want to be, I theorize. Deliberate practice (the secret sauce to mastery) is not easy or fast, and so few people do it consistently. So if you can get yourself to be one of the people who does, you get your pick of jobs in your field. It's like the ultimate meta-skill for all skills.
Anyhoo, enough of this week-old post, time to write a quick new one.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Show up, do your thing, repeat = 90% of success
OK, on to my second post of today, this one actually for today. It boggles the mind, how many things there are to do. I keep circling around, revisiting all the time management theories and techniques I've been learning about, slowly integrating them more and more.
Some of them have to do with habits. What I mentioned in my previous post, about 'keeping up the streak' is something mentioned often in productivity books. the story goes that someone asked Jerry Seinfeld how he got so good, and he said he just got a calendar, and every day he wrote a joke, he drew a big red X on that day, with the intention of writing at least one joke every day. After a week, he had a whole line of red X's, and was feeling pretty good. After another week, it started becoming a bigger deal for him, he really enjoyed seeing all those X's in a row, and after a few months it had become like a religion. He got a lot of satisfaction from his unbroken streak, and it became inordinately important for him to keep it up. It was a small enough thing that it was possible to do it, no matter what else was on his plate, and it was fundamental to him becoming what he wanted: a great comedian. He didn't have to write a good joke, he just had to keep writing jokes.
There's another story in the same vein: an art professor, working with a scientist, tried two different approaches with his pottery students: with one group he said they'd be judged on just the two best pots that they made, from the whole semester. They were encouraged to work long and hard on just a few pieces, trying to perfect them. The other group, he said they'd get an A if they made 50 pounds of pots. When comparing the quality of the two groups, the 50 lb. group consistently scored better in quality. That is, thought they were just focused on churning out a lot of pots, they ended up making better pots overall. The lesson the books highlight from this study and others that do similar things, is that it's not important that you do something brilliant, it's more important that you do something every day. Just showing up consistently beats waiting for 'inspiration.' 'Inspiration' comes more often to those who are working their skills regularly, taking risks, experimenting, etc. They made more failures, but they made more successful pots, and they learned more about pot making, in the end. Same with Jerry. Most of the jokes he wrote got thrown out, but some got kept, and he mastered his craft, by practicing consistently.
There is much more to mastery than that. I don't think my once a week blog post is contributing much to my mastery of the form. For that I would need deliberate practice, where I am focusing on the elements of the skill that need improvement, and drilling them specifically, and it requires almost immediate feedback on my output, so I can correct and try again with that feedback.
In any case, I think the main point I was making is that the very slow incremental progress isn't discouraging. It's encouraging. It may be slow, but it's fairly steady, so eventually I will reach my goal, as I have with previous goals in the past. Though I do hope it happens more quickly than it has in the past or I'll be an old man before all my ducks are in a row. Thankfully, past experiences seem to indicate that in general I'm getting progressively faster at achieving my goals (though the size of them also seems to be scaling up.)
OK, that's unfortunately it for the week, I gotta go and get back to the rest of my list. My dear friends and family, I think of you with love and gratitude, especially at these times when I am also grateful for... I'm not sure what to call it, whatever grace has allowed me to become self-conscious and determined and focused enough to act with force and persistence and efficiency on my goals.
Love,
I
Some of them have to do with habits. What I mentioned in my previous post, about 'keeping up the streak' is something mentioned often in productivity books. the story goes that someone asked Jerry Seinfeld how he got so good, and he said he just got a calendar, and every day he wrote a joke, he drew a big red X on that day, with the intention of writing at least one joke every day. After a week, he had a whole line of red X's, and was feeling pretty good. After another week, it started becoming a bigger deal for him, he really enjoyed seeing all those X's in a row, and after a few months it had become like a religion. He got a lot of satisfaction from his unbroken streak, and it became inordinately important for him to keep it up. It was a small enough thing that it was possible to do it, no matter what else was on his plate, and it was fundamental to him becoming what he wanted: a great comedian. He didn't have to write a good joke, he just had to keep writing jokes.
There's another story in the same vein: an art professor, working with a scientist, tried two different approaches with his pottery students: with one group he said they'd be judged on just the two best pots that they made, from the whole semester. They were encouraged to work long and hard on just a few pieces, trying to perfect them. The other group, he said they'd get an A if they made 50 pounds of pots. When comparing the quality of the two groups, the 50 lb. group consistently scored better in quality. That is, thought they were just focused on churning out a lot of pots, they ended up making better pots overall. The lesson the books highlight from this study and others that do similar things, is that it's not important that you do something brilliant, it's more important that you do something every day. Just showing up consistently beats waiting for 'inspiration.' 'Inspiration' comes more often to those who are working their skills regularly, taking risks, experimenting, etc. They made more failures, but they made more successful pots, and they learned more about pot making, in the end. Same with Jerry. Most of the jokes he wrote got thrown out, but some got kept, and he mastered his craft, by practicing consistently.
There is much more to mastery than that. I don't think my once a week blog post is contributing much to my mastery of the form. For that I would need deliberate practice, where I am focusing on the elements of the skill that need improvement, and drilling them specifically, and it requires almost immediate feedback on my output, so I can correct and try again with that feedback.
In any case, I think the main point I was making is that the very slow incremental progress isn't discouraging. It's encouraging. It may be slow, but it's fairly steady, so eventually I will reach my goal, as I have with previous goals in the past. Though I do hope it happens more quickly than it has in the past or I'll be an old man before all my ducks are in a row. Thankfully, past experiences seem to indicate that in general I'm getting progressively faster at achieving my goals (though the size of them also seems to be scaling up.)
OK, that's unfortunately it for the week, I gotta go and get back to the rest of my list. My dear friends and family, I think of you with love and gratitude, especially at these times when I am also grateful for... I'm not sure what to call it, whatever grace has allowed me to become self-conscious and determined and focused enough to act with force and persistence and efficiency on my goals.
Love,
I
Keep up the streak
I'm two posts behind. I didn't do last week's and now I have this weeks due as well.
It's a beautiful fall day. Crisp but not too cold, blessedly sunny, beautiful brightly colored leaves falling in the wind. My room is finally, finally starting to look and feel not like a disaster. I'm only a few steps away from having a working inbox that gets checked regularly. I feel like I've been working in a deep hole for a while, and I've finally almost crawled my way out of it, onto neutral ground.
But that neutral ground is actually just a much larger hole that I can then start climbing out of. I suppose you could say that I'm getting close to the point where I can put out all the fires that are cropping up around me (and continue to crop up) and begin working on the longer time horizon issues that are just as important but don't demand immediate action. Like the pile of homework that's due next summer and refinements I'd like to make to my teaching process. I'm not there yet. And frankly there's probably a long way to go till I actually get there. But I can see the end goal in the distance at least. I can see that I've made progress, and that's encouraging. The main way I've made progress in my life is tiny steps, taken one after the other, that add up over a long period of time.
OK, I think that's enough for a short catch-up post. In good habit formation style, I set the bar for my weekly post extremely low, just one sentence counts, for my streak. I'm getting pretty flexible with the timing though...
In any case, I'm going to publish this and then immediately write another short one, for the sense of completion and satisfaction it gives me, to 'keep up my streak'. ^_^
It's a beautiful fall day. Crisp but not too cold, blessedly sunny, beautiful brightly colored leaves falling in the wind. My room is finally, finally starting to look and feel not like a disaster. I'm only a few steps away from having a working inbox that gets checked regularly. I feel like I've been working in a deep hole for a while, and I've finally almost crawled my way out of it, onto neutral ground.
But that neutral ground is actually just a much larger hole that I can then start climbing out of. I suppose you could say that I'm getting close to the point where I can put out all the fires that are cropping up around me (and continue to crop up) and begin working on the longer time horizon issues that are just as important but don't demand immediate action. Like the pile of homework that's due next summer and refinements I'd like to make to my teaching process. I'm not there yet. And frankly there's probably a long way to go till I actually get there. But I can see the end goal in the distance at least. I can see that I've made progress, and that's encouraging. The main way I've made progress in my life is tiny steps, taken one after the other, that add up over a long period of time.
OK, I think that's enough for a short catch-up post. In good habit formation style, I set the bar for my weekly post extremely low, just one sentence counts, for my streak. I'm getting pretty flexible with the timing though...
In any case, I'm going to publish this and then immediately write another short one, for the sense of completion and satisfaction it gives me, to 'keep up my streak'. ^_^
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