29. DEC. 2023

Reflect, Unpack, Create

Discoveries, insights, and lessons worth sharing this month.

Hey guys,

It's that time of the month where I'll share some discoveries, lessons, and insights that I thought were worth sharing.

What challenge(s) did you experience this month, and how did you overcome it? 🛣️

Most of the time, social media can become a tool that makes you forget why you started on your journey. You become too focused on vanity metrics like followers, likes, comments, etc.

Back in June, I set a goal to reach 100 subscribers for my newsletter by the end of the year, but I had no clear plan on how to achieve it.

As of now, I'm nowhere near it, yet.

I won't lie if I didn't feel a little bit disheartening about it. At times, I'd question why my growth is so slow, even though I tell myself it's okay.

Yet, I struggle to fully accept that.

Whenever I feel this way, I need to step back from the screen and take some time off to reflect. That's why I'm a big fan of taking time off to do some introspection.

In this case, I revisited an old post I wrote back in April that reignited why I initially started this newsletter.

And as a consequence, reminded me of my WHY: to inspire people.

Secondly, I've been reflecting on feedback I've received from past newsletters which I've saved on my phone.

Seeing these comments fills me with encouragement, joy, and courage to keep publishing each week.

I try my best to look back at what I've already accomplished, reminding myself that, like everything I did before, it will take time.
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Are there any key lessons or insights that have enlightened me this month? ✨

At the beginning of December, I shared a post on X about my consistency with breathing exercises, which I do (or am supposed to do) every single morning.

Keeping the momentum going all the time was harder than I initially thought. I did much better this month than last month (only managed to miss one day so far).

But how do I keep the engine running moving forward?

How can I maintain the same discipline and consistency over time?

Fortunately, I found two posts on X that reminded me of why I should keep going no matter what.

The first was from Dr. Lewis Thomas, who I connected with on X. He wrote a post that got me thinking:

"If you're skipping meditation when feeling good, you won't get the benefits when feeling bad."

It hit me. Because I remember the times when my autoimmune condition was more or less stable. It was easy for me to just skip the exercises. It turned out to be a poor decision, as I shared in my August reflections.

The other was from Joshua Mason, another friend on X. He wrote an incredible post on discipline that resonated with me, especially this particular sentence:

"Your success will be determined by the things you make non-negotiable."

What I need to do moving forward is to treat my breathing exercises (or anything of importance) as non-negotiable.

It's like making a permanent deal with your mind that there's no other options—no alternative should be considered.
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What's my top pick this month (book, article, podcast, video, etc.)? 📚📺

Essay – Let's talk about AI by Tobias Van Schneider. This essay piqued my interest. Especially now that we live in the age of AI where tools like Midjourney, ChatGPT (and others) are changing the way we do art and writing. It got me thinking: Are we becoming too obsessed with efficiency and speed that it can potentially sacrifice our creativity? Are we so overly focused on optimizing every aspect of our lives that we lose sight of what truly matters? It prompted me to reflect on my relationship with AI.

Newsletter – Unlocking "Hidden Potential," with Adam Grant by David Epstein. I'm always eagerly waiting to receive each issue of this newsletter. This issue is from October, but I read it this month. It's an incredible interview with Adam Grant on the topic of learning, realizing one's potential, and the importance of applying deliberate play to your work to avoid getting boreout.

App – Reader by Readwise. I'm currently on trial with this app. But I'm already convinced that it's worth paying for. Do you know the pain of having multiple bookmarks and saves on different platforms for you to never read again or see later? Reader solves that problem for me by centralizing them in one place, allowing for easy note-taking and highlighting. Plus, it also has a handy transcript feature for YT videos, which I think is awesome.

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What am I looking forward to in the upcoming month? 👀

STORY SEEDS

I've been teasing the release of my digital product Story Seeds, before the of the year.

But I've realized that it's not going to be possible (so little time, and I've still things left to do). And I'm not willing to compromise on the quality (call me a bit of a perfectionist LOL).

So, I've decided to postpone the release to 2024 instead (you're the first to know this). This will give me more time to work on it, and hopefully the outcome will be good. ,

This is what I'm doing behind the scenes for it:

• Landing page for the product
• Creating a section for the product on the front page
• Writing a post/content to be shared online.

So, there's a lot of work in terms of writing, designing, and marketing the product.

CREATOR SYSTEM

I've got a creative writing practice every morning where I explore ideas on Tana and build a library of knowledge.

I've got a creative writing practice every morning for the sole purpose of exploring ideas on Tana which I use to build a library of knowledge. It's a new habit of mine ever since I got introduced to Ev Chapman on X—she changed how I approach consuming information.

Currently, I'm working on developing a system that allows me to go from capturing inspiration to processing and building ideas through writing, and then sharing these insights online.

So, I'm super excited about creating a more seamless creator system with minimal friction, where I can move from an idea to published content.

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What about you?🤔

If you want to, I’d encourage you to also take these questions and reflect on them. I’d love to hear your insights or what valuable resource impacted you. And also what are you looking forward to in the upcoming month?

💭Quote of the month

Thanks a lot for reading, as always. If you enjoyed the issue, please share it with someone you think will enjoy it, too. If you aren’t subscribed yet, you can do it here. Until next time, Stay inspired! Sharmarke

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