Learn: Leaning back vs. learning forward, making energy not time, responsibility audit

Read: 3 mins

Greetings from Austin,

Here are your three goodies of the week. 

🧠 Consumption Habits

There are two ways to consume content:

1. Leaning Back: scrolling feeds, watching videos, listening to podcasts (or Fat Joe). Purpose →  Entertainment
2. Leaning Forward: taking notes, adding our own context, getting curious. Purpose → Education

Nothing wrong with either one, except when we lie to ourselves...

"Many people tell themselves they listen to podcasts for information, when really they're looking for entertainment," Steph Smith explained on the Indie Hackers podcast. 

That quote hit me since I'm often guilty there. So it's been helpful to ask which direction I'm leaning when consuming and not to fool myself. 

In reality, we jump between both constantly. But creating space (and permission) to lean back, makes it way more effective when we lean forward.

(Tweet here.)

🔋 Making Energy, Not Time

Saw this sign yesterday running along the lake, and had me thinking...

Like dogs, humans also have an innate ability to survive, adapt, and thrive. But if we don’t tap into our “inner dog,” this ability can atrophy and go missing. “Use it or lose it,” as they say. 

I didn’t think much more about it until later that afternoon. Then something clicked as I read this beautiful essay by leadership and organization coach Mandy Brown. 

Brown argues (using "art" as an example) that by pursuing energizing activities we regain time and productivity.

“It turns out, not doing their art was costing them time, was draining it away, little by little, like a slow but steady leak. They had assumed, wrongly, that there wasn’t enough time in the day to do their art, because they assumed (because we’re conditioned to assume) that every thing we do costs time. But that math doesn’t take energy into account, doesn’t grok that doing things that energize you gives you time back. By doing their art, a whole lot of time suddenly returned. Their art didn’t need more time; their time needed their art.”

This kills the "I don't have the time" excuse. First find the energy, which will then take care of the time.

Replace “art” with any type of work we feel called to do and are proud to show up for each day. Then do more of it.

💪 Responsibility 

One of my favorite books, The Power of Full Engagement, explains how “Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance.”

Therefore it’s irresponsible to ignore our energy and only focus on time. 

“The number of hours in a day is fixed, but the quantity and quality of energy available to us is not. It is our most precious resource. The more we take responsibility for the energy we bring to the world, the more empowered and productive we become.”

― Jim Loehr, The Power of Full Engagement.

In good health, 

Mitchell 

Ps. I’m a sucker for cornrows