Greetings,

On concussion protocol this week after a minor ski incident last weekend. 

All is good, just supposed to keep screentime/reading/focus to a minimum for a few more days. 

Takeaway: The brain is a precious organ. Reading and learning stuff is my favorite thing in the world…Funny how we appreciate things more once they’re limited. 

Enough about me. Here are some goodies for you. 

🕦 Gadget 

The hardest part of any task is often just starting. 

So I like to make it easy with 10-minute chunks. (especially for writing) 

Sometimes I’ll stop right at 10 minutes, but usually go on much longer.

I keep this timer cube at my desk to make it easy to start. 

🛠️ Process > Output

All big things start small.

The key, therefore, is creating the right process to start and improve along the way.

The output then follows. 

Julian Shapiro breaks this down beautifully dissecting craftspeople: 

⛵ Winds vs Currents

Life is like sailing. 

The wind is loud and gets all the attention. But in reality, it's flimsy. 

Conversely, the current is quiet but powerful.

And it’s the current that moves the boat far greater than any wind. (Seth Godin writes on this here.)

So it begs the question… What are the winds (loud distractions) vs the currents (powerful forces) in our lives? 

I'll share some of mine to get the ball rolling.

• Winds: emails, slack messages, short-sighted KPIs, certain meetings
• Currents: deep blocks of uninterrupted writing time, goal setting, creating (this newsletter), saying “yes” to random adventures that feel right (ex: hiking trip I did Saturday)

Now what are yours? 

Smooth sailing, 

MItchell