#47: a few small wins everyday
👋 Welcome to the 47th volume of Out of Curiosity, a weekly newsletter promoting ideas to help get 1% better everyday.
Every week, I go through nearly 100 pieces of content (from books and podcasts to newsletters and tweets), and bring you the best in this newsletter together with what I publish on my blog and podcast.
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In this issue:
📈 A few small wins everyday
🧐 If you had your dream job, would you be happy?
🗓 Align your calendar with what matters most
✍️ How to write a user manual
📈 A few small wins everyday
Creating anything of consequence or magnitude requires deliberate, incremental, and consistent work.
At the beginning, these efforts might not look like they are amounting to much.
With time, they accumulate and then compound on each other.
This is the approach I apply to my writing, my business, and my personal life: When I am not creating, I look for areas where I can make small tweaks. How can the subject lines of my emails be better? Could my art be better? Where do I have leaks (of time, money, energy) in my business? Are there habits or systems that are holding me back? What groundwork can I lay now that might come in handy in the future? What investments can I make?
🧐 If you had your dream job, would you be happy?
Suppose you got your dream job. Would you be happy then?
Of course.
What makes you say that?
Because people are happy when they get what they want.
Didn’t you want your current job at one point?
I guess.
And now you’re unhappy with it...
🗓 Align your calendar with what matters most
My calendar reflects my mission and what I value most. When I review the coming day each morning, I now see my whole self. It includes not only professional items but also personal and family. It’s no longer just about work. It captures far more than meetings, pitches, and coaching sessions.
Choose to add to your calendar what makes the most sense for you and aligns with who you are and who you want to become:
exercise and meditation
deep work
breaks
side projects, creative pursuits, and learning
calling family and friends
✍️ How to write a user manual
My work style
What I value
What I don’t have patience for
How best to communicate with me
My typical schedule
How to help me
What people misunderstand about me
But many of us seek community solely to escape the fear of being alone.
Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving.
When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.
—bell hooks
Until next week,
Reza
