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To The Effortless Path
Welcome to my newsletter, The Effortless Path! As a subscriber, you will receive curated insights and articles from me about topics such as:
Career transitions and the future of work
Productivity and creativity
Wisdom from ancient philosophy
I believe the key to living a happy, productive and meaningful life is finding the effortless path.
Careers: Advice for graduates đ
Itâs graduation season.
Unfortunately, with downsizing and hiring freezes all around, this is a tough year for finding jobs in tech.
When I graduated from college during the last financial crisis, I faced a similarly tough job market. I didnât have a clue how to navigate finding a job in such an environment so I fled abroad to teach English instead.
This week, I received the following email from a recent college graduate who was introduced to me by a mutual friend:
The email was friendly, succinct and confident. I was impressed. Looking back, I wish I had done something like this when I was in his place.
I accepted his invitation to meet. I donât have a job to offer, but I want to help. And I have no doubt that this individual will find something great for him.
If youâre a young graduate entering the working world, take advantage of your status as a newbie. Forge connections by seeking knowledge and advice. If you ask nicely and sincerely, people further along the path you wish to pursue will want to help you.
Learning how to create opportunities rather than waiting for them to fall in our lap is probably one of the most important skills in todayâs world of work. If you have young adults in your life, push them to learn this skill.
Iâm still learning it too.
Creativity: Carry a notepad đď¸
âYour mind is for having ideas, not holding them.â â David Allen
Any student of productivity knows that the cornerstone of effective knowledge management is a mechanism for idea capture. Iâve been using Apple Reminders and Notes for this purpose for years now.
However, digital capture is seldom frictionless. Fiddling with a device, swiping on a screen and tapping out some words can feel like one step too many, especially on the go. Voice assistants have improved but are not always reliable.
So Iâm experimenting with going analog. I now carry a notepad and pen. I chose a very simple, no-frills notebook from Staples - small enough to pocket, and bright orange to make it easy to spot.
What I noticed right away is that the analog experience has a different quality from the digital. Thereâs something about grasping a pen and scribbling words on paper that feels more messy and unpolished, yet sensuous and satisfying in some way.
Iâm beginning to wonder if building an analog notetaking habit wonât just help me capture ideas more conveniently - but maybe also different types of ideas than before.
I took a moment this morning to thumb through my notepad. A lot of the thoughts I have scribbled are junk. But some of them pleasantly surprised me and will surely make an appearance here some day.
Contemplations: âNon-doingâ 0ď¸âŁ
Our culture glorifies hard work and hustle. We learn from a young age that striving is a good thing. The greater the struggle, the bigger the reward.
But what if, paradoxically, the way to make things happen were to try less, not more?
Iâve done my fair share of grinding and hustling over the years. But looking back, I notice that most of the times when I achieved the most transcendent success - in school, at work, in life - it felt effortless.
In Daoism, non-doing (wu wei) is a central concept that refers to the idea of acting without forcing or striving. It is often translated as "actionless action" or "effortless action."
This is a deep topic that I wonât explore at length now, but Iâll close with this:
âThe softest thing in the universe overcomes the hardest thing in the universe. That without substance can enter where there is no room. Hence I know the value of non-action. Teaching without words and work without doing are understood by very few.â
-The Tao Te Ching
Translation by Gia Fu Feng & Jane English