Try Differently
The next phase in my newsletter experiment
👋 I’m coming back from a brief newsletter hiatus. For those wondering what I’ve been up to, I took the last weekend of July off to go on a hiking trip in the desert 🏜️ with my best friend. Then, I decided to pause for a couple more weeks to reflect on this newsletter project.
My attitude all along has been to treat this as an “experiment” - a sandbox for testing and iterating on ideas and approaches. So far, what I’ve learned are the following:
Writing is fun. I haven’t written this much so regularly in a long time, and I had forgotten how satisfying the process of shaping thoughts into words on a page can be.
I like being a person who writes - which is: a more curious, observant and intellectually engaged person. Since I started this newsletter, I've expanded the range of my reading. I’ve started cataloguing ideas I find interesting and making connections between them. I’ve found aliveness in being a creator.
A weekly newsletter is a big commitment. There are huge benefits to consistency, but the reality is that life doesn’t operate on a fixed schedule. And the brain is not a machine that pumps out consistent output over time. Like all living things it cycles unpredictably between easy, effortless productivity and lull and inactivity.
So I asked myself: how can I lean more into the enjoyable parts of writing while mitigating the challenges?
“You’re more likely to unlock a big leap in performance by trying differently than by trying harder. You might be able to work 10% harder, but a different approach might work 10x better. Remain focused on the core problem, but explore a new line of attack. Persistence is not just about effort, but also strategy. Don’t merely try harder, try differently.”
-James Clear
For the next phase of this experiment in newsletter-writing, I want to try a few things differently:
Publish weekly-ish instead of weekly. Some weeks, I will hit pause and prioritize other things. And that’s OK. I’m not in a position right now to commit to making this a weekly thing. Besides, readers would likely enjoy a break from hearing from me every now and then! Breaks are healthy.
Keep the writing simple and concise. I’ve been checking out other writers on Substack and I find many try to be too clever and get long-winded, overestimating how long they can hold a reader’s interest. With the volume of content is as high as it is on the internet, readers tend to speed up their pace of consumption (i.e. skim more than read). Most will give up on a long, complex essay unless it is phenomenally entertaining or insightful.
Curate helpful or interesting content. Rather than just me blathering on and on, I think I can make this newsletter more interesting and helpful by sharing things I find educational, entertaining or inspiring.
Let’s see how the next phase in this experiment goes! Thank you for sticking with me. And as always, please don’t hesitate to share any feedback. 🙏
1️⃣ Why You Should Have (at Least) Two Careers
Harvard Business Review
Do you dream of switching into a different career from your current one? Most people never make the leap. Why not attempt to do both, starting now? Finding the time is a process detail. These stories show that greater fulfillment and success are possible for those who try.
2️⃣ Trying to Process Your Q3? Journal About It.
The New York Times
Journaling is starting to enter a new space: corporate America. If you lead people and teams who are experiencing stress, anxiety or burnout, perhaps providing an outlet to process those difficult emotions through this well-established practice can be good for the workplace.
3️⃣ Embracing Discomfort: The Surprising Path to a Meaningful Life
Mindful
Often (all the time?), we have to do things that are important but difficult or uncomfortable. Expanding our emotional flexibility in the face of discomfort is the key to finding greater freedom and living a more effortless life.