#52: CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK
This Week: 52 weeks of finding what works for you
~5 MIN
THREE YEARS AGO I formed a personal purpose statement.
To put a dent in the universe that endures and can be built upon by others through my stacked actions, that reflect God’s love and omniscient presence.
There was no great epiphany. I simply wrote down what I was trying to do with my life.
Each part is intentional and is included for a specific reason, but I want to focus right now on the idea of stacked actions.
None of what I hope to accomplish is possible without the daily discipline of doing something over and over.
For You: What are you stacking, day after day after day in service to what you want?
THE FIRST NEVER TOO LATE post was one year ago. I created a challenge for myself:
Are you capable of putting out something positive, uplifting, challenging, thoughtful and different each week for 52 weeks?
Going into this, I knew several things to be true:
The world does not need another newsletter. If I am going to post something, it better be good.
Chasing subscribers, open rates, distribution and virality is in conflict with my goals of the newsletter.
I hate the word “newsletter”. It just sounds dumb to me. I wish I had another word to describe what I do each week. ”Blog” isn’t much better.
I GET EMAILS, TEXTS AND INQUIRIES EVERY DAY about my process in writing the newsletter, blog, Substack. I constantly tweak my process, but generally:
No use of A.I.
Ideas are collected throughout the week.
An early morning writing session creates a draft.
A second writing session edits, refines and expands the draft.
A third session cuts as many words as possible.
A review tries to reorder and create some sort of punchy subject line that makes you want to open it this morning.
A young, talented and very capable editor from Saxum reviews, edits and lays out a draft in Substack for my approval.
AN UNEXPECTED BENEFIT OF WRITING NTL are the dozen or so comments, texts and emails I get from people I know and don’t know commenting to me in authentic ways about the newsletter, blog, Substack. I prioritize responding to each one. My favorite responses are when someone expresses gratitude, is vulnerable with me or challenges something I’ve said. I learn something new from each.
THIS WEEK I COACHED AT THE PEACH JAM, Nike’s signature youth basketball event. We went 0-4. Ugh. Fire the coach! I noticed several things about the 13/14 year olds competing.
Basketball is so athletic. It is getting more athletic. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a 13 year old windmill dunk between their legs.
The most talented kids fell into two camps–those who played hard and those who did not. The “not hard” kids stuck out like a sore thumb.
We talk a lot about sports obsessed families and dysfunctional youth sports, but here I saw the fruit of commitment and discipline on display.
I’M NOT A HUGE GOLF GUY, but I came across this Scottie Scheffler interview where he talks about his priorities and wonders aloud about the point of it all. It is worth five minutes.
JAMES CLEAR SENDS A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER that is worth subscribing to. I loved one of this week’s quotes and shared with my family. Now, you…
Be forgiving with your past self. What's done is done. Take the lessons with you and release the guilt.
Be strict with your present self. Win the moment in front of you right now.
Be flexible with your future self. There are many paths to success. You don't need life to be a certain way to live well.
Faith improves my life. Here is a verse I like from the Bible:
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
A QUOTE WORTH READING:
My friend Jon suggested I listen to a pod on John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest man in the world a century ago. First of all, Rockefeller lived in a parallel time to right now - the rise and fall of globalism, the scrutiny of large multi-national corporations and populism. There are so many good books and pods, but here are a few quotes that stood out to me.
When you find something that works for you, shut up about it.
If I have to choose agreement or conflict, I’ll always choose conflict because it creates a better result.
Discipline was Rockefeller’s strategy. He stacked actions over a long period of time and let the compounding nature of habits and capital do what it does.
Congrats on completing the first year of NTL. May you stack another year on top of this one!
Congrats on the 52! Hard to do. Stack the actions. God works through others.