I just published the following post (read it online here):

My friend Chris wrote (and sketchnoted) another mental model. His mental model posts are always great. There’s a lot to think about in his latest, the Multiply by Zero post. The part that made me really have a good think was the concept of No Zero Days.

Chris says:

In this system, instead of seeking to maximise each day, you just aim to avoid a “zero day”.

If you make some contribution towards a goal (health, business, personal development) you will have moved forward, even if you didn’t make a big contribution on this day.

This quote from the book The Untethered Soul: A Journey Beyond Yourself really struck me.

There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind – you are the one who hears it. – Michael A. Singer

The Voice of the Mind aka the inner critic aka the monkey mind. It has many names.

The feeling of stepping aside from this voice is amazing to me. Letting it chatter and do what it wants while you listen or observe or ignore it.

We spend a lot of our time and energy worrying about the future. Who can blame us, everything seems like it's terrible and about to fall apart.

Every generation goes through this, and I tend to want to be optimistic about where we are all heading, but some days it's really hard. Maybe it's worse for us, now. Maybe it's always been like this and we are connected more now, so therefore we see all the bad, all the time.

Yes, the 24 hour news cycle has a part to play in this. Fear-mongering, driving ad revenue by keeping us outraged. That's all true from my perspective.

Hey,

You probably got an email from me yesterday about Futures Thinking. Here's what happened.

I decided to make a new website/blog/newsletter to use for "learning in public" for Futures Thinking. I imported my data (including subscriber list, therefore your email address) from this system.

I should have told you first. It feels cringy in retrospect to sign you up for something without your permission. I wouldn't want that to happen to me. I apologize.

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Today I learned (or realized I already knew) that the monkey mind’s consistent chatter is neither wrong or right. It just is. Your awareness, your 'you' is the listener of the chatter. It observes and can make meaning from the nonsense, or ignore it.

This 10 minute video from Eva-Lotta Lamm is a tutorial on how to practice drawing. It's about the mental process not which pen, paper, or app to use.

I'd argue this mindset works for any creative endeavor.

You are a wave

Before you were you, you existed in some unknowable body of water. Some forces came together and caused a joining and you become you. And you propelled into existence.

You are a wave.

You crested and rush headlong into the unknown. You collect experiences as you head toward the finitude of the shore.