reminders to trust the process

you got this

the real success goes to those who obsess

If I look at things that have turned out well in my life (my marriage, some of my essays, my current career) the “design process” has been the same in each case. It has been what Christopher Alexander called an unfolding .1 Put simply:

I paid attention to things I liked to do, and found ways to do more of that. I made it easy for interesting people

Henrik Karlsson • Everything That Turned Out Well in My Life Followed the Same Design Process

i LOVE this concept of ‘unfolding’

The irony of organizing your life around mistake-avoidance is that, rather than making you feel calmer, it keeps you in an anxious state, ratcheting up the stakes of your life until you’re moving through it like you would a decision tree, each notable occurrence redirecting you toward a different destination. We’re meant to be. Wait no, we’re... See more

#181 Dear Baby: Am I fit to be a parent?

Successful people don’t just ride out the Dip. They don’t just buckle down and survive it. No, they lean into the Dip. They push harder, changing the rules as they go. Just because you know you’re in the Dip doesn’t mean you have to live happily with it. Dips don’t last quite as long when you whittle at them

— The Dip

There’s no harm in feeling unfinished. The harm is in assuming that’s a problem.

#197: What is "personal style"?

Creativity requires connecting the dots, and connecting the dots requires allowing time for my subconscious to consolidate my ideas and make associations. This means that, from time to time, I need to just stare out the window and do nothing.

This doesn’t feel productive, even though it is.

Ozan Varol • You’re doing better than you think. Here’s why. - Ozan Varol

Slowly is the fastest way to get where you want to be

Separate the processes of creating from improving. You can’t write and edit, or sculpt and polish, or make and analyze at the same time. If you do, the editor stops the creator. While you write the first draft, don’t let the judgy editor get near. At the start, the creator mind must be unleashed from judgment.

Noah Smith • Interview: Kevin Kelly, Editor, Author, and Futurist

{D} 104: Geek Beef

do it and do it often