thoughts
Over recent months this website has morphed into a public log of my reading.
I’m ok with that. I guess the beauty of having a personal website is that you can use it as you want, and it’s ok if that changes over time as it rides life’s ebbs and flows with you.
With no hunger for likes or algorithms to appease the freedom feels real. Hopefully I’ll find the time to post a wider variety of things here soon.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you just are who you are, forgetting the power you have to take action and become who you want to be.
Let’s not let the challenges of the past and the present hold you back from moving forward towards where you want to go.
Keep taking those steps, no matter how tiny they may feel. They all add up if you just show up and keep moving.
Smile when you can. It makes the journey more fun.
So here’s to the future, and the steps we’ll take to shape it.
Interesting to hear Malcolm Gladwell talk about his writing process on MasterClass.
He shared how he breaks every piece of writing down into small, numbered sections before stringing it all together and figuring out what goes where and working on transitions. He didn’t mean sections like chapters in a book or even subheadings in an article, he suggested that his sections are often far more granular than that.
Sounds pretty basic. But this approach makes large, intimidating projects easier to handle. It also helps build a feeling of ongoing momentum. I do something similar but without the numbers. Think I’ll give the numbers a go.
This has been a year of discovering American sports. Feels like they never stop, except for the ads. Chose Chicago as my base, don’t ask me why. It amazes me how frequently Americans stop me in the street to talk about the Cubs when I’m out in my cap, even in some of the most remote corners of Europe.
I’m currently listening to The Now Habit audiobook by Dr Neil Fiore. 📚
It’s about beating procrastination. My main takeaway so far is the idea of replacing ‘I have to’ do [task] with ‘I choose to’ do [task].
If there’s something to do, and I’ve agreed to do it, then that was a decision I made instead of facing the alternative. So just do it and stop whining, or make the decision not to, deal with the consequences and move on to the next thing.
Dr Fiore highlights that productive people are able to reduce the agitated energy of a huge pending task by focusing on what can be done now. No matter how small the step.
Perfectionism is another big cause of procrastination. It’s something I’m certainly guilty of. Dr Fiore emphasised the importance of accepting you’re human and that it’s normal to make mistakes and for things not to go perfectly. He suggests not giving yourself big expectations as this can stop you from doing the things you need to do.
Sounds quite simple when you write it down like that, but it’s much more difficult to put into action when you risk something going wrong.
For me the ongoing energy, mood and consequences of procrastination are worse than almost anything. It’s something to fix.
Good listen so far, will keep going.
Em dashes (—), en dashes (–) and hyphens (-)
I’m currently rereading Dreyer’s English to brush up on some American grammar and enjoy the excellent prose of a man so in love with the craft of writing.
While chatting about this book on a call with somebody this morning, the conversation turned to hyphens and dashes.
Lots of people don’t give much thought to the fact that em dashes (—), en dashes (–) and hyphens (-) all have different lengths and should be used for different purposes.
Hands up if you’re guilty of reaching too quickly for the hyphen.
Watched: Noam Chomsky’s ‘Independent Thinking and Media’s Invisible Powers’ course on MasterClass. 🎥
Well worth the time. Being sceptical of the information we get is perhaps more important than ever. About two billion people are voting this year in a world where AI makes it easy to facilitate misinformation and disinformation on a massive scale.
New year, new home for my thoughts. Let’s make writing here a habit in 2024.