Have you ever met one of those people that seemingly never needs to sleep? I envy their energy and drive, especially at 7am when they are enthusiastically marching ahead on the trail, after we stayed up until 3am around the campfire. Meanwhile, I’m still yawning and rubbing my eyes as if, with enough pressure, my fists could somehow grind the tiredness out of me.
When it comes to his work, my dad is one of those people. I asked him once, on a particularly tired morning (for me), where he found the energy. He told me, “you know, every morning I ask the universe to give me the energy to do what is needed, and I always seem to have what I need.” He kept his eye on his goal put a lot of trust in his ability to show up.
When my roommate was on the path to becoming a professional drummer, he practiced three hours a day. He turned down all social invitations if he hadn’t checked off the “practice” box for the day. He even said no to burritos! He prioritized that habit for years and ended up going pro.
Through trial and error, I've learned that I'm neither someone that can go days with insufficient sleep, nor someone that can consistently say no to burritos. Sleep matters, and so does a little bit of comfort food from time to time. In fact, I have about a dozen different habits that each contribute in their own way to the quality of my day.
Any single habit won’t make the difference on its own, but some habits have an outsized impact on all the rest. I heard James Clear refer to these key habits as the “lead domino.” The lead domino is that most important habit, the trigger, that makes it more likely we will do the other things that lead to our best days.
My lead domino, these days, is taking 20 minutes to myself early in the morning to journal. I write about whatever’s on my mind; it’s often pretty negative stuff, what you might call “psychic toxins.” In the process of getting these toxins out of my head and onto the page, I find myself settle into a place of presence and clarity. I naturally move into planning my day and getting going with my most important priorities.
Leading Questions
Each of us has a lead domino that impacts our day for the better -or worse- depending on which way that domino falls.
What is your lead domino?
What habit leads to you making more choices that lead to your best days?
If you’re not sure, try making a list of 3-5 habits that might be the most impactful and then experiment for a few weeks. Take a few minutes at the end of your day to reflect, and notice which habits have the biggest positive impact.
An Article That Gets At Something Important
Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule by Paul Graham
This article articulates something that I've experienced for a while now but have not been able to put my finger on before. Namely, that there is a quality to the time needed for really good creative work, or solving difficult problems, that doesn't seem to emerge right away. Sometimes, I don't find anything of value until the 2nd or 3rd hour of digging in and, if my day is broken up by meetings, I might not ever manage to find the creative flow needed to do my most important work.
A Quote That Inspires Me
“We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.”
-Archilochus, Greek poet
What I've Been Up To
Podcast - Episode 3 of Something of Meaning is out! Mystical and I talk about being a practitioner. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Writing - Did I Get It Right? You can decide for yourself. I wrote about judgment, and got a little poetic too.
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