Category: Investing In Yourself

If you’re anything like me, you get more incoming emails than you can typically process day-to-day. And while I’ve actively unsubscribed from much of the fluff and pushy marketing stuff, there’s still a ton of great stuff I receive that I don’t want to unsubscribe from or delete.

As I mentioned a weekish ago, when it comes time for me to open my inbox, rather than read a hodgepodge of different authors who use different tones and speak from various backgrounds and life experiences—and try to context switch email to email… I’ve been bulk reading one email author at a time.

And lately, what I’ve been asking myself when I open my inbox is, “Who do I most want/need to hear from right now?” And after a minute or two of closed eye inward reflection… I usually know who that person is. And let me tell you, it makes reading emails SO much more effective (as far as comprehension) and enjoyable (as far as it being about what you want/need vs getting your inbox number down to a certain count).

Who do YOU most want/need to hear from right now?

Is your inbox filled with voices that serve you or annoy you? Maybe see if some of your favorite people to hear from have an email/newsletter they send out regularly that you can subscribe to? Maybe try unsubscribing from people you no longer want to hear from…

…Maybe try it when opening your inbox today?

“At his house, George [Raveling] has these big red binders filled with notes. He calls them his ‘learning journals.’ They’re his version of a commonplace book—a collection of ideas, quotes, observations, and information gathered over time. The purpose is to record and organize these gems for later use in your life and work. It’s a habit he’s kept since 1972. To this day, he told me, ‘I go back and just read through them. I’ll just get one of the binders and I’ll sit down at the kitchen table and start reading through it. Sometimes I come across stuff that is more applicable today than it was when I wrote it in there.’”

Ryan Holiday

Known as the “Godfather” in college basketball, George Raveling became the first African American basketball coach in what’s now the Pac-12, had a Hall of Fame career, and played an instrumental role in bringing Michael Jordan over to Nike—who he coached in the ’84 Olympics and knew well for decades.

…And what I love about the above quote is that it’s a breadcrumb.

Successful people might claim to have “blueprints” that’ll lead you to a duplicatable success, but what I’ve found is that it’s less about perfect schematics and more about clues.

…And it’s up to us to solve the mystery in the way that’s specifically aligned with our background, circumstances, talents, aptitudes, and aspirations.

Going back and reading through collections of insightful ideas, quotes, observations, etc… is an excellent breadcrumb to consider. One that countless successful people have left behind. One that guides me every day—just instead of being in red binders, it’s all published online for all to see.

On weekday afternoons, as I’m sipping my coffee, I’ll read some insightful content from books and blogs.

Three of the books I’ll check out are page-a-days that feature one focused idea for each day of the year and there are maybe 5-10 blogs I’ll digest in the same way—a short insight sent out either daily or weekly.

What I’ve been feeling lately, however, is that it’s too much jumping around.

…I’ll read maybe 5-10 pages of content in total, but it’s like each page is authored by another person… and I’m noticing that I’m not retaining the ideas as well because I have to context switch so frequently.

What I want to shift to is 5-10 pages from a single content source/person and then rotate who I read from daily. This allows me to keep the context straight and read more seamlessly one idea to the next.

I feel similarly with social media.

I’ll watch video shorts for an hour and feel like some of the stuff is really great—but can’t remember any of it when I’m done. When I watch long-form videos, however, I usually leave with at least a few take-aways.

This is a shift that more of us need to make in our lives.

…Away from shorter, shorter, shorter… and find ways to move towards the opposite. Because one minute of math, one minute of social studies, and one minute of science taught in rotation for 60 rotations is NOT the same as 60 minutes of math, 60 minutes of social studies, and 60 minutes of science taught straight up.

…When do you feel like you retain what you consume the best?

Exercising with your child present is not the same as exercising alone—even if it’s the same workout.

Going for a walk with an acquaintance is not the same as going for a walk alone—even if it’s the same distance.

Working at home is not the same as working in an office—even if the same amount of work gets done.

An argument can be made in either direction for any of the above mentioned sides.

What’s worth considering, however, is which side makes the most sense for you and your life… and then arguing for it.

Which sounds obvious, but I assure you, is something most of us don’t do.

…Because if exercising with your child present is consuming any of your alone time and making you emotionally exhausted… you should argue for the opposite.

And if walking with somebody who chronically complains is messing up your outdoor recharge time… you should argue for the opposite.

And if working at home is messing with your ability to compartmentalize work vs life balance… then you should argue for the opposite.

…And the same is true for the inverse of each of the above.

The point isn’t to say any one side is better than the other… it’s to remind you that if you don’t argue for what’s best in your life… who will?