Day 2,293

Growth:

Focus and process really take work. After wrapping up last year with a dose of Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport I’ve spent many moments pausing and catching myself as I turn to my phone and computer to allow me a distraction – usually without realizing I’m doing it until I catch myself in the act. Definitely more to work on, but I’m already seeing signs of progress. Awareness of the action is one of the most powerful ways to start to make the change.

Appreciation:

As I continue to prep for some of my upcoming author talks I’m continuing to be surprised a just how many stories and nuggets of wisdom I put into my book. Each time I dive in to find a story to use I end up finding about four or five that are on topic AND get distracted with another two or three future topics. Maybe it’s just me or maybe it’s a writing thing, but after I sent it off to print I actually felt kind of underwhelmed with the final project. I kept wondering if I put enough in or if I did justice to my time during the experience. Now I’m feeling much better about the finished project, these types of deep dives are helping me see that there is a lot worked into it. Funny how that works, isn’t it? I felt very confident about it until I shipped it, then I felt as if it weren’t good enough even though I had received very positive feedback, and it wasn’t until I started to really dive back into it almost six months later that I finally saw it as a solid work again. Definitely a good thing to remember before as I write my next ones.

Presence:

This has been one of the most scenic winters I can remember! This morning there was another fresh coating of snow in all the trees. My drive up to Winona was spectacular! So much snow in the early morning darkness causing the entire world to be awash in a black and white view. The colors of brake lights and traffic signs really popped due to their contrast with the black and white tones behind them.

Thanks!!!