How to get out of your own head
Oh, hi friends!
Getting out of your own head can be rough. A few options for ya:
Tim Ferriss has a Jar of Awesome. When something great happens during the day, he writes it on a piece of paper and tucks it into the jar, knowing in the future he can fish out a reminder of why things don't actually suck. (He admits it’s cheesy.)
Other people swear by the 5-Minute Journal, an app that asks you questions every day. (I stuck to this for months—it's great.)
But my favorite recent strategy comes from my friend Jonathan, who writes One Good Thing down every day on a note in his phone.
Usually, most of the good things that happen during the day aren’t reflected in our paper or digital calendars. They're small, silly things. This practice takes 10 seconds. And then you can remember the good things forever.
I came up with four questions to help me decide who got to read my work when it was in its most vulnerable stages:
— Do I trust this person's taste and judgment?
— Does this person understand what I'm trying to create here?
— Does this person genuinely want me to succeed?
— Is this person capable of delivering the truth to me in a sensitive and compassionate manner?
If I could not answer yes to all four questions, then I would not let that person read my stories.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I might need a wall-sized hanging with these questions from Elizabeth Gilbert. (Full article: How to Figure Out Who to Trust)
Random Round-Up
Do u like words? Wanna read to kids? Rebecca Darugar recommends being a Read Aloud Guest at the Imagine U Freedom School—you sign up for a morning slot, read kids a five-minute story, and maybe remember why you’ve always loved books. Win-win-win! Lots of sign-up slots open in July: Do it.
The National, Amtrak’s bimonthly print magazine, is hiring an editor-in-chief! They publish some very fancy writers you’d recognize. Details.
Need help with contracts or forming an LLC or consulting agreements? Ami Watkin and Watkin Legal specializes in the business legal needs of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and side-hustlers. Gonna keep this in mind for when I’m hunting down payments. (h/t Steph Creaturo)
Thank you for reading.
Love, Kara