Mmm…habits
Oh, hi friends!
The Power of Habit is one of my favorite personal-development books. When the book came out a few years ago, I took 8 pages of notes and preached about keystone habits to anyone who would listen.
Then I forgot most of its lessons.
But at an inspiring dinner this week with my friend Susannah, I was reminded—and this is why you should have dinners with inspiring people, for the reminders about what’s important to you and for the inspiration—anyway, I was reminded about keystone habits. These seemingly small but actually crucial bits to your day create a domino effect by kicking off other positive habits. They're lynchpins.
Maybe yours is meditating in the morning. (If it is, I doff my hat to you, beautiful unicorn.) Or having breakfast. Or having four coffees and calling it breakfast. Or an exercise routine. Calling someone you love. Laying out your clothes for the next morning. Taking time at night to plot the following day.
So. I realized I accidentally killed all my keystone habits! (Mine are running and setting a bedtime and then lying to myself that I’ll actually abide by my bedtime.)
Gonna get back into these as I anticipate a busy fall.
Do you know your keystone habits? Can you restart them today?
Don’t tell me ice cream season is over. I won’t listen.
From @mwjonesjr
“Searching for meaning in attention and influence is excellent fuel for ambition, but life is long and this is not the only job you will ever have.
It is not the only reason you matter and it is not the only gift you bring to the world.”
YouTube creator and author Hank Green has been making videos and building companies for years. Lots of advice here on how he has not burned out. Important!
Reading the Metropolitan Diary is always a highlight of the week.
Mr. Perry was born in Hanford, Calif., in the San Joaquin Valley, about 45 minutes south of Fresno. His parents, who were both Portuguese immigrants, divorced when he was 8, and Mr. Perry and his mother moved in next door to her parents’. “I became invisible, emotionally,” Mr. Perry said. “And there were places I used to hide, to feel comfortable, to protect myself.”
Very excited about the current comeback from Journey frontman Steve Perry (born in my hometown), and this profile tells you where he’s been.
How to activate your intuition and make more “this feels right” decisions. My latest for Shine.
Smart conversation between two talented playwrights bridging the gap between theater and television.
What’s it like to sell at Smorgasburg? My friend Sara Lieberman, who started her long-held Cup o’ Cockles business idea this summer, will tell you.
Be More Chill is coming to Broadway. You wouldn’t have guessed its fate after its first New Jersey production, which garnered an “unenthusiastic” New York Times review. But they recorded a cast album and after a few years, kids started tagging the cast on Twitter and Instagram. Now it’s one of the most downloaded cast albums of all time. So please don’t tell me social media is worthless!
How to be disciplined about your creative projects.
My friend Dianna Garten is directing the new play A Fatima by Emily Claire Schmitt at NYNW Festival—the next performance is this Saturday, September 15 at 2pm!
Riz Ahmed acts his way out of every cultural pigeonhole. Yes.
Earlier this year, Hedges met a psychic who told him that his malleability is an asset, and lately he’s been inspired by The Mystic in the Theatre, a book about the legendary 19th-century actress Eleonora Duse, who was famous for her ability to blush at will in whatever part she was playing. “There’s this passage in the book that brought me a lot of comfort, where she says that she didn’t have to be one thing, that the truth about her is that she was a million different things and that was okay.” His smile is small but hopeful. “I think that’s kind of beautiful,” he says.
An introduction to Lucas Hedges, a star in the making—he has a very busy fall with The Waverly Gallery and two big films.
I keep coming back to these quick tips for creators. Especially this one: “Start by learning to finish.”
And you might want to keep this in mind on Sunday. (h/t Vishal Katariya)
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara