Life 2.0

I was reminded on LinkedIn that today was an old friend and colleague's birthday. The friendly notification urged me to "say happy birthday" - however, it would be impossible to do so, as he died back in 2015 from an unexpected heart attack. It was sudden and shocking - he collapsed outside of a restaurant on Father's Day, leaving, at the time, a 15-year-old without her dad.

This isn't a post on setting up legacy contacts (a practice I highly recommend) but rather about life.

The idea behind thinking about being intentional about how you want to be and spend your day, helps defines a path to get there.

I've often talked about the concept of "Life 2.0" on Makoism, with friends, and with my personal board of directors. To quote a previous post:

- Accept that the past is fixed, and the future isn't set in stone.
- Ask yourself: If you had to stop doing 10% of what you're doing, what would you abandon
- Try to visualize what you want your life to be, where you want to live, and what you want to spend your day doing in 5 years. Make slow micro-adjustments to get yourself there. This helps define a path to "Life 2.0".

David Hieatt, who I have never met (but hopefully will at Do Wales 2023 this year), summed this up nicely in an Instagram post that I just loved.

This conversation changed my life.
It helped me understand the importance of non-obvious goals.
"Hey Dave, tell me your plans?"
My answer: "Win some awards. Start an agency".
I asked him the same question.
His answer: "Canoe to work."
Mic drop. He won.
And, to this day, that conversation guides my path through life.

— via David Hieatt

It sparked an idea that it would be kinda fun to put a t-shirt style "motto" around a vision of what life 2.0 will be. A call to action. A mantra. Not something that is limiting, but rather more about how I'd like to spend my 1440 minutes each day.

"Drink Coffee. Watch Whales."

I know it's brief. But that's the point.

Now, I'm not saying that I will live on an island and be a hermit - I plan on working for who-knows-how-long. But it's about how I want to spend the days — and spending more time where I can continuously edge towards being the best version of myself.

If you enjoy these posts, you can buy me a coffee ☕️, check out my store or just share my work. If you'd rather just keep up with my daily ramblings, follow me via your favorite RSS reader, via Mastodon or keep reading my posts on this blog. Your support is much appreciated!

Mind Benders

Recently, I stumbled upon a new concept that was an instant addition to my Commonplace Journal - the 'Manifesto for Slow Learning.'

More than ever, it feels like it's time to demand a bill of rights on how to slow down.

The Slow Learners Bill of Rights

1. Focus on direction, not destination - Immerse yourself completely in the journey and you will reach your final goal gradually.
2. Raise your hand - Asking questions is a fundamental human right.
3. Learn at your own pace - Find your rhythm, find your flow. Don’t compare yourself to others.
4. Unplug - You have the right to disconnect and move your attention towards what’s essential. Learn unplugged, far away from digital distractions.
5. Change your learning path (and mind) - Don’t get too comfortable in the habit zone and start with changing the aversion to change. Think differently and learn new things.
6. Take a break - Micro-breaks, lunch breaks, and longer breaks will all improve your learning performance. You have the right to rest.
7. Make mistakes - Don’t fall into despair but Fail Forward.
8. Leave it unfinished - We live in a super busy, multi-tasking, results-oriented society. Step away from your long to-do list and enjoy once in a while the beauty of an unstructured day.
9. Unlearn and forget - Harness the power of unlearning. Reboot your mind, abandon old knowledge, actions and behaviours to create space.
10. Slow down - Sometimes slow and steady will win the learning race. Make haste slowly.

You can request the free book here.

Quotables

Typography: it matters!

— [via Mark A Rayner]

Brain Dump

Here are a few articles and videos that resonated with me over the last week:

• Ah, the meaning of meaning. I've spent quite some time reflecting on and working through my self-inflicted impostor syndrome. — [via The horrifying problem of meaning]
• +1 for the simplicity of the idea, +10 for ingenuity. Bike maker Van Moof sells 80% of their bicycles online and wants to reduce shipping damages. The idea - by printing an image of a TV on the side of the box - they 'assumed handlers would care a little more about that.' And they were right - damages dropped 70-80%. — [via TV, or not TV: the story of our bike box]
• I'll admit it - I had yet to learn that the 'process for developing a new menu item is a long process,' in fact, several years. So here's the full history of the Chicken Nugget for your reading amusement. — [via The History of Chicken Nuggets]
• As a self-proclaimed extraverted introvert, I appreciated this read on better understanding "us." 'It's not that we don't want to interact. We don't like our quiet time interrupted.' is high on my list. — [via 5 Things Extroverts Get Wrong About Introverts]
• I kid around a lot that I'm glad all the buzz these days on A.I. and ChatGPT has finally silenced the silliness of NFTs and Metaverse. With all things, I'm sure the hype cycle around AR/VR and virtual worlds will circle back in 5-10 years. — [via The Metaverse, Zuckerberg's tech obession, is officially dead. ChatGPT killed it.]
• AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), originally 'promised' to make things fast again on the web, was gross from the beginning. A method to serve up web pages faster was a trojan horse for Google to reshape the web. I've disliked it from the beginning, and one of the first things I install on my phone is Amplosion, a plugin to redirect AMP links back to their source. Read more about its horrible history here. — [via How Google tried to fix the web — by taking it over]
• Being involved in media companies since 2010, I've been aware of the tradition of a previous record holder publicly congratulating the new owner of a box office record when it's been broken. I didn't know that the origin of 'passing the torch' started in 1977 when Star Wars took the record from Jaws for 'domestic film rentals.' Read more about this history and check out some of the cool notes that have been sent. — [via May the Force always be with you]
• It's been a while since everyone has jumped on the hype train for new tech, and A.I. is the big one for 2023. More here — [via Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey?]
• While I enjoyed this read about Tom Hanks and the path that's led him to where he is today, the real takeaway was some techniques he uses for storytelling and productive thinking. Nuggets like 'I always think that story can be told in seven words or less: 'He was an asshole.'' or his usage of the Pomodoro Technique for structuring thinking time, were notable. — [via Tom Hanks, Now a Novelist, Wants to Tell You a Story]
• As always, Jessica Hagy has a wonderful series of visualizations and thought-provoking ideas around 'how to matter more — [via 10 Ways to Matter More]
• 'The real magic only happens in the editing room' is known by many filmmakers, and that 'the copywriter's most useful tool is their delete button.' A great one on why throwing things out and not falling in love with your first idea is important. — [via Why You Should Hit Delete More Often]

This Weeks Vibe

Much to my chagrin, apparently travel is back. Over the last two weeks, I've been at home for only four days over three different trips.

I miss being home and I miss my family.

I hear her voice
In the mornin' hour she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
And drivin' down the road I get a feelin'
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

Be well. ✌🏻