> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://makoism.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# When The Cup Runneth Over
- URL: https://makoism.com/when-the-cup-runneth-over/
- Published: 2022-09-03T21:31:20.000Z
- Updated: 2022-09-03T21:31:20.000Z
- Description: "You may think this is suffering, no. It is salvation. The universal scale tips toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile."
- Author: Steve Makofsky
- Tags: makoism, #newsletter-makoism

> *"You may think this is suffering, no. It is salvation. The universal scale tips toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile." - Ebony Maw, Infinity War*

**It's been a bit of a month.** The [coffee consumption](https://ko-fi.com/makoism) has been running on overtime, and I just wanted to say a quick **thanks** to everyone that has reached out saying that this small weekly brain dump has resonated with them in some small way. It's inspiring and much appreciated.

While I often talk about strategies for [managing time](https://makoism.com/dont-do-it/), [being more thoughtful](https://makoism.com/the-moment/) on how to spend the day, [leadership skills](https://makoism.com/the-path/), or whatever [random thing pops into my head](https://makoism.com/cloud-atlas/), lots of the things that I ramble on about here are mainly my small form of *self-therapy*.

I hope that doesn't sound *too* selfish, but I often write these weekly posts as part of a methodology to work on my broken psyche. **[Writing is thinking](https://alistapart.com/article/writing-is-thinking/)**, and *while it makes my day* (it does!) when readers shoot me a note that they found a post spoke to them, like everyone else, **I stumble**. More often than I'd like.

So, I'd throw it out this week: I've been feeling overwhelmed.

Lots of projects, [many meetings](https://jarche.com/2008/08/unmeeting/), breaking my own [rules on the calendar bank](https://makoism.com/dont-do-it/), getting [stressed over things I shouldn't](https://makoism.com/what-is/), [not exercising as much as I should](https://makoism.com/the-importance-of-exercise-7e6dc8de026/), and even having the occasional feeling of [impostor syndrome](https://makoism.com/crushing-weights/).

I am not sharing this to complain to the universe, but making it more of a "**we all go through it**" reminder. Maybe the world would be better if more people did just that - *admit we are not 'invincible'* and acknowledge that there are times **we all are just human**.

Ironically, a question that came in from someone who read the post on [Personal Mission statements](https://makoism.com/personal-mission-statement/) started to finally get me back on track. They simply asked about my own and '*if I finally landed on one*?'.

No; I haven't yet.

But I started to spend a ton of time thinking about the foundations for it:

- To not stress about where life takes me or things outside my control.
- To make sure that I spend time learning every day.
- To be around people that make me want to be better.
- To be a good father and husband.
- Try not to fuck up too much along the way.

I liked the way [Mark Manson](https://markmanson.net/the-uncomfortable-truth) talks about "Uncomfortable Truth"'s and that '*there's a realization that we all come to that affects everything we do. And yet, we spend most of our lives ignoring it*'.

> *You must start at the *Uncomfortable Truth*. From there, you must slowly build a convincing case for hope. And not just any hope, but a sustainable, benevolent form of hope. A hope that can bring us together rather than tear us apart. A hope that is robust and powerful, yet still grounded in reason and reality. A hope that can carry us to the end of our days with a sense of gratitude and satisfaction.*

If you enjoy these posts, you can [buy me a coffee](https://ko-fi.com/makoism) ☕️, or if you'd rather keep up with my daily ramblings, follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/smakofsky) or keep reading [my posts on this blog](https://makoism.com/).

## Forward Thinking

Im not sure why I loved this one as much as I did, but [Rannae Stubbs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennae%5FStubbs), part of the coaching team of the amazing Serena Williams, shows off some "[Ambush Tennis](https://racquetmag.com/2022/09/02/ambush-tennis-with-rennae-stubbs/)".

As someone '*who absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, withhold her opinion. Whether it’s correcting your tennis form in the middle of a dinner party or interrupting your casual hit to offer unsolicited advice, Rennae will coach you whether you like it or not.*'

Loved it.

## Thoughts of the week

> [pic.twitter.com/utYFB7G3SH](https://t.co/utYFB7G3SH)
> 
> — DO Lectures (@TheDOLectures) [September 2, 2022](https://twitter.com/TheDOLectures/status/1565599158362316800?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw)

> The only true form of freedom, the only ethical form of freedom, is through self-limitation. It is not the privilege of choosing everything you want in your life, but rather, choosing what you will give up in your life.
> 
> — Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson) [June 8, 2022](https://twitter.com/IAmMarkManson/status/1534516847898419201?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw)

> POWERING THROUGH vs HOLDING BACK  
>  
> Holding back when you still have steam in you might seem like a counterintuitive approach to getting important things done, but in fact, this kind of restraint is key to breakthrough productivity.  
>  
> 📚 [#effortless](https://twitter.com/hashtag/effortless?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) Chapter 10 [pic.twitter.com/Q7ieAjaajV](https://t.co/Q7ieAjaajV)
> 
> — Greg McKeown (@GregoryMcKeown) [May 2, 2022](https://twitter.com/GregoryMcKeown/status/1521151486121623554?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw)

## Latest obsession

As a long-time user/fan of the great apps from [Flexibits](https://flexibits.com), I wanted to draw some attention to two of the staple apps I use daily.

If you're not using [Fantastical](https://flexibits.com/fantastical) or [CardHop](https://flexibits.com/cardhop), you're missing out on some of the best apps on iOS and the Mac. The latest support for [Openings and Proposals](https://flexibits.com/blog/2022/02/fantastical-scheduling-arrives-with-version-3-6-openings-proposals-and-quarters/), I've entirely ditched the alternatives that I was using to find time to connect with people.

## This weeks "Deep Links"

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

- I've been thinking a lot of the latest media noise with regards to '[quiet quitting](https://hbr.org/2022/08/quiet-quitting-is-about-bad-bosses-not-bad-employees)'. Whether or not it's the '[next phase of the Great Resignation](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/02/how-quiet-quitting-became-the-next-phase-of-the-great-resignation.html)' or a sign of '[quiet firing](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/quiet-quitting-and-firing/)', I think humans should spend more time on why we, as a society, are re-evaluating everything in 20202\. Read more on "**Is quiet quitting a real thing?**" - [More](https://radreads.co/quiet-quitting/)
- Or, continuing the theme, maybe people are just at a point where "**stupidity — the new normal**" is where the world is in 2022 and '*the earth continues to burn*' - [More](https://jarche.com/2022/09/stupidity-the-new-normal/)
- [Harold Jarche](https://jarche.com) is one of the newer authors I've been following as of late, and I thought the post on "**meetings, bloody meetings**" was a great guide to how to have **better**, not more, meetings. I liked the lens on '*focus your energy on the real ingredients that make for effective meetings: purpose, engagement, safety, and results.*' - [More](https://jarche.com/2019/05/meetings-bloody-meetings/)
- This is a fun hack project: "**A smart E Ink calendar comes to my kitchen**." I need to add this to the growing backlog of personal projects (like I needed more) - [More](https://sixcolors.com/post/2022/09/a-smart-e-ink-calendar-comes-to-my-kitchen/)
- I've always been somewhat amused when people get creative drawing out wacky things with apps that track location (such as [the Nike app](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/06/runner-nike-san-francisco-penis), or [Strava](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracking-app-gives-away-location-of-secret-us-army-bases)) so I thought it was creative when a "**Plane gives the middle finger to Washington state, flight map shows**" - [More](https://www.q13fox.com/news/plane-gives-the-middle-finger-to-washington-state-flight-map-shows)
- "**Tea drinkers enjoy possible health benefits, study suggests**"; since [I drink a ton of tea](https://www.smithtea.com/products/bonbon), I'm happy to take any leg up I can get - [More](https://apnews.com/article/science-health-united-kingdom-75c80adda875a06e82bddc7a87e52177)
- While I'm not sure how many are knowledgable about what RSS is (except for us old-timers), "**Filtering my RSS reading**" was an excellent (albeit more technical) way to cut back on some of the chatter from articles that "*would just be a waste of my time*." I need to do more of this in my daily consumption; the noise/signal ratio is high these days - [More](https://leancrew.com/all-this/2022/08/filtering-my-rss-reading/)
- File under nostalgia, but I particularly enjoyed when "**Molly Ringwald Revisits 'The Breakfast Club' in the Age of #MeToo**" - [More](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink)
- Talking about more productive meetings, if you are an employee or a manager, here are "**13 things to talk about in your 1-on-1s**". I like the idea of '**Ask stuff you're just curious about**' as it promotes more profound levels of navigation and thinking - [More](https://www.manager-tools.com/forums/13-things-talk-about-your-1-1s)
- In the spirit of '[its more fun to be a pirate than in the navy](https://makoism.com/two-simple-ideas/),' here's the back story on "**Apple's Jolly Roger**." It was *‌a nod to the Jolly Roger that flew over Bandley 3 in 1983, the building the Mac team worked in as they put the finishing touches on the Macintosh*; enjoy the wallpaper! - [More](https://basicappleguy.com/basicappleblog/jollyroger)

## Fin

The tribute concert for [Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins](https://pitchfork.com/news/foo-fighters-taylor-hawkins-has-died/) was held this morning in London. While I only caught a few of the performances while running on the treadmill, it would be a great way to wrap up this week with Miley Cyrus's speech about him from Lollapalooza, Brazil, 2022.

Be well. ✌🏻