Check-In Round

What’s the best way to spend a snow day?

I’m writing this from Naples, FL, so this is an exceedingly theoretical question given my circumstances. Nonetheless, sledding. Or sitting inside and reading all day.

This year I wrote and published 26 issues of The Deliberate. For a project largely started on a whim and with a minimum of structure or planning, it’s honestly a more impressive number than it actually feels like. I’ve had a vague intention to make this newsletter a weekly affair and it doesn’t take a super strong grasp of math or calendars to know that 26 issues over the course of a year does not equal one per week.

Normally I would let the result of that arithmetic get me down. Instead of celebrating the fact that I started a project that has some vitality and some traction, I would focus on the failure of "only" publishing 26 issues.

Call it turning a new leaf or a New Year’s resolution or maybe just a smidge of personal growth, but I’m going to let myself enjoy the fact that I made something I’m proud of this year. I’ve enjoyed curating a list of links that all hang around a central theme, capturing some thoughts about something that’s been bouncing around my head, and even writing the quick “Closing Round” section that gives a bit of a mundane glimpse into what I’m doing. Curating and writing his newsletter has made me slightly more deliberate in the way I consume information and it has forced me to coalesce my thinking into something consumable by others -- which has the bygone effect of helping me figure out what I actually think. It has all been a lot of fun and the fact that a couple hundred people have stuck around is very cool.

Looking ahead to next year — what’s the plan for this little venture?

Honestly, I’m not too sure. I’d like to say that I’ll get it on a weekly schedule but the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so that seems unlikely. I will probably keep experimenting with the format a bit. More links? Fewer links? More personal? More philosophical? It’s all kind of up in the air right now and I’d welcome whatever feedback you might have for me.

I do know that I’m going to keep challenging myself to regularly sit down and capture some thoughts about the most important work any of us can do — living meaningful and fulfilling lives in an increasingly complex world. As I figure out what that means (and inevitably stumble from time to time) I’ll try to pass along what I’m learning to all of you.

Thanks for coming along in 2019 and I’m happy to have you on board in 2020!

What Has My Attention

Closing Round

Eating: It’s the holiday season — so, everything?
Working: Taking a much needed break this week before headed into 2020 with renewed focus. Working with a handful of freelance writers for The Ready’s early 2020 content marketing has been fun and all-consuming.
Playing: Finished Donut County. Seriously weird but the gameplay was strangely relaxing.
Reading: Read Hyperion by Ben Simmons on a whim and I thought it was incredible.

Until next year!
Your friend,
Sam