#217 Inaction is not the lack of action

ByLukas
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If I don’t write the post I intended to write, I actively avoid the desired result of my writing.

If I don’t do the workout I intended to do, I actively avoid the desired result of my workout (being in better shape, running a new PR,…)

If I don’t have the difficult conversation I intended to have, I actively avoid the desired result of that conversation.

Inaction is not the lack of action.

Inaction is taking active action to avoid working towards the result you desire.

The real question, then, is:

Why do I actively avoid working toward a desired result?

Am I worried that even if I write daily, I’ll never become a skilled writer?

Am I worried I won’t enjoy writing anymore if I ever get recognition?

Am I worried that writing every day will turn me into a skilled writer, but being a professional writer won’t be fulfilling?

P.S. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that I only have a limited repertoire of examples in this newsletter, my friend

I trust you to apply the insight to your situation.

And maybe, when you’re pondering the question above, you’ll come to the same conclusion as me:

That more often than not, I’m more interested in the comfort of “wanting” something I don’t have than in “taking action to get something.”

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    I basically write the same song over and over, but they’re just verses of this one really long one. I’m trying to figure it out.

    The Tallest Man on Earth

    I write every day so I start to understand what I really want to say.

    I don’t usually get it right on the first try; maybe I’m not even getting close after 100 iterations.

    And that’s fine.

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    Maybe understanding emerges from whole of the 100 iterations instead?

    Sculpting away, day by day.

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    #66 Scarcity is like pollution

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    Some days I have ten ideas to write about. Some days, zero.

    But when I lack ideas to write about, the ideas aren’t really gone. I’m in a scarcity state: my brain chemistry prevents me from accessing the insights.

    When I feel lonely, friends and family I can connect with aren’t really gone. I’m in a scarcity state: my brain chemistry prevents me from connecting with them.

    Scarcity is like pollution.

    When noise pollution of cars, planes and construction machines drown out the singing of the birds, the birds aren’t really gone. I just can’t hear them.

    When light pollution drowns out the stars, they’re not really gone. I just can’t see them.

    So how do I get out of scarcity? How do I reduce pollution?

    Here’s what works for me:

    Notice I’m in scarcity mode. Then move. Meditate. Do stream-of-consciousness journaling.

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    Write anyway.
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    #107 Making the same decisions over and over again

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    First I decide to write every day.

    That one decision liberates me of the burden of a daily decision: should I write or not?

    After all, the decision has already been made, and now is not the time to negotiate.

    True freedom is freedom from the burden of making the same decisions over and over again.

    Because a decision turns into a constraint.

    A constraint turns into the freedom to do what matters.

    And when you do what matters, you become who you want to be.

  • #400 3 lessons from 400 consecutive days of writing (and a request)

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    Today marks day 400 of the Daily Insight newsletter – which calls for a longer post and a question for you.

    Let’s start with three lessons I learned from publishing daily.

    Lesson 1: Writing when not you’re not inspired IS the point

    I wasn’t inspired every day in the past 400 days – but many days I was.

    And I wouldn’t have had the inspiring days without the uninspired days.

    Maybe writing when you’re not inspired is the whole point.

    Because showing up for the bad moments makes it possible to be there for the good moments, too.

    Lesson 2: You don’t have to be ready to get started – you get started to become ready

    In the past, I just couldn’t get myself to write, not even if I really wanted to.

    Now, I just write.

    Doing something new always goes against your current beliefs and always comes with resistance – otherwise, you would already be doing it.

    But seeing how tiny daily actions can normalize a behavior that in the past seemed unattainable was incredibly empowering.

    You don’t have to be ready to get started. You get started to become ready.

    Lesson 3: It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it’s meaningful to you

    For the longest time, I felt like I always gave up on things that were important to me. I just couldn’t persevere.

    So, I chose to start writing daily. But I could’ve also decided to run every day. Or knit.

    In the end, the activity itself doesn’t matter. You can choose any desire you feel resistance towards…

    And start using it as a symbol of your defiance against your limiting beliefs.

    In its essence, such “Tiny Trust Builder” actions, as I came to call them, are symbolic.

    Pick one. Attach meaning to it. Use it to prove to yourself that your aspirations are not just pipe dreams. And see how your life changes.

    What’s next?

    Maybe it didn’t have to take 400 days to prove to myself that I could write every day – or maybe it did.

    Either way, I did it. And now the question arises: what’s next?

    To answer that question, I need your help.

    Why are you subscribed to this newsletter? What do you get out of it?

    Could I do anything to make the newsletter more interesting to you?

    Let me know by replying to this email so we can shape the next 400 newsletters together.

    Thanks for being along for the journey!

    • Lukas
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    #87 AI Raises the Bar

    ByLukas
    Attention, trust and GPT3

    What do we do when AI can cobble together in seconds essays that take us hours (or days) to write – not even counting years of practice?

    Maybe it just raises the bar for us – requiring is to make new work that continues to stand out from AI-generated content.

    As things stand, that’s still possible.

    But what happens when the bar is set so high that our human brains can’t jump over it anymore, even with a lifetime of practice?

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