Current location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Reading: Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein
Listening: Intentions by ANNA(if you have a moment, reply with your own 3-item status via email or in the comments)
What I’ve Got
It can be useful to embrace your limitations when you feel stuck, uninspired, or unable to make any progress on some task or undertaking.
Sometimes you're missing what feels like a vital component or data-point, and the slow-down is related to that lack of a fundamental tool or possibly necessary information.
Sometimes the array of options you face is so sprawling and varied that homing in on the ideal next-step feels overwhelming or impossible.
Sometimes the weight of the task—its bulk, its meaning, the amount of time it will likely take to finish—freezes you in place with its psychological heft.
Artificial constraints can make it easier to get started despite these hindrances, and that start can make the true complexities and problems you face more clear, while also shining a light on the other things (data, tools, time) you might want to acquire or set aside to pave your (more evident) path toward your (better defined) destination.
One constraint I find to be reliably useful is trying to solve the problem, make the thing, or accomplish the task using only what I've got right now, sans any new acquisitions or investments.
This might mean I start writing using only pen and paper or the text editing program that came with my computer (rather than getting bogged down researching the best fancy app for the job) or diving into a research project using only the notes I've already collected.
It might mean using the physical tools I have on hand to build or repair something—and earnestly trying to make it work with just the creative use of those tools—or figuring out a way to learn what I need to know from my existing network of relationships, contacts, and resources.
The idea is to take practical steps toward where I think I need to go, immediately, as the simple act of getting started and setting out of a journey changes one's perspective on any undertaking.
In some cases these constraints will result in an actual, usable solution, and that solution might be better (or different in any interesting way) than what you would have come up with using a more sophisticated toolbox of gizmos.
More often, these constraints will make clear what you need with intense (and perhaps horrible) specificity, clearing your mental list of "maybes" and replacing it with a concise, confident collection of "definites."
At times, this act of just starting will illuminate the uncomfortable fact that the solution you had in mind wasn't even addressing the right problem (or aiming at the proper outcome), and you'll be able to recalibrate your compass and start over, headed in a more ideal direction for your intended outcomes, rather than wasting more time preparing for the wrong thing.
The idea isn't to do an important job in haphazard fashion, it's to acquire practical knowledge about a subject or issue that until that point has been mostly or entirely theoretical.
This real-world wisdom tends to clear the fog, spark ideas, and kick one's internal motivation mechanisms into gear, as it feels like (and is) actually doing something—which in some cases, for some flavors of uncertainty, can be all you need to understand the shape of what you face and the substance of what you need to do next.
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My Work, Elsewhere
Aspiring Generalist / Brain Lenses (podcast) / Climate Happenings / Let’s Know Things (podcast) / Never Not Curious / Notes On the News / One Sentence News (podcast) / You Probably Don’t Need
Might I suggest reading:
Interesting & Useful
“Fred Flintstone and George Jetson are iconic comic characters from the Hanna-Barbera universe. While Fred is a pre-historic guy with a pet dinosaur and George lives in the year 2062 (and has a flying car!), they’re nonetheless similar in other ways. Both are only moderately competent at their jobs, are typically well-meaning, and find themselves in hysterical situations stemming from their own mistakes. And, by design, neither has a visible neck. And it isn’t just them. The same is true for most Hanna-Barbera characters at the time. Take, for example, Yogi Bear (and Boo Boo) and Huckleberry Hound”
Why the Super Rich Are Inevitable
“Why do super rich people exist in a society? Many of us assume it's because some people make better financial decisions. But what if this isn't true? What if the economy – our economy – is designed to create a few super rich people? That's what mathematicians argue in something called the Yard-sale model, and I promise it has something to do with my dumb watch purchase.”
Astronomy Photographer of the Year
“Gerald's image captured a dramatic moment in the life of a comet: a disconnection event. This happens when a piece of the comet's tail becomes separated after being hit by high velocity solar particles.”
Outro
I tend to find satisfaction in using the tools and other resources I have available to achieve something, even if I then go on to acquire some new tool or body of knowledge to do it better (by some metric), later.
There’s a sense of “living off the land” in this kind of process, and it often requires some amount of MacGyvering to get things working.
But it also opens a lot of doors and reminds me of my capacity to make and do and satisfice, despite the ever-present desire (sometimes warranted) to lean more heavily on my tools, shift the heavy-lifting onto them, and aim for crisp-edged perfection in everything I attempt.
Do any MacGyvering recently? Or in contrast, acquire any snazzy, useful new tools? Consider dropping me a quick hello to introduce yourself, tell me what’s going on in your life, or for no reason at all—reply directly to this newsletter or send an email to colin@exilelifestyle.com. I respond to every email I get and would love to hear from you!
Prefer papercuts and stamps? Send me a letter, postcard, or some other physical communication at: Colin Wright, PO Box 11442, Milwaukee, WI 53211
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Current Location: Anchorage, AK
Reading: The Winners by Frederik Backman
Listening to: Take Me Back to Eden by Sleep Token