MacSparky Journals to 5,000
Speaking of hitting journaling milestones, my friend David Sparks hit a big one. 5,000 digital journal entries. Well done!
Weekly Quote: Building a StoryBrand With Donald Miller
This week's quote is from Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller.
Everyone has a story, and one of the key takeaways in Miller's book is that most people care more about their own story than yours. So, when trying to connect with others, it's best to make them the hero of the journey you'd like them to join you on.
This idea transcends marketing and building a business. It's a practical approach that makes a lot of sense in everyday life. Let people see themselves in your world; there's a good chance for a connection that works.
600 Days of Gratitude Journaling
Yesterday, Day One let me know that I had written my 600th consecutive entry in my daily gratitude journal. I'm proud of this achievement and hope it inspires some of you to start your journaling practice.
Like many apps, Day One likes to celebrate streaks to stay motivated and keep going on a goal. Streaks have a place in helping us build the version of ourselves we most want to be, although I have mixed feelings about them.
I'm sending more thoughts on the pros and cons of streaks to newsletter subscribers next week. You can subscribe below, and I'll send you my quick guide Seven Thought-Provoking Prompts for Your Journaling Practice, when you confirm your email.
If you haven't checked in on the newsletter lately, you’ll note that I’m refocusing it on journaling and working towards sending something to subscribers every two weeks. I'll have more on that soon.
Todd Henry on Walking With the Wise
This week's quote comes from one of the books I start every morning with, the Daily Creative: Find Your Inspiration to Spark Creative Energy and Fight Burnout by Todd Henry.
Todd has written what might be the best and most succinct sentence I've read about the value of mentorship. Spending time with someone who knows more than you, who has more experience than you, and who is just ten percent further ahead in their journey or career can change your life.
In just the same way, being a mentor can be a deeply rewarding experience. You can watch your mentee's eyes light up and feel their energy change as they absorb whatever you're trying to impart.
Everyone has benefited from someone wiser than them. When you're ready, you should add your voice to the world. Someone needs to hear from you.
Weekly Quote: Seth Godin on Building Things
This week’s quote comes from Seth Godin. Seth is a marketing expert, author, entrepreneur, and teacher who’s influenced and encouraged countless creatives.
In case you’re feeling like a cog in the giant wheel of life, take a moment and read what Seth has written here.
Weekly Quote: William Zinsser on Simplifying Your Work
This week's quote comes from On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser. The book, released in 1976, has sold over a million copies and is worthy of everyone's attention. Whether you're writing emails to your grandma or quarterly business reports for your senior leadership team, this book can help.
It takes effort to be concise. You want to express your gratitude, share a funny anecdote, and provide as much helpful information as you can. You want to answer all the questions that have been asked AND any questions that may come up.
Keep whatever your writing as simple as you can. Whether it's an email or the report out, tell the story that needs to be told, but whatever it is can probably be shorter.
You Have a Choice
You can wake up early and go to the gym, or you can sleep. You can get to bed on time, or you can watch another episode of that show you're binging on. You can write for an hour before heading to work or scroll on social media.
Sometimes, the right choice is easier to see. Often, it isn't. Sleep is essential, and so is exercise. It's your job to balance what you need with what you want and understand the long game you're playing. You only get one chance at life, at all of this, and it goes faster than you'd think.
You will only sometimes choose wisely. That's okay. It's expected. Life isn't just about the tactics of getting through today; it's about the strategies you build to be true to yourself, your kids, your friends, your partner, and those who depend on you and love you. It's about how you turn your days into weeks and months through your kindness, strength, and integrity.
The choice won't always be easy, but they are uniquely yours. Remember that and treat it like the gift it is.
Weekly Quote: Ryan Holiday on The Pursuit of Justice
This week's quote comes from Ryan Holiday's newest book in the Stoic Virtues Series, Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds.
As with so many essential aspects of our character, we make the most gains from what we practice every day.
New Features Coming to Apple Journal in iOS 18
At WWDC last month, Apple announced some new features coming to Journal with iOS 18 this fall. They include:
State of Mind Integration
State of Mind was released last year and is most easily accessed via the Mindfulness app on the Apple Watch. It can also be accessed through Health on iPad and iPhone.
I’ve been waiting for them to add this feature since they released it last fall. It just makes sense to integrate with a journaling app.
Insights
Insights will provide a calendar and stats like your current and longest streak, as well as general stats like how many entries you’ve done in a given year and how many words you’ve written. Based on the screenshots, Journal will also keep track of places you visit frequently and share that information.
I like to nerd out on insights like this, although I’m also a bit weary of streaks and urge people not to become too fixated on them. Streaks do have a place in helping you keep your journaling habit going.
Search
It’s hard to believe that Journal didn’t have this before. Search is kind of table stakes for making an app like this useful. I’m glad it’s being added.
Small Improvements Matter
I’ve recommended Journal to friends and family who are iPhone users and want an integrated tool for which they don’t have to pay extra. While not as advanced as third-party apps like Day One, features like the ones coming this fall will make Journal a better app and easier to keep recommending to people looking for a simple iPhone first journaling app.
Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday
A few weeks ago saw the release of Ryan Holiday’s latest book in The Stoic Virtues Series Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds.
I received my signed copy in the mail on release day as expected, but I’ve only just started reading it because I was knocked out for weeks with food poisoning and then followed it up with a chest cold and laryngitis, hence the extended radio silence here. I’m back.
You can grab your copy of Ryan’s new book here. It’s excellent. I’m a few chapters in and I particularly enjoyed the chapter about Truman. I’ve become a big fan of our 33rd President in recent years after reading The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A.J. Baime.
Cal Newport on Slow Productivity
This week’s quote comes from Cal Newport’s latest book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout.
The trap of unlimited time is rather easy to fall into, especially when you are working on a passion project. Add to that the rigors of everyday life, family, and day job stuff, and that unlimited time can quickly morph into infinity. I’m speaking from experience here, as I have projects I’ve lost track of because I haven’t been able to set the right kind of deadlines and actually make the right kind of effort to match them. I’ve written before about how practice makes progress, and this idea speaks to this quote. We needn’t forge a masterpiece here; we need to make something that causes those we want to reach most to take note of.
I’m taking the advice here to heart and seeing how I can make some slow progress on the work I’m doing. I hope you’ll do the same, and in doing so, be kind to yourself. Your circumstances are what they are, and they’re real. Even Newport mentions that what he suggests in this book won’t work for everyone, or at least not in its totality. Remember that, and do your best to accomplish the things you want to get done.
Weekly Quote: Raymond Carver on Being Patient
When I'm not writing, it's as if l've never written a word or had any desire to write. I fall into bad habits. I stay up too late and sleep in too long. But it's okay. I've learned to be patient and to bide my time.
Raymond Carver
This week’s quote comes from a 1983 Interview in The Paris Review with the short story writer and poet Raymond Carver, considered by many to be one of the defining voices of short story writing in the later part of the 20th century. If you’re new to Carver and want to read some excellent short fiction, I recommend starting with this collection.
While I cannot attribute my lack of writing to bad habits so much as to the demands of being a busy parent, I can relate to the idea that I feel far away from writing when I don’t do it regularly. Lately, my time to write has been less regular than I’d like or is even typical, so when I consider getting to my desk during quiet moments either late at night or occasionally during the day when there’s a bit of a lull, it feels more daunting than usual.
Yet, when I sit down, and my hands touch the keys, it feels entirely right again. Now, I’m not writing short fiction or poetry, at least not right now, but what I am writing, the story I’m telling, is something that has an impact on me and, I hope anyway, an effect on others, too.
Maybe you haven’t picked up your guitar in a while, or haven’t made it on a run in a few days, or perhaps you haven’t sat at your computer to write the next chapter in your novel. This happens to everyone. We lose the thread and sometimes for no reason that we can parse except getting busy or getting distracted. Don’t worry about the why right now. Be patient, and when there’s time and space find your way back to whatever it is you’ve lost touch with, embrace it, and make your way.
What I’m Watching - Spring 2024
I only have a little downtime for TV these days. My kids are my full-time job, and as a stay-at-home dad, I'm also the responsible party for the bulk of the food prep, transportation, cleaning, etc. So, while I'm not sitting down to watch movies with my wife (she's also busy working and being a fantastic mom and wife), I do find small windows of time, most often while doing those aforementioned household chores, to stream a show or two. Here are a few shows that I'm slowly watching and enjoying:
Franklin - Apple TV+
I read Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson last year and found the story of one of America's founding fathers to be fascinating. Of course, growing up, Franklin has always loomed large as an important character in the history of the United States. The Apple TV+ series focuses on the eight years that Franklin spent lobbying the French to aid in the cause of independence.
The cast is splendid, led by Michael Douglas as Franklin. I know this may seem an odd choice for casting, but Douglas is enjoying the role and playing him with the demur whit that Franklin seems to have embodied. I also quite enjoy Noah June as Franklin's grandson Temple.
Clarkson's Farm - Amazon Prime
Jeremy Clarkson is best known for his time on Top Gear and later The Grand Tour. I've watched some of each series and have enjoyed them both. Clarkson's Farm, now on its 3rd season on Amazon Prime, follows the efforts of Clarkson and a humble band of characters as they work to make Diddly Squat farm a success. They're up against the weather, Clarkson's own incompetence, and the local council, and these challenges make for entertaining and occasionally poignant moments.
Tasting History with Max Miller - YouTube
Max Miller had a successful career at Disney when he was furloughed during the COVID-19 Pandemic, giving him more time to focus on his YouTube Channel and eventually to publish his first cookbook. Tasting History with Max Miller combines two things I really enjoy, History and Food. Max picks one recipe tied to an important moment from the past, and while he cooks the recipe, he devotes most of his time to sharing its place in history.
Some of my favorites from Max include his detailed breakdown of the menus of the Titanic, recipes from Ancient Rome and Egpyt, and a particularly tasty Pecan Pie that I made a few Thanksgivings ago. Our guests were divided, although I preferred this earlier rendition, popularized before Caro Syrup became a thing.
What's on your watch list
Do you have any recommendations that I might enjoy? If so, please send me a note. I'd like to hear from you.
Weekly Quote: Tony Bourdain on Character and Skill
This week's quote comes from the world-traveling documentarian, chef, and writer Anthony Bourdain, whose book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly greatly inspired me when it was released a couple decades ago. I keep a well-read copy of the book on my shelf. I remember buying it a few days after I moved into my second apartment in the early 2000s. It's one of the few possessions that's moved from city to city, through career changes, and from being single to being a happily married dad with two kids.
Tony is sadly no longer with us, but his legacy as a writer, traveler, and chef continues to inspire many. I still use the Global 8-inch chef's knife, which he recommends in the book, daily when I'm prepping meals for my family, just as I did as a kid in his early twenties, living on his own and trying to figure out the world. Another tool that’s been well worth holding on to.
As for the quote, it broadly speaks for itself. We've all known people who are strong of character but lack the skills. We should always bet on them. They're the ones worth putting the effort in for because they'll be there for you, too. Most often, the energy pays off, and everyone gains something.
May the 4th Be With You
Happy Star Wars Day!
To commemorate the day, Apple released this fun little ad.
This year was more special because my oldest child wished me a “Happy Star Wars Day,” and we spent a little time playing with some Droid Funko Pops. I am not a massive collector, but I do like to pick up one or two throughout the year as new series come out.
One of the fun parts about being a Dad is that I can share my interests and fandom with my kids, and they can try it on to see if it fits. Whether they become fans or not, I like showing them that it’s important to have things in our lives that exist merely to bring us joy and make us happy.
I shared some thoughts in 2022 and 2023 too. I’m glad to mark the occasion again this year, and hope you do something nerdy today to celebrate!
Weekly Quote: Seneca on Learning While Teaching
This week’s quote from Seneca brings forth an important idea: We best serve ourselves and others around us when we learn as much as we teach. Consider what we can glean from what someone is saying when we listen. When we really listen, instead of busying ourselves with crafting our witty response, which is meant to impress but does little more than feed our ego.
Don’t waste your time trying to put on airs. The right people, those you should be spending your time with whenever possible, will see through that. Want to impress someone? Listen to them, learn from them, and then teach what you know when they are ready to hear it.
Weekly Quote: Austin Kleon on Collecting Good Ideas
This week’s quote comes from Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon. Inspiration might be found everywhere. Whether reading a book, watching a classic film, chatting with some old friends, or taking a long hike, be ready to make a note in your project ideas list, journal, or commonplace book.
I’d argue the next step is actually going back and taking a look at these ideas. They’re easy to collect and forget about, yet I think you really start to find the influence and build a creative narrative from the ideas you’ve collected when you take a second (or third or fourth) pass and get another look at them.
The Cloud Under The Sea
The Verge today released a beautifully written and designed feature on the rarely thought of network of undersea cables that transfer data around the world and the people who are responsible for installing and repairing them.
Here’s a blurb from the article:
The world’s emails, TikToks, classified memos, bank transfers, satellite surveillance, and FaceTime calls travel on cables that are about as thin as a garden hose. There are about 800,000 miles of these skinny tubes crisscrossing the Earth’s oceans, representing nearly 600 different systems, according to the industry tracking organization TeleGeography. The cables are buried near shore, but for the vast majority of their length, they just sit amid the gray ooze and alien creatures of the ocean floor, the hair-thin strands of glass at their center glowing with lasers encoding the world’s data.
In addition to learning about how we are presently managing these systems, there’s also some fascinating insight into the history of submarine communications cables, which were first laid in the 1850s (yes, that’s the middle of the 19th century, not a typo!).
This is a lengthy feature. It’s worth your time, if for no other reason than to gain a slightly better understanding of how incredible it is that we are all connected and can access virtually anything from anywhere in the world with little wait despite living on a planet that’s 71 percent water.
David Sparks on Avoiding Email
I don’t deal with email as a stay-at-home dad like I did when I was in management, and yet I’m still finding value from what David Sparks has written about email. Part one, about doing the hard stuff instead, is here. Part two focuses on email as a tool, and David makes this excellent point:
Despite its widespread use, email is not an efficient tool for all types of communication. We’ve overlooked its limitations in our attempt to make it do everything. It’s time we acknowledge that email is often the wrong tool for the job.
Give it a read. David knows his stuff and wants us to use our technology in the ways that best serve us.
Weekly Quote: Finding Opportunities in Challenges with Dr. Michael Gervais and The First Rule of Mastery
I've just finished The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying about What People Think of You by Dr. Michael Gervais, and I really enjoyed it. It's the right mixture of social science, organizational psychology, and personal development, culminating in actionable advice aimed at helping us overcome one of the more powerful external actors in our lives: FOPO, or fear of other people's opinions.
When I shared this week's quote with a few friends, we all arrived at a similar conclusion: the idea that we should see challenges to our beliefs as an opportunity and not a threat is a great idea, but it's also difficult to actually make it a part of our daily practice.
As you know, I believe in productive struggle and know mistakes are the language of growth. This aspect of development is worth working on, regardless of how difficult it is.