Why you should embrace FOMO

In this issue: Most common misunderstanding of what teaching is, a simplifying tool I use often in my metaphors, what people remember most about us, and how to escape the feeling of missing out

Author

PJ Milani
September 17, 2024

In partnership with

🤔 INTERESTING

❝

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.

– Mark Van Doren

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📐 DESIGN

A quick tip to simplify a metaphor:
Play with the AMOUNT of an element in the visual.

It’s a helpful way to frame an idea so its meaning is more easily understood by the reader.

To start, try this:

Visual metaphor by milaniCREATIVE.art comparing the burden of discipline, represented by multiple small kettlebells, with the burden of regret, shown as a single large kettlebell, illustrating the difference in weight and impact between daily discipline and long-term regret.

Multiply the quantity of the object…

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art comparing the value from a goal, represented by a single diamond, with the value from a system, illustrated as a cluster of multiple crystals, emphasizing the greater rewards from systems over individual goals.

…or scale its size.

P.S. When you’re ready to start creating your own visuals, sign up for the next cohort of Thinking in Visual Metaphors ↗ .

🔮 ENCHANTING 

❝

It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.

— Helen Walton

No one will remember how much you made.
But the people that matter most will remember your integrity.

🧠 ANALOGY

❝

Missing out’ is what makes our choices meaningful.

-Oliver Burkeman

One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books, “4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals” by Oliver Burkeman.

Embrace the joy of missing out by focusing on what truly matters and saving your energy for what counts.

🤓 WHAT I’M READING NOW

I’ve been loving the creative and delightful anthology of visual storytelling from New York Times blog illustrator, Christoph Niemann.

Abstract City ↗ is a wide ranging set of visual stylings, going from a child’s obsession with the New York subway to Christoph’s love-hate relationship with coffee, using all kinds of materials to conceptualize visual thinking.

Lego missteps

sleep is complicated

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