How to get the morning gunk out of your head

In this issue: journaling, solving design problems, recommended books, and a stoic principle.

šŸ¤” INTERESTING

Clear your mind for the day.

Inspired by the concept of Morning Pages from the book The Artistā€™s Way by Julia Cameron. But honestly, any-time journaling is better than nothing.

I have one on hand whenever and wherever I go to 'process' and get the gunk out. šŸ¤“

šŸ“ DESIGN

I recently iterated on my ā€œImposter Syndrome to Growth Mindsetā€ visual.

What design problem pops out to you from this first iteration? ā†“

Thatā€™s right! The point of intersection between the graphs!

Where the graphs overlap needs to make insightful sense to both ā€œgrowth mindsetsā€ and ā€œimposter syndrome.ā€ Unfortunately, the point of intersection wasnā€™t the point of the message!

So back to the drawing board (šŸ„)

My first attempt

ā€¢ Reads top-down and left-to-right, so problem = growth mindset is seen first

ā€¢ Red graph dominates the image

ā€¢ Thought bubbles make less sense

ā€¢ Helps me identify the central problem = Reveal each element so it can be read in the correct order

Below is the final version solving the central design problem. Curious, how might you have solved this differently?

Before

After

šŸ”® ENCHANTING 

Whatā€™s a book that completely changed how you think about how you think?

In case youā€™re interested in recommendations this summer, here are my three favorites of the last year:

šŸ§  ANALOGY

Inspired by the Stoic version of the serenity prayer:

ā€œThe chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.

Where then do I look for good and evil?

Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my ownā€¦ā€
ā€” Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4ā€“5

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