At the end of June, my tank was dry and I decided to go a month without appointments:
July is approaching, so it’s decided then! July shall be my ‘off the grid’ month - a month without work appointments and work! A month just dedicated to replenishing my tank of inspiration, creativity and motivation. I need to resist jumping back into working on my side projects. Not quite yet ready.
What a quiet but fulfilling month it had been! I read 8 books from my reading list for a new season, finishing up 3 more currently but also adding more as I go. One book leads to a few more, it’s addictive, especially after 2 years of not touching a book. I have a seasonal relationship with books. Sometimes, months and years can go by and I don’t have any appetite for them. The past 2 years had been just like that. I tried reading one or two, but could never finish. Then, as if the dam broke, I go through a flood of books like a voracious animal. Strange, but I’d come to see it as how the mind’s diet works. Some seasons, especially new ones where you have lots of questions or uncertainty, the mind naturally hungers to learn, imbibe and feed, feed, feed on books, podcasts, articles. All input. Some seasons, you produce and give and create, and work, work work till your well is dry, until the next feeding season.
No appointments for the whole month also meant I could quiet down, focus and do deep work and thinking for the next season of life coming up. I planned a new habit system (inspired by Atomic Habits, Deep Work) that would lay the foundation for making a million dollars as a solo indie maker. I drew lines in the sand for things I don’t want to do in my work and business, based on the counterintuitive but refreshing advice from It’s Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work, Rework, The Company of One, Tools Of Titans. I planned to apply tactics to be lucky in making/launching products, from How Luck Happens. I had fun with my imagination and want to continue doing so, listening to podcasts by Joe Rogan, on alternative theories of human history, lost civilizations and psychedelics.
Last month, I said: “Already I feel that slow waking from within the heart, a spirited spirit sobering up, inspiration and inspiring ideas briefly flashing past, fleetingly. I can’t quite latch on to them as yet, but already these effects seem promising.”
And I can say for sure now, that slow waking had unfolded into full sobriety. I feel much more energised, after feeding on all the new ideas and inspiration. The tank’s definitely topped up now. As @craigpetterson mentioned, Awesome August coming up!