General

Destination unknown, but I have a compass: Day 1 challenge

Written by LiLi Kathleen Bright on . 1 Comment
Map: In the sea is a heart with hands beneath it, three arrows - 2 go forward, 1 deviates up, and a bright lightbulb with a question mark in it. On the land is a person pointing to a star, four arrows all pointing towards a central point, and a smiling face.
Compassion, Courage, Curiosity lead me to Autonomy, Focus, Joy

Destination unknown, and emergent

I’m sailing to an island. Not a specific area. But I’ll know it when I see it. Because I can describe its features.

What am I seeking?

Fine sand, crystal waters, glorious sunshine…? Well, that’d be nice, but no, I’m sailing to:

  • Autonomy
  • Focus
  • Joy

When I see those, I know I’m home.

And when I’m there, another journey begins… but that’s a different story for another time.

In the meantime, I’m on an adventure! Exploring.

What am I taking with me?

A helping of adventurous spirit. A dash of beginner’s mind. A liberal dollop of care.

Here’s how I know I’m travelling well, that I’m going a good way:

  • Compassion
  • Courage
  • Curiosity

This is my compass.

Following these means it’s all good. And it’s ‘a good way’, not ‘The Right Way’, because there are many paths and many destinations

When I’m unsure which way to go, when I don’t know whether to go full steam ahead or batten down the hatches, when I’m wondering which winds to follow… these are my guides.

April challenge: Blog daily

My thought process

  1. I’d love to post daily.
  2. How can I do that?!
  3. Ask for help: I searched online for “how to blog daily” & this is the first thing that came up: How to Blog Almost Every Day by Chris Brogan.
  4. Key tip: Write down titles and topic ideas in a doc.
  5. Challenge myself to be concise, which I find hard. Less is more. Inspired by Kareem, who’s so skillful at being succinct.

Benefits

  • Better writing with 600% more practise
  • Shorter posts, with themed rambling, instead of everything-but-the-kitchen-sink posts
  • Tracking how long I spend on blogging
  • Less time waiting to post thoughts
  • More opportunities for cross-referencing posts
  • Sharing more about my process
  • Experimenting with different styles of writing

Notes

  • Inspired by Chuck SJ songwriting daily for a year, Steve Pavlina blogging daily for a year, Sharon Dale writing daily for a month.
  • I want to do stuff that requires consistency. Some self-discipline, and motivation, yes, but mostly following joy, challenging fear and acting in line with my values. Practising!
  • I can iterate by adding/editing later, that’s not the point. The point is get to done quickly.
  • Done = every day I publish something. So, I can write and schedule posts in advance, if I want. But backdating posts doesn’t count. Don’t miss a day. Best way, then, is to get ahead; just in case.
  • I want to get better at writing weeknotes – better titles, faster writing/editing. The way to do that is practice. Ask for help!