What I Know Wednesday is a bi-weekly round-up of thoughts, ideas and recommendations from the desk of Leah Jarvis. The best advice for writing is to write what you know. This is what I know. . .
A Day Late and Dollar Short. . .But Are We Really?
I knew it was bound to happen when I set out to write these bi-weekly roundups. I knew I would eventually miss a week. That’s terribly pessimistic, isn’t it? Setting a deadline for yourself but knowing you will miss it at some point. Maybe, but that’s how my brain works and it happens a lot more often than you’d think. I’m working on it.
I started off yesterday morning with an idea for today’s What I Know Wednesday. I knew what I would write about in this self-reflection space. I knew what fun pop culture thing I would share. And I was really excited about getting it out the door. Well, that was all while I was running first thing in the morning.
The next thing I knew my day started to get away from me. First, this fire needed to be put out. Then I had to get that project out the door to a client. Then an appointment got pushed back, and the next thing I knew it was 6 p.m. and I desperately needed to go for another run or walk or something to shake off that dreaded spinny feeling that comes with a long day of unmet expectations.
I used to let those kinds of days get under my skin. I used to spiral when I missed a deadline. And to be frank, my first thought when I woke up this morning was, “I didn’t write that post. How could I let myself miss that?”
Then I reminded myself that I’m not curing cancer with this blog. I’m not putting out fires in the Amazon with these words. This space is for me, and I get to make the rules. We don’t have to torture ourselves when we miss a deadline or mess up. In fact, torturing ourselves only causes more delays in getting the things we want to get done done. That’s why we’re here on a Thursday talking about the things that I know.
If you missed a deadline or messed up, I’m cheering you on from my desk.
Quotable
“I don’t care how much you can lift, how fast you can run, how many pull-ups you can do, or whether you can hit a three while blindfolded. There are only three things I ask of every client… Show up, work hard, and listen. That’s it. It requires no talent, no special genetics, or any skill whatsoever to show up, work hard, and listen.”
– Tim Grover, athletic trainer to the NBA elite
What Should I Read Next. . .from the Washington Post
I constantly add to my To Read list on Goodreads. It’s almost a Pavlovian response. Hear a book title recommendation, add that book to my list. Now, maybe I get to reading it. Maybe I don’t. But I like to keep a list handy just in case I ever stumble upon $20 that I can ONLY spend in a book store.
This is a collection of books you should read at whatever age you are.
My recommendation was In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, which surprisingly I’m interested in – even if it will make me feel bad about my never-ending cravings for Sweetarts.
I stumbled upon this list right as I was making my way through The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley. In an effort to realign his spiritual practice and kick stress to the curb, he decided to create rules to live by, including a rule about limiting his media consumption to four hours per week. As someone who recently was given the gift of time (goodbye commute) and has zero tiny humans to keep alive, I kind of scoffed at that idea. Four hours of media a week?! Then he gave his reasoning: he will never be able to read all of the books he wants to read in his lifetime. There are just too many books and too many distractions and obligations.
So finding this list was a bit serendipitous, don’t you think?
In the words of list author Marvin Joseph, “Life is a wonderful adventure. Books make it even better.”
H/t to Ann Handley’s newsletter Total Annarchy for sharing this gem this week. Basically, I want to be her when I grow up. And you should, too.
What I’m. . .
- Reading: The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders
- Listening To (book): Just finished Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett and waiting for my Hoopla credits to renew!
- Listening To (podcast): Pay Attention to What You Skip on 10 Things to Tell You
- Cooking: My BFF and vegetarian Sarah is coming to dinner Saturday and I’m trying Naptime Kitchen’s Vegan Black Bean Soup
- Baking: Costco brownies for our neighborhood’s block party on Sunday
- Knitting: My No Frills Sweater by Petite Knit. On the sleeves and I’M. SO. PUMPED. I think it’s going to be done by our trip to Maine!