Life is a journey.
You’ve heard this before. But this analogy goes further than you may think.
If you have goals, you spend your time working towards these goals. But the journey of your life doesn’t stop once you reach your goal. Being alive is more like being on a continuous journey.
When you’re driving, there are milestones on the side of the road. You reach certain milestones, but the journey continues.
Your goals are pretty literally milestones. They show you how far you’ve come. They give you an opportunity to celebrate. But afterwards, the journey must go on. You can’t sit on that milestone forever.
See goals as milestones you want to pass and celebrate. Figure out a direction you want to go, even after you reach your milestone.
If you find your own direction and pace, you will naturally pass the milestones that are important to you.
Optimize your life for the journey. Smell the flowers on the way (if that’s your thing) and enjoy the scenery.
Reading Recommendations
AlgoDaily - Debugging Abstractions: The Benefits of Mindfulness for Software Engineers
“It's been a wild week. You and your team have been engaged in an all-out war with the codebase for the past two sprints. There's this new integration with a partner that's close to being shipped, and it promises bountiful revenue and voluminous web traffic. And you've been working on the part of it that'll seal the deal and let your squad deploy, come Monday morning.”
Forget About Setting Goals, Focus on This Instead | Psychology Today
“What I'm starting to realize, however, is that when it comes to actually getting things done and making progress in the areas that are important to you, there is a much better way to do things.
It all comes down to the difference between goals and systems.”
6 ways to apply Mindful UX to your Daily Life — This Too Shall Grow
“Whether it's in your room or at your desk, trimming down the visual clutter allows by contrast to shine more light on what's important, on the few things that you decide to leave in sight. Not only does that make it easier for you to find something you're looking for, but it's also nicer and less stressful on the eyes, because you have less visual stimuli.”
Weekly Mindfulness Practice
Take a deep breath whenever you're compiling or running your code.
It often takes a few seconds from hitting “run” until your code actually runs, so this is a perfect anchor for returning to the present moment. Take a conscious breath and ask yourself how you feel. Are you tired, restless, or do you feel okay?
End Note
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Have a great week
Simon
PS: If you found an article you think others might like, and that fits this newsletter, I’d love it if you write me an email. Just reply!