This is issue no. 100 of Nerdful Mind.
I'm amazed.
100 weeks of writing have gone by. And so much has happened, globally, and for me personally.
One question I now ask myself is: "why do I still write this newsletter every week?"
It's important to find out why you're doing what you're doing, and what your original goals were. To know if you're still going in the right direction. Did my goals change? Did I learn any new way of reaching them I previously couldn't pursue?
I've written about this topic on my other blog, mannes.tech: ‘Have a “Why Conversation” With Your Side-Projects’.
In retrospect, I don't believe I was quite honest with myself about my goals with NM.
I started it because I wanted to see what writing a weekly newsletter feels like. To maybe grow a following and build some products people want to pay for so I can spend more time doing what I love.
But I now see that there is (and was) more to this project than I admitted at the beginning.
- There's the people I meet and wonderful exchanges I have. People I've never met sharing their experiences, impressions, and learnings with me.
- Deepening my understanding of mindfulness and improving my own practice. Writing about something is one of the best ways to learn about it.
- And then there's what this quote sums up perfectly:
"We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves." — Pema Chödrön.
I want to learn and improve to help others, but in helping others I also work on myself. There's even a meta-level where the fact that I know this teaches me more about myself.
So thank you all for following this journey, thank you for reading my emails and thanks to everyone of you who takes their time to share their experiences with me.
On to the next 100 weeks!
Maybe the real treasure is not only the friends we make along the way, but also the friend we find in ourselves.
I have a question for you
Please help me improve this newsletter.
- What do you want more of?
- What do you want less of?
- Is there anything else you want to let me know?
Just reply to this email 😊.
Weekly Mindfulness Practice
For this exercise, you'll need a partner (they don't need to know you're doing an exercise).
Find someone you like and hug them tight.
Try to take 5 breaths with them.
Then release and smile.
Hugging increases your oxytocin and serotonin levels, so a great hug reduces stress and makes you happier.
End Note
Have a wonderful week. Best wishes, Simon.
PS: Next week we'll have a regular newsletter again ;)