Entrepreneurship | 5 Min Read
#5 - Relax, Reflect, Respire
After a week offline and away from technology, here are three reflections about working and getting results I want to share with you all.
Hey Friends 👋
I hope you have had a great week and have made progress towards your goals.
This last week, I have been on holiday away from technology and not online anywhere near the amount I usually am. It's been an enlightening experience.
I want to use this newsletter edition to cover what I've been reflecting on for the last week and how I want to progress going forward.
Space to Reflect
At first, I wasn't sure how I would cope with not working for an entire week and instead detaching from everything I do. I'm sure a psychologist would say this is a worrying sign but I'm not going to worry about it because I'm not a psychologist. 😂
Anyway, after the first day, I found it surprisingly easy to forget about everything going on. Suddenly, being active on Twitter, sharing stuff and being online, wasn't important.
Instead, being present in the moment was.
This highlighted to me how easily we get drawn into new things and chase a new idea or concept without finishing off the last one.
Reflection #1: Focus on the important actions that drive you to your goals, other activities are secondary.
For far too long, I noticed that I would put off activities I needed to do in favour of a secondary one. In my mind, I was justifying it because I was working towards a goal and that's all that mattered. The goal wasn't important, just that I was working towards one.
But, in reality, the goals do matter.
Reflection #2: Decide which goals have the biggest impact and work towards those first. Then progress by priority.
If my week offline taught me anything it's that we should be spending our energy on ourselves and our work. Not others and trying to compare to their work. If we focus on ourselves and creating the best things we are capable of, we will get further than spending time comparing to others and looking at what they're doing.
Now, this isn't to say that comparison is useless, it's good to look at others' work for inspiration and lessons we can use on our work/projects. But, we need to make sure it's done in healthy proportions. We should be spending most of our time working on ourselves and our work, not comparing to others. Become known for being you, not trying to be someone else.
Reflection #3: Focus on yourself and your work, not on others and their work. Be unique, not a copy.
So, in summary, the three reflections I have for you from my week away are:
Reflection #1: Focus on the important actions that drive you to your goals, other activities are secondary.
Reflection #2: Decide which goals have the biggest impact and work towards those first. Then progress by priority.
Reflection #3: Focus on yourself and your work, not on others and their work. Be unique, not a copy.
I probably could've come up with more but if I'm being truly honest I didn't spend a lot of time thinking of the future and my work. Instead, I focused on being present in the moment. It was a holiday after all. 🤷♂️
What I've Been Doing
Being on holiday this week, I haven't done anything like I normally do so instead of livestreaming, writing posts or coding I've been reflecting where possible and just enjoying my time off.
Saying this I did start a new Twitter series where I share a thought provoking or interesting quote everyday. Check out this weeks below.
Tip Of The Week
Focus on what's important to you and your goals, not what anyone else tells you is important. Once you know what you want, work towards it with everything you have.
Quotes Of The Week
“Someone somewhere once said that business is war without bullets, and I tended to agree.” - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
"Let everyone else call your idea crazy . just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop." - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
"Fear of failure, I thought, will never be our downfall as a company. Not that any of us thought we wouldn’t fail; in fact we had every expectation that we would. But when we did fail, we had faith that we’d do it fast, learn from it, and be better for it." - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
"So here we have purposeful practice in a nutshell: Get outside your comfort zone but do it in a focused way, with clear goals, a plan for reaching those goals, and a way to monitor your progress. Oh, and figure out a way to maintain your motivation" - Peak by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
"The single easiest way to find out how you feel about someone. Say goodbye." - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
"Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
"Our conventional sense of self is an illusion; positive emotions, such as compassion and patience, are teachable skills; and the way we think directly influences our experience of the world." - Waking Up by Sam Harris
What I've Enjoyed
Being on holiday. Sorry without tech it's been a bit hard to consume stuff.
This Week's Content
Unfortunately, for once it's actually nothing. I didn't put out anything week besides a few tweets here and there and the quotes I've put in above from my new Twitter series.
Don't worry normal service will be resumed next week.
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Questions
If you have a question you'd like me to ask me then I'd ask you to consider publically tweeting me it so others may be able to learn from it. However, I understand not all questions are suitable for the public domain in which case you can email me at hey@conermurphy.com
