I love a good vacation. It hasn't always been that way, especially with my long standing disposition for grinding it out in my work rhythms. Over the last few years though, I've really come to appreciate what the reset and perspective change that a week or two away can offer. This last week I got my "working" vacation at FR22 and my "true" family vacation in Puerto Rico. Both gave me lots of great input. In those days, here's what I was:
Reading - Journaling has been a hit and miss practice throughout my life. I write for a while then my consistency peters out. Part of what's held me from consistency has been the nagging question of "when am I actually going to read or use this stuff?" Once in a blue moon I'll pick up an old journal and flip through it, asking myself why I ever got so wound up about such trivial or finite things and the purpose of logging thoughts and emotions. This week I read a piece called Notes Apps Are Where Ideas Go to Die and I had a radical mind shift. Journaling doesn't have to be done so that you can reread your epiphanies later. It doesn't need to be a collection of your amazing insights and ideas. It can simply be a way to take the mental mess in your brain and release it by putting pen to paper. Kinda freeing...
Watching - The keynote address of Family Reunion 2022 was delivered by Shawn Achor. If you missed it, here's an abbreviated version from his 2015 Ted Talk (which is part stand up comedy, part positive psychology) and a longer piece from 2017. I love the main premise that success doesn't equal happiness (in fact using success as a metric almost guarantees unhappiness), but happiness is what fuels success. What I love even more is the focus on statistical outliers. By focusing on the "weirds" -- the outliers who are above the trend lines -- we can learn about yielding incredible results by focusing on actions that choose happiness. By seeking out and surrounding ourselves with these "weirds" we can create a community that lives an average that's of stratospheric proportion. That's the social cohesion we want, and social cohesion is what predicts happiness.
Thinking - Connections are easy to make but take work to maintain. Chance encounters can be sparks of joy or can spark a fire. This week I was lucky enough to see dozens of people that I've missed for months or years. I met new people that I've meant to meet for even longer. A few of these reconnections could lead to life changing partnerships. If I choose to appreciate the encounters and know that I'll see these people again, we will certainly build deeper bonds. I love that natural progression. I can also choose to reach out to a choice few and lean into faster and deeper connections, creating purposeful progression. Connections inspire me, but true inspiration leads to action, and valuable actions lead to true reward.
Have a free, connected, happy week.
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