Always Be Writing

I am grateful for my family and friends How about you?

@PontificaMuse AC on a hot humid sticky day.

6 of the Best Things about Summer: - Hiking - Ice Cream - Beach Days - Backyard Barbecues - Nighttime Thunderstorms - Sleeping In (if tied to school schedules) What would you add?

@johnyoungcoach Accomplishing something rewarding for the day for sure!

@alwaysbewriting What's a better way to get a dopamine hit?

Social media can be a huge distraction from your focus. I've noticed lately that when I'm doing hard work, I tend to flip back and forth for a quick burst of dopamine when I get bored. When I flip, I just start doom-scrolling and reading any random article that grabs my attention. This happens multiple times throughout the day, and I think it is becoming a habit now. So for now, I'll be blocking this site to keep my eye on the prize and not consume empty calories.

@sabrinacoaching Now this is outstanding. My friend wants to do this in Hawaii, but I'm terrified thinking about it, as I don't know how to swim and the ocean scares the heck out of me.

5 mindset shifts I had after cage diving with great white sharks: 1. Fear makes you pay attention - Once you've risk-assessed enough, feel the fear and do it anyway. Don't let it hold you back from amazing experiences. 2. Do daily tasks to keep things running - There are fundamentals when you run a ship for paying clients. That works for any scenario. Do what must be done to stay solid and consistent. 3. Fun gets you through pain - I broke my nose and damaged my leg when whale-watching on my day off. I had a concussion and rested a couple of days. Was back on the shark boat, prepping for clients and into the cage after that. I wasn't going to miss out on the fun. 4. The unexpected happens, so look for signs - Whilst in the cage in poor visibility, sharks appeared out of nowhere in front of you. We had to stay alert. Over time, I noticed the signs and spotted them in advance. 5. Your biggest challenges give you your best memories - It was an eventful 2 weeks working on a great white shark cage diving boat. The teamwork, fear busting, calming nervous clients, dealing with pain and seasickness. But the majesty of nature will be in my mind and heart forever. It's totally worth it. Do hard things and learn useful stuff. Photo credit: Author

@dianthaleavitt I'd like to take a road trip across the US comfortably. I remember doing this from Colorado to NY as a kid, but that felt so rushed because it was for a wedding. This time, I'd like to just take my time, enjoy the route and explore states I've never been to.

What’s a bucket list item you really want to cross off?

@MitchtheSmith Try to reduce it, Mitch! I wonder how much more value we add when we stop giving our time to these low-value sites.

@LaneSieran I got one from my Chinese teacher saying my pronunciation was spot on, along with another classmate, so we both celebrated. It was unexpected because feel like I'm struggling a lot with memorizing a lot of the Hanzi characters and sometimes struggle with basic tones.

Unexpected compliments are so sweet. A friend read an article I wrote and gave me this kind comment: "Beautiful job on this one, Sieran. Your prose is so clean and fresh." That's so encouraging! I've also never thought of my prose as clean and fresh before. What about you? What unexpected compliments have you received that brightened your day?

Instead of visiting said social site, I think I'm going to augment this bad habit with something good, such as reviewing some vocabulary for my Chinese lessons. At least that's a value add vs. a negative.

@Ayrspirit2021 @dianthaleavitt Go Linda, as a Vietnamese person by birth, I guarantee you'll have a blast!

@dianthaleavitt I want to travel to Vietnam.

@KuhlSawyer Have never heard of this, will add it to the reading list. Thanks for the recommend!

Voltaire's Candide was one of my favorite books in high school. I don't remember anything about it other than I liked it a lot. I'm going to read it again this week. I'm curious how I'll feel about it 30 years later. I certainly view the world differently now than I did then.

@LaneSieran 😟 As long as you can you can feed yourself? I can see you pivoting 100% into writing at some point though so I think you are on the right track.

For me, I haven't lost my skills as a therapist, but I am neglecting the business side of it... I haven't had a new client in more than half a year, so that is serious neglect. XD I still work hard with existing clients, but my income has been dropping every month because I'm not finding any new clients.

Anyone out there feel that when they invest more and more time into their side passions and not in what pays the bill, their skills will slowly degrade in their careers? For the last few weeks, I've been feeling like my downtime has been spent on writing and learning other languages rather than programming languages and learning about technology. How do you keep your skills sharp in your career while also continuing to explore side interests?

@MariaGamb Thanks for the insight Maria, the monetizing part is hard... Will keep chugging along.

@alwaysbewriting You can use LinkedIn learning or request training from your company. Some offer it, others do not. However, if your side passion is fueling your heart and soul - spend some time learning how to monetize it.

@thoughtfullykat Love this perspective Kat!

@alwaysbewriting You’re not losing any skills. You’re continuously evolving and growing. It might not deepen in one area like you used to, but you’re expanding your thinking, perspective, and approaches. That is valuable to your career in the long run because you’re no longer “one” dimensional.

@Borlokva It's a vicious cycle but I guess if it gives you inspiration down the line, it can't be bad right? :)

@alwaysbewriting I have a similar problem. I keep falling down rabbit holes and spending more time reading than writing.

@LaneSieran Moare cats!

Do cute cats make stronger testimonial videos? I just posted a testimonial video for a writing challenge I joined and loved. My cat chose that moment to jump onto the table. 😂 So you get to see her floofy face, too. Everyone likes to see pets on the screen, right?

Learning art, writing, and a foreign language can be overwhelming at times. But I'm taking it slow by learning what I can and adopting a beginners mind each day. There's a lot to learn, and it feels like it could take years to master any of these subjects, but if you are willing to put one foot in front of another daily, it can be done.

@sabrinacoaching I find it amazing that you have this garden and random foxes and animals just show up. This is a life goal right here.

Spotted a new fox cub in the garden today. Way too skittish, so I couldn't get a good shot, but we may have to come up with a new fox name if this one revisits. What new thing have you noticed in your adventures today? Share below!

One take is that if I put play before work, there's a certain chance I might not get what I need done for the day. That's a stressor for me, so I'd rather bite the bullet and get A done before B. But I'm no angel, sometimes I do B before A and still manage to get A done but probably not as great as if I put A before B.

Does this annoying habit sound familiar to you? You need to do task X. But you can't, because you already have tasks A, B, C, D, E lined up. So you have no time to do task X. My question to you is: Why must you do A, B, C, D, and E before you ever do X? Why can't you do task X NOW before the other ones? You created an artificial order in your head, where you must do certain tasks in a certain sequence. Most of the time, there's no legitimate reason to stick to this order. Usually you just stick to this order because it's your routine, and you don't want to change your routine. But what's stopping you from changing your routine order anyway? Why can't you work on your own projects before your clients' projects? Why can't you read a book before writing? Why can't you write a fun story before replying to emails? Etc. Have a good think about why you put certain tasks in certain orders. Do they have to be done in that sequence? Or can you change things around? Some of us prioritize work before pleasure, and put others before ourselves. What if you play before you work? What if you help yourself before you help others? What if you do something non-urgent before your urgent tasks? When you free your mind from these constraints, you can do so much more in life.