5 things to do when you don't know what to do

sometimes, it’s easy.

there are days when i can just sit down to write this newsletter, & an endless stream of ideas flows out of my head & onto the page like a waterfall.

today was not one of those days.

i’ve spent the last 3 hours in a cafe staring at this page & writing nothing.

i didn’t know what to do.

but if you’re reading this, it means i figured it out.

& now, i want to show you the exact 5 things i did, so that next time you don’t know what to do, you can just copy what works:

1. remember that nobody gives a shit

so much of ‘not knowing what to do’ is just a fear of judgement in disguise.

i thought i didn’t know what to write for this newsletter, but i was really just scared of writing something that you wouldn’t like. that’s stupid.

it’s not worth worrying about what people think of you, because people don’t think of you. we mostly just think about ourselves. this isn’t a bad thing.

say it with me: ‘nobody gives a shit.’

2. start when you’re not ready

if you’ve ever had to push a car that wouldn’t start, you already know that the first push to get it moving is the hardest one.

pretty much everything in life works the same way.

starting is hard, maintaining is easy.

that’s why it doesn’t really matter what you do in the beginning.

you just need to do something — momentum will take care of the rest.

3. do what you can

no matter how hard you squeeze a grape, it won’t give you as much juice as a watermelon.

today my brain is a grape (lol).

tomorrow it might be a watermelon.

either way, all you can do is squeeze.

4. do a little more

we’re really bad at knowing how much juice we have left.

my rule is basically to do what i can, & then as soon as i want to stop, to do a little bit more.

i’m not saying to gas yourself out until you have sweat dripping down your asscrack every day.

but like… don’t be a pansy.

you can do more than you think.

5. give yourself grace

we’re all doing this life stuff for the first time, so it makes sense that there are times when we kinda suck at it.

i heard this stat that Roger Federer (one of the tennis GOATs) lost 46% of the individual points in his career. but the fucker still somehow won 82% of his matches.

this taught me that (a) tennis is kinda bullshit, & (b) you can get your ass kicked a lot & still win.

so if this article teaches you anything, let it be this:

instead of beating yourself up when things feel hard & you don’t know what to do, remember that ‘hard’ is just a fixed cost of life.

the only thing that really matters is if you show up every day.

& showing up is a lot easier when you give yourself grace.

some things i learned

1. a tweet that feels relevant

   

2. a good question i’ve been asking myself lately
   ‘if a friend described this exact situation to me, what would i tell them to do?’

3. the best definition of ‘art’ i know
   one of my favourite uses of AI is to have it ask me questions to help me define words operationally (i.e. explaining a word by what actions it describes).
   
   i’m still not 100% set on what counts as ‘art,’ but so far i’ve settled on:
   
   art = the human experience, compressed.
   
   a song compresses a year of emotions into 3 minutes.
   a movie compresses a lifelong love story into 2 hours.
   a handmade scarf compresses days of effort/care into 1 object.
   
   can you try breaking this definition for me? like, when is it untrue?

cool stuff i found

1. an unreal spa i went to
   in Sevilla, i went to the AIRE Ancient Baths — & i loved it. i spent most of my time floating in the underground salt bath that was built in Roman ruins from the 1st century AD.
   
   so, so cool. check it out:

   

2. a book that changed the way i write
   i discovered Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg just over a year ago. it’s still one of the most useful books i’ve ever read.
   
   here are some of the many lessons i learned:
   
   - write in sentences, not paragraphs
   - every sentence should be able to stand on its own
   - keep the space between sentences as empty as possible (no filler words)
   - examine all writing (ex. how would that sentence feel if i used a word like ‘study’ or ‘dissect’ instead of ‘examine’ ?)
   - writing is a way of thinking, not just recording thought
   - write as if it’s a letter to a friend

   

3. my favourite earbuds ever
   i think Airpods are still the best earbuds you can get, but they never stay in my ears. so in 2022, i got a pair of Beats Fit Pro’s (now called Powerbeats Fit), & i’ve used them almost every day since.
   
   the wingtips are a game changer:

   

that’s all for now!

i’m happy to say that you’ll finally get all of the details about my big top secret project next Monday in this newsletter!

without getting into it, the early feedback has been even better than i expected — & i expected a lot.

i can’t wait for you to see it for yourself.

but until then,

go make yourself proud this week.

~ liam (:

PS - a few people can get early access, so check your email on Monday morning!