Identity, Productivity, Meditation
Hello friend,
First of all, thank you to those who shared deeply personal replies to my last newsletter.
I am yet to respond to all of them, but I am glad some of you resonated with the idea.
One of the subscribers, who is also a high school senior/friend, wrote,
“The “good child’ phenomenon sucks and I wish I was a bad child at some point.”
LITERAL. GOOSEBUMPS.
On a related note, I came across a related thread on perfectionism which you might find relevant.
New Update:
I started a new section on my website. These are short Notes which are unfinished thoughts or half-baked ideas in 500-700 words. The idea is to write daily, and publish more frequently while refining my thinking. I intend to turn some of these into long-form blogs as I get more clarity around topics.
First Short Note: Can I just be? Overcoming Identity
The first note is related to identities- something I have been thinking about in relation to perfectionism.
Excerpt from the note:
The constant strive to achieve something or become someone drains me more than it excites me. Maybe the exhaustion is due to the expectations of certain outcomes.
But what if I can just be?
Article of the Week: 4 stages of productivity
This article is similar to my thoughts around identity but instead of identity, it analyzes productivity through the lens of personal growth.
There are 4 stages to this personal growth.
The first stage is where you don’t feel any control over your circumstances. In this stage, you feel like a victim and life happens “to you.”
The second stage is when you become the doer and take control of your thoughts, feelings, and actions to achieve your goals. In this stage, life happens “by me”.
Stage 3 requires an opposite approach to the second stage.
Instead of controlling everything, you surrender to the flow and allow the transcendent idea or a deeper purpose to emerge through you.
Stage 4 is the most tricky, elusive stage to describe. It is what many spiritual traditions describe as the ” feeling of oneness”.
In this stage, you are no longer separate but united with everything and everyone. There is no sense of ego or identity but only a sense of oneness.
Tweet of the Week: Why Do I Meditate
One of my friends asked me earlier this week, “What do you hope to achieve with meditation?”
The answer to her question became this tweet.
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I surprised myself with that answer because I have been noticing myself slacking off in meditation.
And it has started showing some effect on my mindset and behavior in a subtle way.
So, analyzing the reason became a reminder for me to continue with the practice.
That is all from me this week, folks! 🙂
Until next time
Love
Vishal
