#64: Don’t Work on Yourself, Work with Yourself
#64: Don’t Work on Yourself, Work with Yourself
#EnjoyProcess #HonorNeeds #GrowTogether #ThoughtsAsTools
👋 Welcome to this week's edition of Pursuit. I'm Amir, your guide through the labyrinth of modern wisdom, where insights are abundant but true understanding is scarce. Each week, I dedicate over 10 hours to distill transformative knowledge from the noise, aiming to provide you with a framework that not only makes sense of the world but hopefully enriches your life in a meaningful way. If you're on a quest for depth in an era of superficial abundance, make sure to subscribe and join our journey.
This week’s discovery:
🥐 The Process of Making What We Make
🫵🏼 Don’t Work on Yourself, Work with Yourself
🌎 We, the Collections of Those We've Loved
🧘🏼♂️ Thoughts, in the Service of Presence
🗒️ A Quote I'm Pondering On
🎵 Music I'm Listening To
🥐 The Process of Making What We Make
What I want to say most is that I’ve never been more unsure of who I am or what I’m supposed to be doing, and I’ve never been more clear on how okay that is — how freeing that is — how much room that leaves to keep becoming. What I want to say most is that getting a fancy coffee and a pastry is no little thing. What I want to say most is that we can always return to our values; we can always return to what we know is true; we can always return to others who mirror to us the kind of world we want to live in; we can always start over when we need to. What I want to say most is that the metrics, outward success, markers of “making it”, numbers, likes, popularity, visibility, praise or criticism or being ignored, awards, highlights, or trajectory that might come from what we make don’t matter much if we aren’t enjoying the process of making what we make.
🫵🏼 Don’t Work on Yourself, Work with Yourself
Stop working on yourself and start working with yourself. Embrace discomfort to build self-trust and realize that there's no quick fix or shiny package to follow. Your needs are not a big problem requiring a big fix; they serve as guideposts to inform small, incremental changes in your life. The act of reclaiming moments to connect more deeply with yourself may not be flashy but it works. Tend to your needs, unhook from the belief systems that keep you striving to earn your worth. Don't wait to love yourself or for meeting your needs to feel easier. Ask yourself, 'What do I need right now?' and honor your own response. The life you want isn't a replica of someone else's Instagram photo, it's built by knowing what you want and need. Radical change happens when you work with yourself.
🌎 We, the Collections of Those We've Loved
Sometimes I feel guilty about not keeping in touch with my friends living in other cities. Having lived in four different cities, I have quite a few such friends. What resonated with me in this piece from Nix is that even if your time with loved ones has passed, you've made a lasting impact on each other.
When you learn something new for the first time you fail miserably at it, but eventually you identify your weaknesses and over time the process toward solution becomes almost instinctual. Things get better and easier, and somehow you’ve developed into this whole new person who could do the hard things you once dreaded, now effortlessly.
Life gets bigger, more inclusive, richer, the more you keep your mind open. Your decisions get better too, or maybe just your comfort with making decisions: a confidence in knowing that you can handle the consequence of your choices. You are dealt the hand but you are also playing the game.
Sometimes we part ways with people because our lives travel on in different directions, sometimes we grow together in happy symbiosis. Almost always, even through mere contact or presence, you change another person and they change you irrevocably. I still have the books, the ideas, the mindsets, I adopted from people in my life across time and space even if our time together is sealed into the past. We are all just collections of everyone we’ve ever loved.
🧘🏼♂️ Thoughts, in the Service of Presence
Absorbing yourself in an activity without the pressure of time constraints can elevate your enjoyment and focus. Imagine treating your everyday tasks, like grocery shopping, as an opportunity for mindfulness instead of a rush against time. This approach allows you to fully experience the present moment, rather than being swept away by repetitive thoughts. Picture being in a supermarket, thinking about being there, enjoying the experience, and not worrying about everything else you have to do. This practice of mindful presence invites you to be where you are, fully and completely. Remember, your thoughts are a useful tool but they shouldn't dominate your life. The quality of presence should guide your life, while thoughts serve that purpose.
🗒️ A Quote I'm Pondering On
The task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen, but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.
🎵 Music I'm Listening To
You’ll find mostly Ethnotronica, Organic House, World, Disco, and Organic Electronic here:
🎧 If you appreciate the music I carefully select and haven't followed my Spotify playlists yet, now is the perfect time to hit that follow button and join me on this musical journey! 🎶
🌒 Pano: Danceable and electronic obscure songs
🌓 Sisy: Ethnotronica and organic house
🌑 Berghain: Dark, minimal techno and tech house
🌕 Heide: Groovy soul and disco house
🌞 Sonntag: Afterhours shit
🌎 World: From Latin jazz to Turkish psych
🌚 Super Slow: For your intimate moments
Previously on Pursuit:
