--- ## Notes/Brainstorming ### ✨ In My Life ### **🔗** Links to Thinks ### **🚀** Actionable Tingz ### **🤔** Food For Thought ### 😤 My Ramblings ## Publishing Copy Welcome to another edition of _Weekly Wondering_, a sacred time where I share the resonating links, reflections and learnings from my past week to influence your next one ;) ### **✨** In My Life #### Livestreaming my deep work sessions As part of intrinsic content creation, I've decided to livestream my deep work sessions as an open floor for live communication, and an act of accountability for getting back into being more disciplined. Since I'm getting into the groove of things there won't be a set schedule, but if you follow me on Twitch or are in my discord server, you'll be able to see when I go live. I'd be following a pomodoro timer to which I'll only have time to chat during the 5-minute breaks. Sessions can include: - Reading - Note making in my Obsidian vault - Working on scripts / videos / products - Whatever else is on my to-do list - Just hoping nothing too personal gets leaked 😅 I might also just do a side-view angle of my monitor setup to compensate, still not entirely sure Will have a discord channel open if you want to join along to study or do other things! #### My new content creation arc I've had a content creation block for a while, but now I'm doubling down on what worked for me in the past. My first videos were me simply sharing my journey as I learned new things for other people with similar problems. For my past few videos, it's been more towards creating my ideal Obsidian setup. Content creation was a true form of intrinsic self-actualization, one that helps others in the same situation as me. But since I'm now satisfied with my current system, I no longer have a similar drive. Having to create would only further burden me in the creation process as I would feel drained by an extrinsic reason to learn, which is the very reason why I stopped taking university courses. And what's most sustainable is just sharing what you're learning in your day to day life, whether it be a new note taking app or keyboard style. So, that leaves my experiences and current problems, as well the content I'm currently consuming. But most of this uncertainty continues to stem from worrying about the external statistics. I'm too lazy to record and edit in b-roll for long-form video content for decent retention. But wait, why am I trying to find a niche? I am the niche. My intersection of interests, experiences, content consumed, and environment is my niche. It's not as easily defined as Obsidian and productivity. Most personal messages I receive aren't necessarily from people who admired my Obsidian workflows, they're people around my age who want a life of purpose and effort. My videos rarely mention that aspect of me, yet it's what resonates the most with people. Algorithms have evolved enough to deliver content to those who want to watch it, so realistically, all I need to focus on is creating good content. Content for the person who I was two years ago. By not creating content during times like this in my life, I'm kind of falling prey to the traditional usage of social media that I despised, only capturing the highlights and not being truly authentic. ### **🔗** Links to Thinks #### The truth about success - [3 most dangerous lies about success](https://pickingnuggets905.substack.com/p/the-3-most-dangerous-lies-about-success?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email) - Self-discipline is not as important as passion - Hard work is not as important as leverage - Success is not being part of the game #### Transcend - Finished the actual book part, still have some lingering ideas and actionable advice to go though which is roughly 1/6th left of the book - I know people say to not highlight much, but I literally highlighted 22,000 words of it, and I'm not even done 😅 - I used to bash myself for not making as much connected notes as I should considering the amount I read, but for book that's personally satisfied me as much as this one, I have no choice but to - I think it's okay to highlight a lot if it's something you're super passionate about, it covered a wide variety of new terms and topics so I think it's justifiable to do so as long as I'm ready to deal with the insane amount of processing time required - Not sure why I've only heard of this now despite my interest in self-actualization - Inner journals from Maslow himself, being able to see his resolve and humanity - Suggestive answers to some of the higher-order questions I've been trying to answer in relation to goals, peak performance, relationships, and security - Honestly could be a personal textbook on how I should live life, similar to _The Practicing Stoic_ or _How to Live_ #### Passion in anime I finished watching Blue Period, an anime about a high-school delinquent that gets by with good grades without really feeling fulfilled. That was until he finds himself in awe of a piece of artwork from a fellow student, introducing him into the world of art. Inspired by the expression and depth, he creates his own painting for an assignment through a snapshot of the quiet, blue morning of Shibuya. It was pretty relatable to my own personal journey out of a typical student, and his obstacles along the way just made me appreciate the anime even more. Themes included: - Having to undergo that shift in identity as you involve yourself in your new passion- the new environments, people, and ideas that await - Effort versus talent - having to catch up with everyone else who's had more experience or is more talented, and the growth mindset required to do so - The effects of comparison - feeling a sense of impostor syndrome as you continue to pursue something that's uncertain and improbable (acceptance rate was 0.5%), and the battle against the self that comes with it - The beauty of art as a form of expression, noticing the importance of certain design choices and personal influences Just a relatable anime at a pretty relevant time :) ### **🚀** Actionable Tingz #### Playing games for 11 hours in a day Having to play VALORANT for a tournament kind of fractured (haha) the discipline I had for the rest of the day. It's quite interesting to witness the regression, from going all-day gaming to all-day productivity, back to a glimpse of it. Not much insights other than that it just didn't really feel good after the fact, and I probably won't do it again for a while. ### **🤔** Food For Thought #### Looking at old weekly reviews Wanting to find inspiration from my self from a year ago, I decided to look at the 5th week of the year in 2022. Unfortunately, they also found themselves in somewhat of a rut 😭 Here are some main points of interest: > Willpower and discipline, I feel like it's a mix of long-term sustainability, but at the same time I want to get to the point where I can do what I want to, just tolerate and get used to it I guess? - At the time was just watching streamers, feeling nostalgic for the games and people I used to be following during my gaming past - Now, I've realized that such ideal levels of productivity are only healthy and attainable with a deeply resonating purpose, one that I'm having trouble turning from intention to action - Tolerating was in terms of the school system, to find a solution to my scholarly repulsion" as I began questioning whether I really did want to finish my degree - Now, I guess my answer to that has been content creation and getting work experience, but now those have unlocked even more questions on what the next steps should be. Is my career and channel direction the right one for me? > I need to address my social life - Was conforming to societal standards and working on my appearance for the sake of other people, dating and content creation wise - Now, I'm definitely in a better place thanks to the magnet my online brand has become for other like-minded people online, but now I need to take this authenticity one step further in my content. Sure I am doing so in my newsletter, but no so much in my videos ### 😤 My Ramblings #### Anxiety It's interesting seeing how my anxiety acts as a double edged blade. On one hand it's made me: - Plan things out so things for a higher probability of a desired outcome - Care more about what I do by realizing my mortality But at the same time it's why I: - Am insecure in a relationship - Struggled to present in front of my class - Choke in competitive games And specifically on Thursday, it took a toll on me. My growth mindset turned into fixed mindset. Didn't feel overwhelmed, but little things started chipping away at my self-esteem that usually shouldn't. ### My Tools for Learning and Growth I record everything I mention in my newsletters in my Obsidian, my favorite note-taking and productivity app. If you want to aggregate the valuable gems from your week like this, or need a place to store your ideas and highlights, you can set up your own second brain for free using [Obsidian](https://free.johnmavrick.com/obsidian-templates). If you want the most densely packed and actionable book summaries, try out Shortform for free [here](https://www.shortform.com/). If you want to make reading and highlighting easier, check out [Readwise](https://readwise.io/i/john5833) (affiliate link) and sign up for their Reader app!