When I was an undergraduate, my instinct with every class was to give all that I had. I would put in massive efforts, making sure that I could honestly say that I did my best in everything. This strategy worked well for my academics, but the problem was that it neglected the need for rest, or modulation.

Deciding to take action and embark on a project is scary. After all, it feels like you have to be perfect in every moment, or else it will reflect badly on the work. This is even more true when you’re working on a project that’s very important to you. There’s a perfect, idealized version of it in your mind, and then there’s the reality. It’s almost always a disappointment. As a result, we become conditioned to avoid doing difficult work.

Am I challenging myself on a consistent basis?

I like keeping track of people’s work that I enjoy through a technology called RSS. This means I can follow people who do a variety of things. I follow artists, writers, runners, cartoonists, scientists, mathematicians, and business people. This creates a broad range of ideas and work that I am exposed to each day. I can then fuse disparate ideas together, which improves my own work.