Splash No. 150 - Consistency and Change
Consistency and Change
Starting in middle school, I was a self-help freak, spending countless hours reading different productivity blogs and trying out different methods like flavors of ice cream. Ask me about any system and I’ve either tried or it thought about it in-depth. Pomodoro system? Big fan. Bullet journaling? Tried it. Trello boards? I got dozens of them. However, as an 8th grader, I didn’t necessarily have any pressing tasks that I needed to get done, or really any reason to be doing anything at all. It wasn’t until college that I was able to stop reading about productivity and actually started being productive, blocking every hour of my day while trying to discover what I was going to do with my life. Before college, I had spent so much time before trying different approaches that I’d never focused enough on a singular system to actually get results out of it. Only when I was able to find consistency was I able to understand the point of it all.
What I took away from self-help was that I could change anything about myself, as long as I put the effort in and kept at it. I realized that the common phrase “people don’t change” was missing the key amendment “unless they try to and stick to it.”
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One of my favorite newsletters is Haley Nahman’s Maybe Baby, which is an incredible diary-esque mix of personal essays, advice, and cultural commentary. Each issue is fairly lengthy and without fail, every letter leaves me thinking “damn, she’s done it again.” Without fail, Haley always comes through with impeccable writing that you just want to ponder all day. A few weeks ago, I went through a backlog of some of her recent newsletters, and began to wonder: “why can’t I put this much into my own newsletter?” I then remembered that this was her full-time job. But before I let the lazy part of my brain accept the gap between us as an inescapable fact of life, I realized that I could put more of myself into my writing.
When I’ve met other writers, oftentimes what impresses them about my newsletter isn’t my hilarious style or expansive vocabulary or evocative assortment of imagery, but my consistency. And I’m proud of that, that I’ve written thousands and thousands of words, that I grow week after week, that I haven’t given up yet. But, to leave it there would be a disservice to myself and to those who make space in their inbox for me.
Kahlil Gibran said it better, “And all work is empty save when there is love; And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.”
Including this one, I’ve written 150 newsletters. Most of them have been written in over the course of 45-75 minutes, often in a single sitting. For the vast majority of these newsletters, they were written past 10pm on the night before they were meant to go out. With those circumstances, I’m fairly impressed with the fact that I’ve only had typos in a dozen or so newsletters, and even more impressed that most of them are comprehensible at all. And although this method has worked well enough for me, I’ve found that my letters that receive more time and attention (unsurprisingly) turn out better — not only reflecting my personal bar of quality, but also drawing the most attention from the audience.
I’ve already changed in the past to become the writer I am now. Before I started my newsletter, I wrote 100 blog posts in 100 days. Before I wrote those blog posts, I wrote nearly a hundred drafts for my college essays. And before I wrote any of those, I wasn’t a very good writer. Before I did any of those things, I wasn’t someone who was consistent about doing things that mattered to me.
And after writing 150 newsletters, I write better. I write consistently. And after writing 150 newsletters, I will give time to my writing — the time I need to write with love and bind myself to me, to you, to God.
Drops of the Week
PLAYLIST - april 21 - my monthly playlists are always all over the place, but this one is a little bit more electronic heavy than usual
ARTICLE - "How Friendship Helps Us Transcend Ourselves" by Megan O’Grady - gonna send this article to everyone I've ever wanted to be friends with and see what happens.
BOOK - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight - I was surprised by how much I loved this book. There's a great deal of motivation and spiritual ideas that Knight is guided by, which I really enjoyed learning about.
With each day, we can move closer to a more equitable world. Reminders:
Donate to Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta Mutual Aid Networks
Anti-racism resources
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Also, I'd love to hear your thoughts— you can reply to this email if you loved or hated the letter, or you want to tell me about how your day has been. I'm all ears.
Splish splash,
Nikhil