What gets your time next year?
Why calibrating your life on a regular basis makes all the difference in an opt-out world
Grab the mouse. Click on the Desktop folder. Nothing.
Where did my files go?
Scroll back to Microsoft Word. Click Save As. Click More Options. Inspect the folder path.
Where the hell is that?
Sigh.
Over to Google. Search for the folder path. Find a thread explaining that the files are being saved to One Drive. The thread provides instructions on setting it up.
But I don’t want One Drive.
Sigh.
Back to Microsoft Word. Open each file through the Recent tab. Resave each file to the actual desktop. Delete the files in the phantom One Drive folder. Make a note to check the phantom folder(s) annually to protect my data.
We no longer opt in to things. We are forced to opt out, a process that’s generally full of friction designed to make it hard to do.
Consider, for example, this innocuous bullet that appeared recently in a newsletter I follow:
My reaction was, So, if I continue to purchase Google Pixel phones, I won’t have a choice but to accept whatever AI they’re integrating?
This trend isn’t limited to Google. Someone, somewhere, assumed I wanted the latest feature or enhanced process. It’s likely better for them that I adopt it; whether it’s better for me isn’t paramount. “They” know best.
As an independent person, I choose how I invest my time. That includes both what I do and how I go about doing it.
The only way I know how to do that is to actively tend to my life. To review it, assess it, and choose and rechoose what I’m doing as part of a constant refinement process. It’s a way of calibrating my life so I make the most of it.
Longtime readers of my newsletter know I do an annual life review. What you may or may not know is that I also have checkpoints every quarter, every week, and every day.
Our opt-out world makes deliberately choosing what you do — and what you don’t do — all the more critical. To avoid passively accepting new features, you have to consider things that may otherwise go unnoticed. To avoid mindlessly wanting what the world tells you you’re supposed to want, you have to ask hard questions about what you value. To avoid doing things to do them, you have to know the point of doing them in the first place.
Being independent takes more effort and discipline than accepting what’s handed to you or perpetuating your own status quo.
Both inertia and intention are a choice.
For the first time, I’ve put the entire Calibration cycle in print as four guides you can use to tend to your life. Because it’s your life. Make the most of it.
‣ Access the Calibration Guides
Before you click…
With the launch of the Calibration Guides, we’ve officially moved from a free weekly(ish) newsletter to a fully-fledged publication. Part of that transition includes having paid subscribers who make this work possible.
There will always be posts available for free here at WTP. Paid subscribers will also get access to the Calibration Guides, in-depth content, and tools as I build them. You can already access three tools: my Tech Stack, Relationship Manager, and the aptly named Mission Control Board.
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Share a meal with me
Moreover, I’m taking steps to nurture a community around WTP. The first step is the launch of the Supper Club. Sharing a meal with someone provides the space to get to know them while doing something common to all of us as humans. I chose supper over other meal words because it sounds comfortable and down to earth, which is the vibe I plan to infuse as the introvert bringing people together.
These gatherings will take place on the East Coast for now (think Providence, Boston, Portland, and Philadelphia) for a maximum of a dozen people at a time. My intention is for us to cultivate meaningful relationships, which I believe find their vitality in person, even if we use digital means to stay in touch.
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Learn with me
I also want to share that I have started working on a book. As part of that work, I am producing a six-part series where I interview six people with expertise in areas I’d like to learn more about. I’ll make the video and transcript of each interview available to everyone. I’ll also write a deeper post that integrates what I learn from each of these people into what I’m working on. These six posts will provide a window into the book as it develops and will only be available to paid subscribers.
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Thank you
Many of you have been reading my newsletter since day one. For that, I am deeply grateful. While I use writing to refine my thinking, I would be lying if I said I’d keep doing it with the same vigor without someone on the other end of the line to read it.
If you enjoy my work, I’d value a recommendation in your own words. Why do you keep showing up? What value do you get? I’ll add these recommendations to WTP so future readers know what they’re getting into.
Savor the end of this year. Next year is a blank page full of opportunity.