The Deliberate #57: A Seven-Year Career Retrospective
Re-examining the obvious path, a check-in with some Deliberate Patterns, and a general thawing of my public writing
Hello! This is The Deliberate and I’m Sam. You signed up for this because you wanted to follow along as I wrestle with the ideas at the intersection of deliberate attention, personal development, and org design.
I took the summer off. I’m not sure how deliberate that decision actually was (shameful, I know) but in retrospect it’s obviously what I did. My subconscious must have decided it needed to shed some responsibilities so this newsletter took a major backseat as my attention turned to getting married at the end of May, a summer of triathlon training and racing, and a major European trip for our honeymoon in September.
With these major events behind me, I feel the urge to re-engage with this newsletter and my public writing in general. I’m coming back to this, though, with an intention of holding it lightly. Too often have I been the proverbial Lennie, inadvertently and tragically crushing the things I love through disorganized exuberance. I’m going to do my best to avoid that this time around so that the reawakening of this newsletter and my public writing isn’t immediately put into another seasonal break and a winter mea culpa that nobody wants to read and I certainly don’t want to write.
A Seven-Year Career Retrospective and Look Ahead to What’s Next
A few weeks ago I found myself sitting by the pool on a cruise ship the size of a skyscraper somewhere in the Mediterranean as my seven-year anniversary at The Ready ticked by. It’s hard to not be reflective when a momentous anniversary rolls around while you’re also in peak relaxation mode.
I was inspired to take a look back at my career at The Ready so far while looking at the possible career pathways in front of me. Should I continue at The Ready? Should I look for a gig at a non-consulting company? Should I pull a wildcard and make a major career shift? This article was my attempt to bring some deliberate attention to something that can easily be ignored — questioning a path that feels easy, safe, and extremely known.
I’ve heard from a few folks that it was useful in their own thinking about their careers, even though we are on very different paths. I’d be curious to hear if that’s the case for you, too.
Deliberate Pattern Check-In
I recently radically simplified the amount of data I collect on myself. I used to fill out a weekly spreadsheet where I collected a bunch of data that is passively collected by a handful of various services in my life. No more. I also stopped tracking my daily Anchor Habits. Both changes have felt extremely necessary and exactly what I needed. While I still have a bunch of data being passively collected, I’m doing much less manual collecting and collating.
If I’ve been outside my apartment and find myself coming home while listening to something with headphones, I’ve made a deliberate choice to take my headphones out while I’m entering the building and getting on the elevator so I’m walking into my apartment — and my relationship with Emily — with a clear head and focused on how I’m showing up. An incredibly minor change with a major impact.
With the release of iOS 16 I did a brief(ish) experiment in using almost entirely Apple apps on my phone and computer. This experiment always scratches my “I know there’s a simpler way” itch but then eventually turns into a new “I feel annoyingly constrained” itch that can only be scratched by going back to my tried and true set of tools I have used for many years. If all those apps went away, though, I’ve definitely proven to myself that I could run almost entirely stock and be able to do my work without really much of a hiccup. That’s cool, I guess?
What Has My Attention Elsewhere
Hockey season is almost back. I revel in the optimism of the hardcore fan standing on the precipice of a new season — the games haven’t started so the potential is limitless and the disappointment is still a mere haze on the horizon. Will the Red Wings make a jump into respectability this year? Will I care about the second half of the season?
After a busy summer of travel (Florida for wedding, Michigan for additional celebration, Cape Cod for vacation, Boston for work, Europe for honeymoon and family wedding) autumn is also turning into a busy season of traveling (Miami for The Ready retreat, Ohio for Brothers’ Weekend, New Orleans for Emily’s conference, some combination of Michigan and Florida for the holidays). Lots of opportunities to experiment with new travel Deliberate Patterns, right?
For the first time in a long time Apple has released a bunch of new products and I’ve upgraded exactly zero of my devices. Still rocking a 2 year old phone, a 3 year old watch, and a 2 year old laptop. No iPad. No replacement Apple TV for the one that croaked a few months ago. What is this new leaf I’ve turned?
Thank you for hanging around. Thanks to those of you who have ever shared a word of positive or constructive feedback. Thanks to those of you who’ve ever reached out on Twitter. And thanks to those of you who’ve silently but diligently read my writing for however long you have. Y’all are the best.
Here’s to living deliberately the best we can.
Care to say hello? Reply to this email and your message will be sitting in my inbox. Prefer Twitter? Find me at @samspurlin. In Northern Virginia/DC? Let’s get coffee.