Top Shelf

thinking makes it so

One of my most cherished pillars of life perspective was learned through Zen. No event in life is objectively “good” or “bad”, events are simply events. It’s my interpretation of the event that gives it meaning; it is up to me to decide if it is “good” or “bad”.

I blindly accepted this tenant one day to test it and see if it would work. I’ve never looked back. Since starting, and practicing, this approach, I can feel my mind instinctively move to a “where’s the opportunity here” mindset whenever my plans go sideways.

Here’s an example. In my first year out of school, I got some “less than favourable feedback” from my manager. They told me they weren’t sure what I was doing with my time, and that I wasn’t effective. I was absolutely rocked, and in my new grad state of mind, devastated. I felt really broken and useless. After all, I thought I was doing a stellar job, my colleagues seemed happy with me… so it must’ve been my manager that was wrong, right?! After a weekend of pity and self-loathing, I decided to flip the situation around and just assume it was all 100% true. This acceptance immediately gave me relief. I stopped looking for who was right or wrong and started looking for what my manager saw. Guess what? I did found that behaviour (shocking, right?). I didn't want to find it, but it was there. My acceptance transformed the feedback from what I saw as a personal attack, into a growth opportunity.

I came away from that experience humbled, with a new perspective, and driven. I had shortcomings that someone was gracious and brave enough to share with me. I built a plan, became viciously transparent with my work, and course-corrected. In my early career, this feedback was an absolute blessing and I am thankful for the Zen teaching I could practice that showed the situation was not inherently bad. It was my responsibility to give it meaning, and (after 3 days) I decided it was “good”.

This whole concept came up for me as I’ve been listening to “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday, a book that breaks down stoic philosophies and how they can be applied to our daily lives. I was surprised to find that stoic and zen philosophies are so similar! A little bit of research helped me find a couple of different ways to communicate this same message. Maybe one of these will resonate with you:

The Universe doesn’t make mistakes. Everything is happening just as it should. It’s only our perception of difficulties that causes us the distress and the difficulty we experience. Not only that, but when we label events as ' bad,' we fail to perceive the benefit that is waiting for us.
Chris Prentiss - Zen and the Art of Happiness

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
Shakespeare - Hamlet

All is as thinking makes it so.
Markus Aurelius - Meditations

Blessings and burdens are not mutually exclusive.
Ryan Holiday - The Obstacle is the Way

Upcoming Focus

taming the little red dot

In November I deleted all of my social media apps from my phone. Simple right? There were no additional changes or rules around how much time I would spend on social, just that I wouldn’t use an app to do it. I was so worried that I would miss important notifications or reminders about things. It was nerve-racking. Three months have past and I have no regrets! Without really trying, I find I have so much more time now to focus on the things I actually want to be doing, the things that used to feel like work. I’ve been taking walks more often and for longer, started a website, am upgrading programming skills… hell I’m writing this newsletter! I no longer feel like I am constantly running out of time for things.

But wait, things got more extreme… Two days ago I turned off all the notifications on my phone. Well, almost all of them. I left on my calendar app (cause that’s kinda the point of my phone), instacart (cases I need my groceries), and google maps (how do I get anywhere without it?!). It’s been super uncomfortable; I can’t tell when someone’s messaged me, there are no little red dots anywhere, no noises, or bings. It’s just… quiet. I guess that’s the point though. In the couple of days since I started, I feel like I have (again) so much more time. Or maybe now it’s more focused time. I start doing something and actually finish what I started. I’m loving this. I’ll admit I’ve been contemplating this purge for years now.

I did need to make some adjustments to other apps. For example, for me, I turned ON email notifications from LinkedIn messages. Missing those messages (especially when trying to arrange a time to meet) has been kinda embarrassing. But that 1 message was a small price to pay for the focused freedom I’m enjoying now.

If you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge, maybe try a small portion of the move, like only turning off the red dot “badge”? Or maybe go all-in and just try it for 5 days to see what it’s like?

Here is a guide I followed to do it:
How to Configure Your iPhone to Work for You, Not Against You by Tony Stubblebine.

Learning

telling stories with data

Data visualization is so cool. You can tell stories with numbers and graphs; an engineer’s dream! In one of the data visualization courses I’m working on, they summarized that you can use different properties to represent 5 dimensions of data; the x-axis, y-axis, and a data points size, colour and shape. There is an art to telling a story clearly through data though, and ensuring it’s received in the way it’s intended.

If you love beautiful data that tells stories, check out Beautiful Daily News and Gapminder.

I’ve been applying the use of infographic style design (maybe not exactly data…) in my slide decks for work. Take a look at my original version, followed by an infographic style. Which one is more engaging?

Cool Gear

keep your Calm

I’ve been using the Calm meditation app for a couple months now and love the simplicity, daily messages, and effectiveness. It has a different 10-minute meditation every day, provides a variety of practice styles (e.g. focusing on breath, sound, or body awareness), and has a “check-in” feature - like a mini journal. I complete a “How are you feeling?” check-in in the morning, which is an approachable way to journal for 30s before my mediation. In the evening, I complete a “Gratitudes” check-in (3 things I’m grateful for) and do the “daily trip” which is more of a learning session.

I feel strangely guilty to admit that I’ve also been using the sleep stories. I’m an adult that falls asleep while someone reads to me 🥳. Nothing beats drifting off to la-la-land while listening to Matthew McConaughey’s smooth voice…. It obviously works, as I have yet to find out how any of the stories end!

Finding Opportunity and Storytelling with Data (Ep.4)