Colin Wright's Blog, page 17

Rethinking Everything

Theres a certain comfort in thinking about what well all do when things get back to normal.

I find myself retreating to that line of thinking, at times, as it allows me to perceive the moment as an interstitial: something Im doing now which I can enjoy as an oddity, because at some point it will give way to the familiar rhythms and folkways of the usual.

Theres a very good chance, though, that the definition of normal will have changed by the time this global pandemic recedes, like a beach...

Pandemic Projects

The global status quo has been disrupted, local norms have been upended, and personal routines, habits, and goals have been unexpectedly shattered or understandably set aside as many of us struggle to understand and come to grips with our new, hopefully temporary reality.

For some, this pandemic has also become tragic due to the loss of a loved one, and the destruction of entire local and global industries.

For others, the tragedy has been less sharp but still stressful and impactful. We soak...

Stormy Seas

Change can arrive like a dropped bomb, converting your carefully constructed life into a pile of rubble in an instant.

You look around, ears ringing, trying to figure out what happened, and as the reality sets in, your stomach clenches up with the instinctual understanding that the reality you’ve labored to build is gone now. It’s gone.

The twin shocks of sunk costs and a loss of stable ground upon which to stand then give way to a realization that the plans you’ve made apply to a future that...

Control

There’s a concept in psychology, locus of control, that refers to the degree of control we believe we have over our lives.

The theory is that some of us see the world as a whirling mass of unknowable, external forces over which we have little or no influence, while others are more likely to perceive things as being within reach and manipulatable—we can pull levers, shift stones, build stuff, and reorganize things.

Most of us exist somewhere in between these two extremes, neither feeling...

Resolutions

At some point amidst the hubbub of the next few weeks, muffled by the cacophony of marketing messages, social pressures, and self-imposed constrictions, limitations, pressures, and anxieties: reclaim a few minutes to stop, take a few long, slow, deep breaths, and just sit with the moment.

Reflect on where you are, how you got there, and the many massive and minuscule positive aspects of the life you’re living. Think about the tiny pleasures and the wonderful people you’ve known.

Consider that...

Notes to Self

I keep a little file on my computer where I write notes to myself about things I’ll likely need to be reminded of at some point.

I check these notes any time I’m feeling unmotivated, psychologically down, physically sluggish, or in some other way not like myself.

The list is ever-evolving, but here’s what’s on it right now:

You feel better when you drink water regularly throughout the day.

You feel better when you workout periodically throughout the day.

You feel better when you sleep for at...

I Don’t Know

There are few more powerful phrases one can utter than “I don’t know.”

Many societies disincentivize the admission of ignorance, equating it to stupidity or inability. And the more mastery we achieve, the more we’re pressured—overtly or covertly—to avoid appearing to not know something, anything, about our field (or fields) of focus.

This unfortunately tends to stifle growth and evolution. It keeps us from questioning and growing throughout our lives.

Even if we’re unable to find answers to...

Badass

I remember the moment, many years ago, when I realized I didn’t have to be a badass.

There’s a pervasive myth within the world of entrepreneurship—and within many adjacent sub-cultures—that in order to succeed, you have to be hard, have to be ruthless, have to be borderline sociopathic.

This truism is reinforced by the people we tend to celebrate, the stories we tell, and the lessons we teach both consciously and unconsciously about what “success” looks like.

For a long time, I tried to fake...

Empathy

The word “empathy” is, in its modern incarnation, typically used when we feel bad for someone or to express a sort of sympathy. We use it to convey that we recognize and feel their pain or discomfort or sorrow.

The more complex definition of the word, though, implies that we not only sympathize—feel bad for them—and we don’t only feel bad because they feel bad—a shared understanding of loss or grief—we also understand what they’re going through from their perspective. It’s imagining how the...

Habits

What we do isn’t truly who we are, but it’s a suitable stand-in for many practical purposes.

What we do is informed not just by our beliefs, biases, experiences, expectations, and other internal circuitry, it’s also informed by the structures we put into place around us.

These structures—our habits, routines, rituals, limitations—are exoskeletons that protect our soft bits and strengthen our weakest muscles. They have the potential to hoist us higher than we’d be capable of climbing, unaided, and they ca...