We’re already 25% through 2022. 👀
It feels like time goes by so fast.
At the same time, looking back so much has already happened this year.
Work has been a rollercoaster.
Sometimes I help other teams solve problems. Other times, I answer people’s questions. And I’ve been able to take some time to create some documentation that people had been asking for.
So the highs have all been when I feel like I can help other people.
And the lows?
I’d planned to catch up on work only to have more stuff dumped on me last minute. I had to help plan and answer questions about a project that didn’t have defined boundaries. And it always feels like people feel free to demand things to be done on short notice because it’s in the spirit of “velocity.”
The lows all surround the chaotic aspect of work.
And now I’m wondering if these are two sides of the same coin.
I get anxious when I think about the chaos. I wonder if I’m good enough. And feeling like I can help people allows me a moment where I feel that I am good enough.
So maybe the rollercoaster of work is just a reflection of the ebbs and flows of my anxiety levels.
On that note, I’ve gotten some terrific feedback this quarter.
I’ve always thought of myself as someone with poor self-awareness.
A couple of months ago, my therapist pointed out that my self-awareness has improved since we started working together. And I’ve gotten feedback from multiple coaches that my self-awareness is quite developed.
It was great to hear that feedback because I don’t think I would have noticed that change on my own.
Similarly, I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten more comfortable listening to recordings of my voice.
Doing this before left me feeling nauseous and jittery. This quarter, I listened to many recordings of my voice from CBCs and coaching sessions where I was the coachee. Initially, I had to force myself to listen to the recordings.
Now, there’s much less of that discomfort.
This quarter, I also finished Ultraspeaking and Ship 30 for 30. (Well, I’ll be finishing Ship 30 for 30 today. 🤣 Also, note this is my affiliate/discount link.)
The hardest part of Ultraspeaking was the first week when I couldn’t stop thinking about how bad of a speaker I was. The hardest part of Ship 30 for 30 was publishing something every day, reading and engaging with other participants on their essays, and keeping up with the live sessions. It was a lot more work than I expected.
But I got a lot out of each of these classes.
Ship 30 for 30, in particular, exceeded my expectations.
I put off signing up for Ship 30 for 30 for almost a year. I thought I was going to be paying for accountability. But there was so much more content than I expected. The community was very supportive.
It was fantastic to immediately put the lecture material into practice in an iterative way.
Switching topics now to my notes…
I finally started using Obsidian community plugins this quarter.
Previously, I had resisted the allure of these for security reasons. But then I thought about how engaged the Obsidian community is. I thought about how my stuff isn’t valuable enough for anyone to want to steal. And I thought about all the things I’d be able to automate by using the plugins.
So I decided to dive in.
So far, they’ve been fantastic. Some things are much, much more streamlined.
I am now one of the Obsidian moderators for cohort 14 of Building a Second Brain (BASB).
Being selected as a moderator caught me off guard. I know some very talented and experienced people in the BASB community. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that I would be helping out as a moderator.
I’m hoping I’m able to help people in this cohort.
And then on the people side of things…
Alex and I spent a day with the family in the woods in front of a campfire. Some friends came over to start marathoning Rupaul’s Drag Race. And I caught up with a bunch of friends over calls.
I love being at home with a book. However, these connections always seem to be highlighted in my reviews.
I was also excited to connect with several people from CBCs and this newsletter.
Zoom has undoubtedly made the world smaller.
Some more new connections as well: I joined a new volleyball team. And I hosted a couple of Twitter Spaces with Alessandra White.
So as much as 2022 is going by super fast, much has already happened.
