Hello there you beautiful soul 🤟🏼
I hope this finds you incredibly well, and Happy Labor Day to those that celebrate. A strong hello to all the new subscribers since last week’s post — welcome aboard!
This week’s reflection is about something I’ve wrestled with for many years and I suspect many of you have as well.
How do you manage the distant future when you aren’t taking tangible steps toward that direction today?
You might paint some broad strokes, set a vision and intention, make a mood board, etc… but it’s hard to see the future’s details when today’s details are still wicked blurry.
I’ve actually run into this problem with this very newsletter!
I spent so many years consulting some of the biggest companies in the world on their distribution and marketing strategies that I incessantly debated with myself on which platforms to post to, how often, what tools are best for scale, what project management frameworks to go with…and on and on and on and on.
You know how many written words all that self-debating led to?
Zero. Absolutely… zero.
See… the thing I find myself doing even when no one is looking or paying me is reflect on life in hopes of learning from it today to be a little better tomorrow. Sometimes “today” really means “this month” or “year” or “decade” and the better “tomorrow” you’re working towards is more like “next year” or “decade” or “someday maybe.”
Given that, the questions I’m left with is “why am I so caught up with how this thing may or may not grow? Who cares about marketing strategies, distribution channels, and management frameworks when you don’t even know what’s gonna come out of you? How are you supposed to find a container for something when it doesn’t even exist yet… when it’s just a yearning in your heart that won’t go away?
After so much toiling for so many years, I’ve learned you shouldn’t worry about the distant future because the universe will inevitably figure that out for you. You should worry about the work. The craft. The repetitions you get doing that thing that puts you in a state of flow.
As you do more of that, I’ve learned that the path to take… the actual shape of the thing and what doors open and close… become clearer as you go. You just have to trust your soul and take the step that’s right in front of you.
That’s what I’m doing here and encouraging you to do as well. That’s what the idea behind Learning La Vida is all about. While it’s phenomenal to set an intention and plan for the future you want to build, you MUST start with the choices that’ll actually nudge you forward.
Everything else is a distraction at best and overwhelming fear at worst. Trust the process, balance your brain by considering your heart, and do the thing that secretly exhilarates you.
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Thanks, friend, for being here reading this reflection. I wish you abundant love, strength, and inner peace as you navigate this unpredictable experience we all call life.
If any of this resonated or you have ideas for things to write about, drop me a note at learninglavida@ruben.energy.
With sonder 🤟🏽
Ruben Dario