Two years of putting something together at least once a month.
It’s been a good practice to make sure I set aside some time to write something down. I still make notes whenever I can throughout the month, but when there’s an idea that I think can be shared, you end up reading about it.
A core learning from this project over the last 24 months is that ‘success*’ is a slow-burn.
*Side note: I don’t mean monetary success – I mean worth, or value. To me, success is having something create value for yourself or other people.
We all know it; but to experience the time it takes for value to arise is only something time can do. You’re rarely ever going to see something go off with a bang, and if it does you need to deal with the explosion and what remains of it. The slow burn is the sizzle — manageable spits where you can control the temperature.
The slow burn allows you to spread out a little, whilst one thing is cooking over there you can start this other thing up. Then come back and turn the heat up and balance it all.
Sometimes though, you’re just cooking too many things at once and it becomes an overcomplicated meal.
This year has been a whirlwind. So much incredible change over the last 12 months.
At the same time last year, my life looked very different. I had a journal note from around the period. Part of it read:
The employers get to run the place—they own the place. I don’t have a problem with that. But I can’t shake this feeling that I want to be in control of what I create and when I create it. It also allows me to be in control of my time – all the time.
For context, I was 3 months into my full time job.
There was one thought swirling that had me a little scared though:
If nothing changes, my future is pretty set.
I’m working a full time job where I know I can move up the ranks, get better pay, find a partner, buy a home and start a family etc etc. I’ve got “The Life”.
There was a sense that I needed projects to work on – something to evolve over time.
Well, hello 2023.
I moved in to my own apartment and found the most amazing partner. Two things that are not to be taken lightly, buuuuuut still part of the ‘predictable’ plan.
March 2023 offered me something risky – the chance to own and run the gym I’d been a member at for 3 and a half years. The place that helped me set solid health foundations (and I’d been previously employed at), was in reach with being under my leadership.
I wrote out my thoughts when I was offered this in February 2023:
Owning the gym scares me. There’s so much uncertainty, which is exactly what I like about it. It’s real. It’s risky. My current job is safe and predictable.
I still have my full time job, my relationship and my apartment. Now, there’s the little question mark of the gym; which is ever-growing and evolving as I find it’s footing.
It’s my responsibility to create this business into what it needs to be —and to circle this back to the beginning of this letter, I need to put some other endeavours away so I can align my focus.
I thought about stopping this writing - these letters. But it’s just too valuable to me. This is my brain in words. An important record that will no doubt continue to show its worth in the future. These letters have not been a place to share, but rather a place to explore. I’m forced to sit down with ideas and put words together that make sense.
I do think a project like this is cyclical – it will have its ebbs and flows. Right now, I do need to make sure I’m focusing on the things that need me, so these will be more infrequent. Perhaps they’ll change into something else, whatever that may be.
I invite you to have a think about what you’re doing right now. Are you cooking too many things, or is your meal looking a little bland?
Thanks for reading along with me the last 24 months, let’s see where it goes.
I’ll leave you with this:
An apple is the last thing an apple tree produces.
Keep sizzlin’,
Josh
Two years ago I received an acceptance letter to start my new degree (and career) as a Music Therapist. I now have moved 14,000km away to attend a job interview as a Music Therapist in the Netherlands next week, living with my incredible partner who is studying for his own career.
w a c k