Upgrading Bathrooms And Life

As I type these words, the Jackhammer is whizzing literally above my head (upstairs), making it very hard to concentrate. We are renovating bathrooms. My mental energy is being consumed by plumbing and electrical issues typical of installing new fixtures in old structures, something we are all guilty of doing with our lives.

We try to upgrade ourselves by getting the latest gadgets, modern houses, and luxury vehicles, while we need a new vision.

This week I created a vision for myself based on Cameron Herold’s technique called A Painted Picture. I described it in the article How I Created A Vision For Next Three Years. I highly recommend that you read the article and create a vision for yourself.

I know, I know. The times are gloomy. The pandemic is still here. No one knows when it will go away. But that is the beauty of having a vision. You don’t concentrate on ‘how’ but on ‘what.’ Once you know ‘what’ you want, figuring out ‘how’ is easy.

Most people don’t know where what they want to do and where they want to be in the next three years of their lives. Having ‘no vision’ is a big reason that they can’t upgrade their lives.

Another thing that is extremely helpful in changing lives is Metal Models. Mental models are frameworks of thinking that you can use to solve problems, whether related to your life, work, business, or vocation. Any idea or issue can be seen through a mental model lens and solved uniquely. You can think of them as tools in a toolbox, each having a specific purpose. Like a hammer can’t be used where a plier is required, they make problem-solving much easier.

It is a fascinating field. I intend to write an article on them, particularly on mental models for writers.

Speaking of articles, I will be concentrating less on articles for the next four to five weeks. November is approaching, and I am gearing up to participate in the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge. For those of you who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it is a non-profit organization that provides a portal, tools, structure, community, and encouragement to writers to write 50,000 words in a month.

I was a bit hesitant to participate this year as I already have too many projects in the pipeline. But I decided to go ahead anyway because there is nothing like the energy I gain from thousands of people worldwide, writing together. Even if I don’t reach the 50,000 words, whatever word count I will manage will be better than no words at all.

Although I will be writing fewer articles next month, I still will be writing this newsletter, keeping you updated on my progress and whatever else I am learning through the process.

That is it from me this week.

Talk to you next week.

Take care.