This week, I'm reflecting on my decision to pause the podcast for a couple months, my journey inward, and some of the lessons that I'm taking with me as I move forward. Thanks for listening!

LINKS & REFERENCES

My weekly email newsletter

Write Anyway - my daily writing project

Play Anyway - my daily songwriting project

Start with Why TED talk - Simon Sinek

A Book That Inspired Me - Find Your Why

In this solo episode, I explore why I chose Creativity, Connection, and Community as my core themes, as well as a few concrete things you can do to cultivate them in your own life.

Links from this Episode

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

-Get it on Amazon

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

-Get it on Bookshop.org

Robert Waldinger on the Good Life (Tedx Youtube)

See more writing and music at AidanYoung.com and follow us on Instagram and Youtube.

Get the Something of Meaning Newsletter

Every Thursday, you’ll get a short email with an idea, a question, a suggestion, and a quote that help cultivate Creativity, Connection, and Community.

Support Me On Patreon

You can become a Patron, starting at $5 a month, and all levels of support receive the same benefits. You’ll get access to exclusive bonus content every month, and you’ll also get to submit questions that we’ll answer in our listener question episodes.

It also helps a lot if you follow the podcast and give us a 5 star review. Thanks for your support!

Show Notes

• What can I change that has the biggest positive impact on the other things in my life?

• Every choice has a cost. Would you rather pay the cost up front for benefit later or benefit now to pay the cost later?

• Reflect and ask, how did that work for me?

• We use monthly "resolutions" where we look at one month and set intentions around areas that matter to us (health, sleep, exercise, fun, family, creativity, etc). We plan for a month and change our plan after each month, because we find we can commit to trying something for that amount of time, even if it ends up changing.

  • We choose 1-5 areas to be intentional about

  • We make a plan for each area, then pay attention to how it's going, noticing how we feel after each time we do what we planned

• It's great if you can find someone to partner with on your plan.

  • We also believe you can be successful on your own, and get a lot out of listening to the podcast, journaling, and reflecting on your own goals, plans, and progress.

• We measure our habits, checking off our intended habits every day.

• Being uncomfortable is ok. It's important to accept that we're going to be uncomfortable. We get to choose our discomfort, either through doing what we know will benefit us later or not. Either way, there's discomfort!

Books In This Episode

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

• Radical Compassion by Tara Brach

• The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr

Other Resources In This Episode

Accidental Gods Podcast with Manda Scott

We Can Do Hard Things Podcast with Glennon Doyle

Neil Gaiman - Make Good Art Speech talks about the mountain

See more writing and music at AidanYoung.com and follow us on Instagram and Youtube.

Get the Something of Meaning Newsletter

Every Thursday, you’ll get a short email with an idea, a question, a suggestion, and a quote that help cultivate Creativity, Connection, and Community.

Support Me On Patreon

You can become a Patron, starting at $5 a month, and all levels of support receive the same benefits. You’ll get access to exclusive bonus content every month, and you’ll also get to submit questions that we’ll answer in our listener question episodes.

It also helps a lot if you follow the podcast and give us a 5 star review. Thanks for your support!

Why Am I Doing A Podcast?

This week is a solo podcast. I talk a little about the work I'm doing and why I think a podcast is part of it, and how it fits into the bigger picture. The music segment is an original song of mine called Swimming Deeper, and also includes the story of how the song came to be. See more writing and music at AidanYoung.com

Get the Something of Meaning Newsletter

Every Thursday, you’ll get a short email with an idea, a question, a suggestion, and a quote that help cultivate Creativity, Connection, and Community.

Support Me On Patreon

You can become a Patron, starting at $5 a month, and all levels of support receive the same benefits. You’ll get access to exclusive bonus content every month, and you’ll also get to submit questions that we’ll answer in our listener question episodes.

It also helps a lot if you follow the podcast and give us a 5 star review. Thanks for your support!