Weekly Good Things
This Week In Good Things
I’m always curious about software onboarding, and generally speaking, I think that Substack does a good job of it! They gamify onboarding with a little to-do checklist on your writer’s dashboard. They send pretty useful content about posting consistently (I’m going to aim for Sundays here) with advice from fellow writers that I like (Lenny’s Newsletter, Austin Kleon, etc.)
Quarterly Planning
For the past year, I’ve been doing quarterly planning with two friends. I do a lot of solo reflection work and intention setting, but it’s so much better to do it with others. (If you’d like to practice doing a retrospective and intention setting, I’ll be doing a workshop next weekend for the month of September.)
The Basics:
We have a list of 10 Year Intentions. Wide ranging lists of things we’d like to experience and create!
We have an Annual Intention list. My version of this is a note on my phone that says “2023 Habits” which I try to read every few days.
We review Good Things and Challenges from the quarter, and then check in with our 10 year intentions, and our annual goals. (A note on list making: even if you make a long list and don’t look at it - the process of making a list always helps to move you forward.)
My Personal Categories: Health, Mind, Social, Learning, Professional, Financial, Travel, Accomplishments, Once in a Lifetime Experiences - that I say yes to every month. Read more about those: "Is your Antenna Up for Once In A Lifetime Experiences?", and general systems.
Here’s the top part of my 2023 Habit List:
After each quarterly session, I spend some time thinking and reviewing my list for things I’ve missed, and sitting with our conversation. Part of the beauty of doing this work with others is that there’s a lot of gentle observation (have you considered starting smaller with this goal? encouragement - “of COURSE you need to get that ticket”, and admiration for small things and hard things) and a whole lot of inspiration from each other. Accomplishments is a new section for me to update - it’s been a while since I’ve organized a list like that.
This Week In Good Things:
I’m trying to figure out how to organize my curation links. I do a lot of reading on the internet to share with our Ompractice community (and Wellesley, and my own newsletter) and am looking for a system to actually clip and save that works across all platforms. Is it GetPocket? Is it a running note that I actually keep in some sort of order?
LinkedIn. Tap, Tap, is this thing on? I wrapped up the week with Five Good Things, work edition. (Feel free to connect with me there!) I’m debating a Monday, Wednesday, Friday LinkedIn posting schedule. And by that I mean, I’m going to commit to Fridays, and have added a writing block to my calendar. (Goal Setting Pro Tip: decide on your goal, and commit to half.)
One of the most lovely things I’ve done for myself is order a flower share. The dahlias in the photo above are still going strong from Wednesday.
Getting ready for “Walktober” our Wellesley walking challenge. I do most of my walking outside. I’m going to aim for 5 miles a day. A few years ago I did a five miles/day post Walktober that lasted me about five months. One change is that I’m planning on moving my TV out of the back room and into my office, and moving my walking pad so it faces the TV. (I’m not actually sure how this will go.)
More Good Things:
Reading: is there a greater pleasure? my q4 reading list is live, and I’m feeling personally attacked by a GoodReads headline that suggested 64 romantasy books to read after your Fourth Wing Hangover.
Cooking: I’m over cutthroat competition and here for the hugs. The new season of Great British Bake Off is about to start. I watched the last two episodes of last season last night, and truly, there’s something so soothing to this kind of competition show. I choke up every time the winner is crowned and the finalists all are just so happy for each other. (On that note, I’ve not gotten past the first episode of The Bear, but I’m going to.)
Style: Wide Leg Pants are IN. I saw a teenager wearing JNCOs and it’s not going to go that far. But I was able to successfully shop my early 2ks closet and pull out a fresh pair of wide leg Hudsons (and some gorgeous brown tweed Nanette Lepore pants), and my light hoarding has paid off. Also, would recommend Vionic Winny sneakers. (For fellow sasquatchs - I’m a 12 and my go-tos now are Vionic, Birdies, Sorel, Rothy’s, and Target online.)
Good Deeds: if you went to Cornerstone School, you know how amazing Flor is.
Parking Karma: I engage my parking karma by audibly turning it on “beep boop!” and then I find a spot directly in front of where I want to go.
Aging: Want to hear the latest in AgeTech? I summarized my takeaways from the AARP AgeTech Summit (and added a cute panda here).
The Weekly Meal Plan:
Sunday: Tandoori Chicken, basmati rice, roasted cauliflower, tamarind sauce, cilantro chutney.
Monday: Yom Kippur Break Fast (I’ll probably eat a plate of smoked salmon, and may eat some bites of Blueberry Sour Cream Herring - that’s a thing!)
Tuesday: Hodo Tofu - cold with Noma DashiRX drizzle, steamed broccoli.
Wednesday: Feast and Fettle Shrimp Mozambique, grilled mixed vegetables.
Thursday: Feast and Fettle Turkey Meatloaf with sweet tomato jam, roasted cauliflower with fennel and crushed pecans.
Friday: Feast and Fettle Swedish Meatballs with Egg Noodles, sautéed kale with roasted garlic
Here’s a current Feast and Fettle referral link if you want to try it! (I’m very excited for their brick and mortar shop to open right near me in a few weeks!
Let’s Workshop:
What: Monthly Retro + Intention Setting
The Details: Saturday, September 30th, 11:00 - 12:30pm ET on Zoom. (I’ll be sending out a replay if you can’t make this live)
Cost: $42 (this will be recorded if you can’t make the live session)
That’s all for now! Know someone who might like this newsletter? I’d love if you send it to them!
xo, Sam