A newsletter evo-➰-tion

Talking about the new year in classic Subject to Change style

Happy New [Gregorian] Year to you!

Today I’m sharing some quick thoughts about the future of this newsletter. An evo-loop-tion perhaps.

I recently discovered* that I started writing because I wanted to transform my career.

Well, it certainly has!

Beyond my wildest imagination it changed. So now, part of me is like:

Job’s done. (Kudos to you if you can figure out the gaming reference here)

But here’s the thing… I still want to continue writing. But there are a couple new challenges and one short-term consideration:

I need a better defined goal

The primary goal is no longer to transform my career (although it will continue to do so), and after some thought and discussion with my closest confidantes I’m choosing to continue on a similar vein of themes, but for a different reason. I will continue to publish on topics that are dear to me, but now I want them fuelled much more by my note-making system. This was the part that was always missing for me (something I admitted back in May when I spoke at the LYT Conference) and this year I want to work on it. More on this in the future.

I’m writing a lot for work

So here’s the thing. A person can only do that much writing in a day. My new job requires me to do a lot of writing. It is fun and great writing. But it does eat into my spare time writing capacity. Therefore I am deciding to gear down on my weekly-ish publishing schedule and try a bi-weekly-ish schedule instead. And also,

I am still working on the book

Due to health issues I was unable to work on the book as much as I wanted to in December. Such is life. So. Until it’s done, I want the book to be my full focus. To support this, I will be putting on pause all net new content for the newsletter.

Balance is key

All this to say, we are taking 2023 by the horns. We will manage it; it will not manage us. I encourage you to take control of the year too, establish your boundaries, and enforce them. I know I deserve it. I know you deserve it. Find what your “Enough” is and guard it closely. That’s the path to balance.

Signing off now. Expect me back sometime in February ❄️

Until then, have a wonderful start to the year.

Fei

---

* “recently discovered” meaning that I discovered that this was the goal my subconscious had secretly set, which it had kept “hidden” from my conscious self because it was afraid of looking a fool if nothing happened. My subconscious was also boosting my desire to write for that reason. And once the goal had been met, it saw no further reason to continue motivating me to write the newsletter. Imagine my shock when I discovered this! But I am not surprised. My subconscious truly has a life of its own.