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Thinking XOR Doing
January 27th, 2021
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The year 2020 was a year of reflection and deeper contemplation about many
things that crossed my mind. I went down many a rabbit hole of ideas. I
needed that. But by the end of the year I felt I had pondered the big and
difficult questions in my life enough.
It's time for me to 'do'.
Instead of being deep in contemplation, I want to let go of the thoughts and
work towards realizing the thoughts. It's not that I didn't get anything
done in 2020--I did a lot! I'm happy about what I accomplished but I want
to do more and do it differently.
My resolution for 2021:
I want to use my hands, my tools, and my actions to make things, and not
spend so much time in worry, procrastination, deep thought, and going down
rabbit-holes of ideas--don't overthink things, just do.
My disciplines for 2021:
1. When I want to reflect, phlog it. Let writing be the action of
contemplation.
2. When I'm not sure what to do, don't faff about. Don't procrastinate.
3. Make physical things as often as possible. I want to take my woodworking
up a notch in 2021.
4. Write code, contribute and share code. I was a programmer by trade. Start
acting like it again.
Almost a month in to 2021 as I write this and it's going fairly well so far.
What prompted me to write this now is I've started to slip over the past
week and the writing helps me refocus.
A quote to leave you with:
"An ounce of practice is generally worth more than a ton of theory."
-- E. F. Schumacher
