Look Back
Vol. XVIII of The Weekly Reflection and Recommendations
Happy Sunday, friends.
Welcome to this week’s Path Nine Reflection and Recommendations. Each issue aims to enhance your thinking, lifestyle, and work by sharing distilled reflections and recommendations from the past two weeks.
Don’t feel like scrolling? Here’s the tldr version:
Reflection: Look Back.
Rec: Product, Tool, or Framework: The Five Whys.
Rec: Read: The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success.
Rec: Watch: Neil Gaiman - Inspirational Commencement Speech at the University of the Arts 2012.
Rec: Listen: The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Sikhism and Daily Habits.
Have a calm, productive, and creative week!
Before we begin: If you’re reading this but haven’t subscribed to PATH NINE, hit the button below to join creative entrepreneurs that read PATH NINE to learn the strategies reshaping our work and lives.
“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
Steve Jobs
Reflections
◎ Look BackA few weeks ago, I sat down to do some digital procrastination (i.e. moving things around on my personal website to convince myself I’m being productive). After learning about Substack’s Nazi problem, I started thinking it might be time to create a separate digital archive, in case the platform goes the way of the dodo. The problem came to light in November of 2023, following this article in The Atlantic, which surfaced a number of white-supremacist, neo-Confederate, and explicitly Nazi newsletters on Substack, some of which featured overt Nazi symbols. The founder’s laissez-faire approach to content moderation and its indirect profit from such content through subscription revenue shares are concerning, to say the least.
As much as I’ve loved Substack, I have a few lingering concerns about where they’re headed. So, instead of waiting for the Nazis to take over or for the potential downfall of Substack, I decided to move some posts to my personal blog. That way, if the Nazi’s take over Substack, I have a good back up to continue building from, or at least not supporting something I don’t feel proud to be a part of. It’s ironic that Substack’s Nazi problem—and the process of migrating articles—made me consider pride. Not just pride in where my work lives, but in the work itself.
When I started my digital relocation process, I figured it would quick, because I only had a handful of articles to move. Before I knew it, two hours had passed.
And that’s when it hit me; I had actually written a lot over the years.
Not only had I written a lot, I’d actually written some things I liked.
Just like that, I felt it. That feeling I don’t often allow myself feel. That feeling that tells you you’re doing okay. That feeling that reminds you, as much as there is left in the journey ahead, you’ve already come so far. That feeling? Pride.
For years, I told myself I wanted to write more. But year after year, I felt like I wasn’t writing enough to even pretend to be a writer. And then, I saw the evidence—I was writing.
In this moment, I was able to peek over my shoulder and see the journey I’d traveled, one sentence at a time. Each word, another step. Each sentence, another hill. Each article, another mountain. Suddenly, I wasn’t left wondering if it was possible—the proof was right in front of me.
As any ambitious perfectionist knows, this feeling doesn’t come easy.
My body and mind fight to reject the foreign object that is positive feedback. For with positive feedback, comes complacency. With complacency, comes laziness. And laziness is the surest path away from success.
I’m hard on myself because I want more—which makes it difficult to really feel proud of anything.
If I write something, I tear it apart.
If I design something, I have to critique it.
If I build something, I tell you why it could be better.
All that energy helps me push to be better, but it also keeps me from ever feeling good.
I am never proud of myself. Never.
And yet, here I was, somehow feeling proud when hitting copy and paste on my keyboard.
Was I proud of everything I had written?
Of course not; no writer, or perfectionist, is.
But that’s not what matters.
What matters is that we strive for a goal, that we face our fears and push through the pain, regardless of the obstacles or potential outcome.
And, as I cut and pasted each article, I found little bits that reminded me why I love it so much—why I push through the pain. As I wrote in Things You’ll Never Regret
while many details in our lives are unknowable and unchangeable, we're sometimes presented with opportunities to turn mundanity into miracles.
The mundane act of moving these words from one digital space to another gave me a little reward. It forced me to pause, to feel, to reflect, to enjoy—and to rejoice.
It’s important to feel the rewards of our work.
It doesn’t matter if other people like it, sometimes all you have to do is look back.
Looking back lets you see how far you’ve come.
The road ahead is long, winding, and scary.
Sometimes looking back at the road behind reminds us how many mountains we’ve climbed, challenges we’ve faced, and obstacles we’ve overcome.
Don’t forget to turn around, look back, and be proud of how far you’ve come.
Recommendations
✪ Rec: Product, Tool, or Framework
The Five Whys
Anyone in a typical MBA program will likely be familiar with The Five Whys. But for those of you who aren’t already familiar, The Five Whys is a simple problem-solving framework pioneered by Toyota’s manufacturing teams to streamline their production and assist in root-cause analysis. While it’s definitely a great tool for business, I find it just as interesting and effective for personal reflection.
The concept is simple: by asking "why" five times, you can uncover the root cause of a problem or a feeling, including why you might feel dissatisfied with your work or why certain projects felt more fulfilling. It's a method that encourages deep thinking and can lead to significant insights about your creative process and achievements. If nothing else, it forces you to allocate time to think in a methodical manner—something that’s always valuable.
✪ Rec: ReadingThe Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success
I read this book one weekend when my wife was traveling for work. I typically have a bit of extra free time, and since she and I do a book club, I couldn’t read the book we were reading together. When I started, I was afraid this would be all fluff, and no substance. To my surprise, this quick read really hit home. As the title eludes to, the book walks you through the difference between the gap and the gain mindset. Without spoiling it too much, the book reminds us to focus on 'the Gain'—our achievements and how far we've come—rather than 'the Gap'—the distance between where we are and where we wish to be. For any perfectionist, this can be powerful tool to unlock pride, fulfillment, and satisfaction in their growth.
✪ Rec: WatchingNeil Gaiman - Inspirational Commencement Speech at the University of the Arts 2012
“The problems of failure are hard. The problems of success can be harder, because nobody warns you about them.” - Neil Gaiman
I rarely watch commencement speeches. For some reason, they feel fake, like a perfectly staged scene in an award-winning drama. But, every now and then one slips through, and proves me wrong. Neil Gaiman's commencement speech is a masterclass in the resilience required for creative work, particularly writing. He shares insights on the journey of a writer, emphasizing the importance of perseverance, making mistakes, and finding pride in your work. It’s a compelling watch for anyone reflecting on their creative journey, offering motivation to embrace the process and the progress made along the way.
✪ Rec: ListeningThe Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Sikhism and Daily Habits
Look, I’m not going to start talking about happiness and all the warm fuzzies that you’d expect from a recommendation like this. Why? Well, first, it’s not the point. Second, I’m a millennial, so I’ll just keep buying avovado toast instead.
But, what I will talk about is the importance of daily habits that ultimately lead to happiness and fulfillment. Just as I found unexpected joy and pride in the simple act of organizing my digital space, this podcast reminds us that integrating mindful habits into our daily routines can transform mundane activities into sources of profound joy and satisfaction. The episode serves as a gentle reminder that happiness and a sense of accomplishment can emerge from the rhythm of our daily lives, encouraging us to appreciate the progress and meaning in every moment of our creative journey.
Pathfinders’ Spotlight
Fellow Pathfinder hype links and shoutouts.
)- If you're drawn to reflections on creativity and the nuances of our daily lives, you'll find a kindred spirit in Nanya's writing. Her article, "Are You Your Routine?", dives into how our daily rituals shape us, blending introspection with enlightening perspectives. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the interplay between habit and identity. It's a compelling read that resonates well with the themes we cherish here. Check it out ↗︎Interested in getting a shoutout? Just shoot me a note.
And, just in case you missed it…
Here are some things that I’ve written and shared that people enjoyed.
Until Next Time!
That’s it for this week. As always, if you like the content, please do me a favor and like, share, subscribe — this newsletter runs on overpriced whiskey and reader engagement.
If you liked this post, I’d really appreciate it if you share it!
And, in the longstanding tradition of offering to help, here are a few ways I can be helpful:
Book a 1:1 Consulting Call with me. During the call, we’ll do a deep dive into whatever issues you’re facing—from growth to validating business ideas to automating and/or delegating work.
If your business is looking for help with growth and you need a seasoned business builder to reach the next level, consider using Uprise.
Thanks for reading, and see you soon,
— Kevin K. (@kkirkpatrick)
Kevin, just seeing this shoutout! Thanks for the mention, and glad it resonated with you :)