Circle Three: the twentieth
Small Steps. HBS. Calvin and Hobbes.
Welcome to Circle Three!
Back to our regular Tuesday programming after last week’s Monday delivery. And we made it to 20 newsletters! Thank you for creating a community of curious minds. And as always, please use the button below to pass it along to anyone you think would enjoy the newsletter.
Cheers,
Dan
So what’s Circle Three? For new readers, the name comes from Seth Godin’s Linchpin, where he posits that the internet has created a circle beyond family and business: a tribe. Where knowledge is exchanged and our gifts are shared.
Thanks for being a part of this third circle. Let’s create something.
One Big Idea
“It's a fresh layer of snow and Calvin and Hobbes are out with the toboggan, and Calvin looks to Hobbes and says, ‘It’s a magical world, old buddy ... let’s go exploring.’ And those last words are just, I think, a challenge to all of us to make sure that we have that curiosity. And words, I think to live by.” — Joel Schroeder
Joel Schroder directed Dear Mr. Watterson, exploring Calvin and Hobbes’ cultural impact. The childhood curiosity that Calvin has, mixed with philosophical ponderings, earned the comic millions of fans around the world. As winter wraps up and our toboggans go into storage, how can we explore with child-like wonder?
Circles of Thought
“Advice on careers, finance, and life from Harvard Business School's Class of 1963.” These graduates have seen incredible shifts in the world; here, they answer the questions of life that never seem to change. It’s worth spending some time reading through the various chapters of wisdom. My personal favorite is the chapter on Growing Older.
Need a task manager? This team productivity app called “I Done This” focuses on creating small transparent progress every day. Everyone loves small wins. Use the app for your team, family, or yourself to systematize your daily check-ins and generate progress reports.
Here’s an illustrated article about newsletters: why newsletters have become popular and how we can fix things with an internet for everyone (because coding, webpages, and payments on the internet are too complicated).
Creating smooth-looking organic shapes can be useful for logos, illustrations, and general goofiness. Blobmaker creates unique, organic blobs for download.
I Miss My Bar gives us the background noise we have missed for too long. Dial the different sounds, from bartender noises to night ambiance, to recreate your favorite bar vibes. It has sounds only, so no, the site can’t recreate that special feeling of getting smooshed while waiting in line at the bar.
Inner Circle: Progress is but a tiny step
Want to use your dead time for something other than doomscrolling? Think like this.
The power of small steps.
And I'm not talking about tiptoeing.
I'm talking about tiny, imperceptible motions forward that add up to progress.
Like Beau Miles, who ran one mile each hour for 24 hours. A slow marathon, while "the rest of the time [I] do as much as possible; making things, odd jobs, fixing stuff. It's about running, doing, and thinking."
Sounds crazy. (But if you didn't know, that's exactly my kind of crazy. Just wait until you hear about my June race in a couple weeks.)
It's easy to disregard these small steps. Especially when it feels insignificant, like a 5-minute break.
Thomas Edison said, “everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.” So many times it's easy to take a 5-minute break. We deserve breaks after all.
But you can take advantage of that "dead time" to do something small. Something positive to take a small step.
Just think.
Five minutes a day by the end of the year adds up to more than 30 hours spent working on yourself or helping others. Thirty minutes a day adds up to over one week of the year.
Do that workout. Send the card. Say ‘Good Job.’ Learn the language. Take those steps. There's no shortage of resources. For me, I sometimes tweak or write for Circle Three. It's changed a lot over twenty newsletters!
This simple, repeated action doesn't feel like any progress is made, though. It's repetitive and can become grueling. Like Beau running a 1-mile-per-hour marathon, it's made of small increments that add up over time. Whether it's a marathon, laying bricks, or job applications, the process is mentally and physically draining.
Finally you cross the finish line and take a look back. They weren't necessarily fast, and maybe didn't feel like progress was being made. But you can point and say “I did that.”
I’m always surprised when I look at my Apple Watch data to see my exercise totals. I spent almost three full days doing physical activity last month, clocking 61 hours and 28 minutes. But spending time each day skiing, stretching, walking, or training certainly adds up quickly. It's good for the brain, good for the body, and a great way to explore.
Maybe the most rewarding part of the process is to look back, reflect, and acknowledge the progress and accomplishments that have sprung up from the process. Beautiful things can come out of the “dead time” in our days.
Beautiful things can come out of a few small steps.
State of the Circle
Dan is a mechanical design engineer interested in the intersection of design and technology. I love making connections between concepts and passions. Start a conversation and reply to this email with what you’re working on.
🔊 Listening: Viva La Vida (Prospekt’s March Edition)
📖 Reading: Adam Grant’s new book Think Again.
➕ Win: Turned 25 year old.
🔑 Travel Key: When airports are crazy with delays, the shortest line is often out front at ticketing!
🍺 Untappd: Beer City, USA (they’ve earned the award 4 years and counting)
📊 Sidebar: Working on leaning into my personality type.
This week was: Thoughtful.
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