Time flies when you forget time flies
And the power of the weekly review.
Hey friends,
The morning sun has turned to dusk. Leaves have fallen and grown back. The calendar has flipped a month forward. The once-new has faded, and the once-familiar has changed. The year is already slipping through our fingers.
Time flies when we’re having fun we forget to notice it moving. When we get caught in routines that blur the days together. When life moves fast enough that we don’t remember to look around us. When we aren’t mindful of the finiteness of our lives.
Time is the true currency of life. Every moment we have is a chance for us to move in the right direction. But time can’t be saved or stored up for later—it’s always moving, and once it's gone, it's gone forever.
To be honest, I’ve let the last few weeks slip away from me a bit. I’m generally an organised and productive guy (or so I tell myself…), but these past few weeks have been a bit sluggish for me. It happens. We all go through our seasons. And that’s okay.
But as I go into next week, I want to make the most of my time. I don’t want to look back next Sunday and struggle to remember what I did, wondering where the days went. I’d like to be in control of time, cashing it in rather for joy than letting it slip away.
The act of reflection helps me stay grounded and not let time pass by so quick. By looking back, we can better position ourselves to go forward in the direction we want to go.
One way to do this is through a weekly review (an easier place to start than daily reflection/journaling), asking ourselves something like the following questions each Sunday:
What went well this past week? What are some memories I don’t want to forget?
What didn’t go so well? In what ways did I not act in line with my intentions for the week?
What’s one thing I’ve learned to take forward into next week? What did this teach me?
What three things will make this next week joyful? What needs organising?
Let’s remember time keeps moving and make the most of the week ahead—time’s not gonna wait for us.
Ben x
p.s. Go first.
A quote that made me think
James Clear on filtering information in an age of distraction:
"When accessing all information is common, paying attention to important information is rare."
Something I read that you might find interesting
Sahil Bloom on viewing balance as a long-term concept:
The idea of "balance" has been hijacked. You've been led to believe that your life should always feel balanced on a micro daily basis—that you should have a perfect balance of work, health, family, and personal time. This leads to a lot of stress and anxiety when your life starts to feel dislocated from that aspirational reality.
Fortunately, I've come to realize that balance is much better found and understood on the macro seasonal basis. The reality is that life is filled with challenging, painful tradeoffs and sacrifices, and if you want extraordinary results, you need to be willing to contribute extraordinary inputs.
You will have seasons of unbalance that are a necessary cost of entry for the future seasons of balance on the other side. True balance is about seasons, not days.
Four offline things I did this week
Olivia Dean has become my favourite artist over the past few months. She has a really original UK pop voice, down-to-earth empowering lyrics, and such feel-good performances. After missing her NZ & AU tour announcement last year (the first flaw of staying off social media I discovered), I was thrilled to find a resale ticket (which Gab got me for Christmas! How kind!) and had been looking forward to her show for ages. The show was on Wednesday, and it was incredible. Simple, stripped back, intimate—such an awesome experience. If you’d like to get an idea of the vibe, Olivia released one of her live shows as an album last year. Listen here.
I went to the peaceful little town of Cambridge twice this week! Despite being 20 minutes away from Hamilton, I’ve only been there a few times. On Tuesday, I went to Italian restaurant Alpino with my workmates for our monthly foodies dinner. Delicious food and great company. On Thursday, taking advantage of the public holiday, I caught up with a friend and walked around Lake Te Koo Utu Lake—which I now know exists!! That was lovely too. Those two outings lead me me think about two things: 1) relationships with others are pretty much the meaning of life, and 2) Hamilton is in such a great location, so central to everything, I need to go on more little adventures!
On Waitangi Day, I walked into the CBD from my place in Hamilton East. It was a beautiful day. I checked out the Waitangi Day Festival at the Museum: there was a stage with live performances, food trucks, and so many people! I listened to the music for a while and had a wander around the Museum. There’s some cool stuff in there. I’ve never been that interested in history, but the stuff about the history of Kirikiriroa was really cool. Would recommend a visit!
After going for a big walk in the morning on Saturday, I baked cupcakes and binged the entire Apple Cider Vinegar series in the arvo. I wouldn’t usually consider that very productive—but I allowed myself to not feel guilty about it. Sometimes an afternoon at home, by yourself, is very nice. The series was great by the way. Such an interesting story about an influencer who faked brain cancer, and based on a true story. The cupcakes weren’t half bad either, might I add.
Nine great songs I discovered this week
Find them here.
Ben, don't worry, you accomplish a lot and you have plenty of time. Consider another weekly observation: a grateful note . Being grateful for what went well would be helpful