Monday Seven No. 037
On sprinting downhill
Welcome to the latest edition of Monday Seven — actionable ideas and frameworks for those of us who seek more out of life and work.
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Hi friends,
I’ll keep this week’s preamble short. Life is happening and I am enjoying the downhill sprint while it’s here. I’ll probably have more time for deep thought and long-form writing later this year, but for now, expect the next few posts to be the shorter side.
Let’s get right into it.
On sprinting downhill —
A pattern I’ve observed is that life happens in bursts and tails.
The burst is a series of demanding events that happen over a few weeks. It’s followed by a far less intense long tail that can last months or years. The burst is a shooting star that suddenly appears in my periphery. The tail is a streak left behind that cuts through the dark sky.
I’m not sure if this is true for others, but it is a personal experience.
These bursts and tails are a lot like running. Depending on the terrain in front of me, I’m either running uphill or down.
On one end, the brutally steep climb leaves me panting and out of breath. It’s followed by a steady incline that continues to slowly wear me down as if I’m chasing a moving horizon. On the other hand, life can sometimes feel like a downhill sprint. In these moments life feels easy. All I have to do is stay out of my own way. The long tail of a downhill burst is a gradual decline. When I’m on it, it’s as if I can run forever.
Running downhill feels easier because I’m not out of breath when I’m doing it. But downhill running is more demanding on my body. It’s where injuries happen.
Most people instinctively lean back when running downhill to gain more control. But this slows me down and puts more stress on my body. The same is true for life’s downhill sprints. If I’m afraid of what might happen if I fall, I will lean back.
To train for life’s downhills I need to practice learning forward. When I suddenly and unexpectedly find ourselves sprinting downhill, I need to continue giving into it. Gravity will pull me down faster. I will learn to have a higher tolerance for the speed of life and which will translate to greater ease over the long tail—which is most of life.
What I’m reading —
How to Work Hard by Paul Graham (@paulg)
“Many problems have a hard core at the center, surrounded by easier stuff at the edges. Working hard means aiming toward the center to the extent you can. Some days you may not be able to; some days you'll only be able to work on the easier, peripheral stuff. But you should always be aiming as close to the center as you can without stalling.
The bigger question of what to do with your life is one of these problems with a hard core. There are important problems at the center, which tend to be hard, and less important, easier ones at the edges. So as well as the small, daily adjustments involved in working on a specific problem, you'll occasionally have to make big, lifetime-scale adjustments about which type of work to do. And the rule is the same: working hard means aiming toward the center — toward the most ambitious problems.”
Music of the week —
I haven’t been listening to music nearly as much as I usually do. The dozen or so different bird songs have been plenty to keep me entertained. I find myself watching YouTube videos of birds while trying to learn who’s who in the chorus.
But, there’s been one track on repeat ever since we played it at our wedding last week. Jaan-e Maryam by Persian folk singer Mohammad Nouri (Spotify, Apple Music). The beautiful piano rendition by Evgeny Grinko is also worth a listen (YouTube).
Quote of the week —
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
Thanks for reading. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
The next time you’ll hear from me will be Monday, July 19.
Until then,
Yashar ✌🏼