36. Unobstructed Resource Roundup
Formerly Connecting the Contours
Happy New Year!
I leaned heavyyy into some downtime over the holidays. It was magical. Here’s hoping you were able to cap off ‘24 and say hi to ‘25 in a way that was meaningful to you.
The holidays and I, historically, don’t get along so good.
Oh I enjoy them just fine, but like many, they stress me out. So, over the years I’ve collected quite the repertoire of ways to set myself up for success. One of which, is unplugging.
hey. hi. hello.
Welcome back or welcome to the Unobstructed newsletter (formerly Connecting the Contours). This is the place where I share stories, resources, and lessons learned to create clarity—without the overwhelm—for work weeks that don’t suck.
Given the way that Christmas and New Year’s fell on the calendar this year, I took 2 weeks off (I know!) and I feel fantastic.
Refreshed.
Restored, even.
It was nice to wind down, rest, and reset. Now, I’m excited to be back in the swing of things. I’m reminding myself to go slow — sprinting out of the gate after New Year’s can set the stage for an entire year of feeling behind. No thanks.
Sustainable and consistent, please.
I recently shared that I’d started reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, and have undertaken its 12 week challenge. I’m a month in and loving it.
In short, it’s a cumulative progression of reading, writing, and reflecting to dig up one’s locked-away creativity. I’m working on a longer essay about my experience with this that I’ll post soon. For now, I’ll say that tapping into my buried creativity has been a lot of fun.
The process is a welcomed breath of fresh air during the cold and dark days of the North American winter solstice.
the latest | from me.
While this newsletter goes out weekly, I also post daily Notes on Substack. If you you enjoy what you read here, and find yourself looking for more, following me on the Substack app would be a good next step.
the latest | from my rotation.
watch.
Here with John John Florence.
Good Habits Don't Exist – Do This Instead with Ryder Carroll.
listen.
Work and identity with Simone Stolzoff and Ali Abdaal.
Our dopamine overdose with Dr. Anna Lembke and Steven Bartlett.
Testing your beliefs against your values with Adam Grant and Trevor Noah.
read.
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
We Don't Need 'Self-Help,' We Need Support by Kirsten Powers.
spotlight.
We have an empathy epidemic in America. Specifically, for the vulnerable.
There’s a lot that I like about Steven Bartlett and Simon Sinek. What I like most about this conversation between them is that it’s two men being unabashedly vulnerable.
Emotionally-rich conversations like these are becoming more and more important.
We’re catapulting further into a social landscape buffered by tech, screens, and personal brands. It’s diluting empathy in social discourse. And it’s causing large swaths of people to withdraw altogether.
Coping-skill competency includes the ability to reject isolation.
It’s a subset of self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy requires practiced empathy, earned through vulnerability.
Simon Sinek first gained notoriety for his book Start With Why. He’s since spearheaded the people-first shift in workplace culture. Simon’s approach asserts empathy as a superpower in the way that Brené Brown points to vulnerability for galvanizing confidence in the face of fear, guilt, and shame.
Steven Bartlett entered the public spotlight when joining the cast of Dragon’s Den, the UK’s Shark Tank equivalent. Steven runs a portfolio of companies where, like Simon, he leans on emotional intelligence as a cornerstone of his business philosophy. It also makes him a great interviewer. His podcast, the Diary of a CEO, has crossed 1 billion streams across Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
talk soon.
Thank for being here. See you next time.
onward.
-dmac
P.S. thank you for reading Unobstructed! Have thoughts or questions? Leave a comment—I’d love to hear from you. And if this post resonated, pass it to someone who’d enjoy it!
