Editor's Note written by our Editor-in-Chief, Michelle Ireland
A number of months ago I snagged an electronic version of Cal Newport's book, Deep Work. It was one of those books that I had to immediately go out and buy the physical copy because I knew within just a few chapters that I was going to need to go back through it over and over again.
But as always happens when I do this, the book arrives in the post, I flip through it adoringly, place a bookmark where I've read to already, and then promptly put it on a bookshelf not to be picked up again until...
This book however, with its bright yellow cover, kept glaring at me accusingly. I promise you it was. So I finally put aside all other non-fiction books I'm currently reading and spent my Sunday immersed in Deep Work. And heavens, was it perfectly timed (shocking, I know 😉).
It is exactly what I needed right when I needed it. The future of SOULACY has been on my mind so much recently, from bringing on new writers as we start our second year, putting together our glorious special issues, creating our new online community, WAVEPOOL, bringing SOULACY to print (squee...) and looking ahead to the podcast, and the physical locations for our headquarters and co-working spaces. It's a lot and at times it feels too daunting and like it's too much and so incredibly far away, so instead I sit at my desk scrolling through social media and idly checking off quick things from my task list. Grrrrr....
And this is the exact reason I am so enamoured with this book. It's because it feels like a deep breath.
Deep Work feels like a Deep Breath
Finally... I have real permission to put it all aside and breathe and refocus on working toward the future.
Because the premise of the book - as I've read so far - is to stop. with. all. the. distractions. and. focus. on. the. stuff. that. matters. I mean, seriously, how amazing is that? I can stop whiling away the hours on all the extra things and free up all that mental space and energy to focus on the essential things - the things I want to be working on anyway.
Which of course led me to thinking about my legacy, SOULACY's legacy, the business legacy - all the legacies. And... all the things that are distracting me from all the legacies. All the things that are preventing me from being able to focus on the plans, visions, and strategies that I've carefully and lovingly put together in order to get us from today to 30 years from now.
And looking at all the things that I'm allowing to get in the way of my deep work is rather sickening, to be honest. Namely, for me, it's the idea that I need to be present on social media even when there is literally nothing to say just to appease the algorithm gods and that my inbox needs my near-constant attention. Yes, these things matter, kind of, maybe, I suppose, but they certainly don't take any kind of priority. They aren't going to make the teeniest bit of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Because the things that matter aren't in-the-moment things. They're bigger. They're broader. They're more meaningful. They're deeper.
They require the focus and intention of deep work.
And dammit, all the legacies deserve the deep work. And they deserve me giving them the attention and focus and intention and energy and effort of the deep work to make them become what they're meant to become.
I refuse (I REFUSE!) to allow all the distractions - and my lack of discipline with the distractions- to make the road to all these legacies feel like wading through treacle. Pit of my stomach sick even typing this...
So, me and Deep Work are going to have a very close relationship for the next few months so I can get back on track, focus on the bits that matter, and move the needle forward - as they say, so that I never have to look back and regret not doing what I know I needed to do to make the legacies a reality.
This Editor's Note is my commitment to myself and to all of you that I will create more opportunities to settle into the deep work and limit the available distractions. Because SOULACY is worth it. All of us are worth it. Everyone who could ever possibly be impacted by what SOULACY and Soul Spark Enterprises (parent company) will become, is worth it.
I mean it from deep within me when I say that our ripples can become waves, but there can be no waves if the deep work is not prioritised.
So, together can we all commit to doing more of the deep work? Can we commit to finding the things that are distracting us and kicking them {firmly} out the door as much as possible? So when we say we're building a legacy we know we are doing absolutely everything that needs to be done to make it so.
Let's make waves!
XxM
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