After two weeks in the Alps, I’ve returned to the Netherlands. I’m back in my flow of life habits: meditating at the canal every morning, working out every day and taking afternoon naps. Developing the right habits for you takes time. You plant seeds that eventually bear fruit – as I’ll explain in this issue’s Flick the Switch.
When you find your flow, you can accomplish a lot in a short time. I’m busy creating a wealth of content that I can’t wait to share with you. Today I’m launching my 7 Days to Rediscover Your Purpose challenge.
Each day, you’ll receive an email from me with short and impactful exercises. This will help you build momentum towards living your purpose. Challenge accepted?
Show up to plant your seeds
"You're reaping the benefits of the seeds you've sowed for years". My brother told me that last year. Starting out with Extraordinary Life, I didn’t know exactly what to do or where to go. Yet by showing up consistently every day, I developed the skills and assets I needed to live a meaningful life.
Showing up is about devoting time to something, without an instant win. I gave weekly personal development talks and workshops for almost a year before someone offered to pay me.
Over time, your efforts add-up. You achieve things you couldn't possibly imagine. It’s that feeling Olympic athletes get when they cross the line in first place after years of training. For me, that was hosting an event at Ahoy Stadium with 5000 people.
I spent three years pursuing my purpose on the side of my day job. I didn't know how or if I was going to work full-time on it, but by showing up each day, it just happened.
Dream big, start small. If you feel like you're too busy to pursue your purpose, make the steps towards it smaller. What's one thing you can commit to for 15 minutes a day? Perhaps it's training a skill, following an online course. or performing a self-reflection exercise.
Over time, you'll reap the benefits of the seeds you sow. Trust me, I'm enjoying the fruits right now.
Welcome to The Switch! If you’re new around here, sign up to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox every 2 weeks:
Pocket
A useful tool that captures any digital resource that I want to view later. It helps me stay on-task, rather than diving into intriguing articles that land in my inbox or appear on my newsfeeds.
How burnout makes us less creative:
An insightful 5-minute TED video that asks some powerful questions: "Does being busy make you feel more valuable? How much of who you are is linked to what you do?"
Humankind: A Hopeful History, Rutger Bregman
The Dutch historian's latest book challenges a critical assumption that underpins the fabric of our society. He explains that human beings are not inherently selfish - they are good. In doing so, he debunks classic psychological experiments and envisions a new world based on human goodness.
Every two weeks, I curate ideas, tools and resources for people that want to live a meaningful life. All the content featured in these emails and on tommarshall.life is available for free to everyone.
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What switch will you make?
-Tom