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💡 The Big Idea: PKM Should Be Personal.

Last week, we hosted our first-ever LifeTheme Live event! 🎉

We had lifelong learners of all ages join us for a two-day intensive workshop where a small group dialed in their LifeTheme (one-sentence personal mission statement) and personal core values together.

The event was incredible, and as I reflected on it over the last couple of days, I realized there were a few PKM lessons to be gleaned from the experience that we could all learn from.

Anyone can benefit from finding their why.

The stories of people who quit their day jobs to do what they love are inspiring. But that’s not the path for everyone.

More likely, the process of finding your why simply reinforces what you currently do.

That’s still a huge win! By aligning your actions with your vision and values, you create meaning and the motivation to show up every day.

As Mike Rowe once said, “Don’t follow your passion, but always bring it with you.”

Do the thing you’re scared of.

In the event, I shared how I was always scared of being in front of people. But as I put myself out there and embraced the adjacent possible, I found myself doing things I never thought I’d be doing.

I’ve gone from writing → screencasting → podcasting → webinars → presenting live.

And at each stage in my journey, I found that the thing I was scared of was actually life-giving.

But I’m not the only one. Everyone has to slay their dragons.

Consistency is key.

It’s easy to look at people who have been doing something for a while and feel like you can never reach their level of success.

But 99% of the time, they didn’t catch lightning in a bottle. They were just incredibly consistent and eventually got good. The quantity produces the quality.

Everyone at the event had something they were no good at when they started. But they stuck with it, practiced long enough, and developed the skill.

If you really want to do something, just do it! You probably won’t be great at it in the beginning, but stick with it, and the quality will come.

Time is a form of wealth.

We had a couple of high school kids join us, and at one point we were discussing the importance of showing up every day and taking consistent action on what’s important.

Then I calculated how many seconds were left for them in the span of an average 80-year lifespan and pointed out that they were time billionaires.

I could tell they were a little shocked. But the lesson is one we can all learn from: time is a form of wealth. Don’t waste it!

Numbers don’t always equal impact.

When I first announced the event, I was hoping for 10 people (+ my wife & I).

We ended up with 5, but that was actually better. The smaller group meant we could go deeper when it was time to share, and enabled us to build stronger connections with everyone in the group.

Even though it wasn’t what I had expected, it was actually perfect.

If/when we do this again, I’m going to have to think long & hard about whether we want to change the group dynamic.

The most meaningful moments are often unexpected.

I’ve been through the material several times, and it always surprises me what ends up resonating with people.

This time, it was the example I shared of my ideal week, a template for how I generally want to spend my time that I review whenever I do my Personal Retreat.

I never would have guessed that would be what people were most inspired by, but it just goes to show that the little things can often end up making a big impact.

People are the reason for productivity.

The most compelling dreams are ones where you make a difference in the lives of other people.

This can be hard to accept for an extreme introvert like me, but it’s true. The more we can positively impact the lives of others, the more fulfilling our own lives become.

If your dream doesn’t include others, it’s too small.

😎 Something Cool: Outline Card View

While I use Obsidian primarily for writing, it’s actually pretty great as an outlining app. And if you use Obsidian for outlining, you’ll probably dig this Outliner Card View plugin which create visual cards that you can flip through based on your nested outlines. Choose the bullet level you want, then click the arrows to cycle through the different sections of your outline.

I can definitely see this being useful for reviewing notes from lectures or meetings, as well as project outlines and even longer writing projects. It’s not available in the Community Plugins directory though, so you’ll need to install it via BRAT if you want to use it.

📚 Book Notes: When by Daniel Pink

Hard to believe, but in 222 episodes of Bookworm, we’ve somehow never covered a Daniel Pink book. So this time around, I selected When, a book about the science of perfect timing.

Spoiler alert: I really liked this one! Because this book is a little bit older, I as familiar with some of the stories shared but this was still a fun and fascinating read.

If you are curious about how timing affects your decision-making, pick this one up.

And if you want to download my mind map book notes, click here.

— Mike