Hello {{ name | there }},
It’s funny how we can start something that we envision to be so difficult and herculean, but as we get closer to achieving it, we realize, it wasn’t that impossible to begin with. You just need a little conviction and have to be ready to put in the work. I’ll admit, up until the end of 2024, I was not ready for the task of writing Modern Compass. This isn’t a story about what changed, that you’ll find embedded in one of my chapters. This issue is about the realization that the finish line, is generally never a finish, and almost always a starting line to something else. I always knew that going into this writing, but I think we do this to help focus on the one large task, not the subsequent series of events that would only cause doubt or anxiety.
The fact that finishing something is the start of something else, doesn’t downplay the accomplishment. In fact, I feel the more finish lines you get to that you didn’t think were possible, the less effort those hard things seem to take over time and the more confidence you gain to tackle them.
Even when I think of the Modern Compass framework and the 4 directions, even those are finish lines that end with a starting line to something else. Following are a few examples of that:
Self
Self-awareness isn't something you achieve once and move on from. Every time you get honest about who you are, you uncover something new that needs attention. The version of yourself you understand today is deeper than the one you understood a year ago, and a year from now you'll see things about yourself you can't see yet.
Trust
Trust is never fully built. Even in your strongest relationships, trust requires maintenance. The moment you feel like you've earned someone's complete trust is usually when you stop doing the things that built it. Every level of trust you reach, is really the starting line for protecting it.
Relationships
No relationship reaches a point where the work is done. The couples, friendships, and partnerships that last aren't the ones that "made it" and coasted. They're the ones that kept showing up after every finish line.
Character
While some can choose to stop character development, generally it too does not have a finish line. Your actions, effort, and integrity will be reflected back to you from those around you regardless. While your growth can plateau if you allow it, portraying your character to the world never will.
Activity
The Finish Line that You Allowed to Become the Finish
Think of two or three things in your life where you hit a milestone and stopped. Maybe you got in shape for a vacation and then let it go. Maybe you repaired a friendship after a falling out and then let it drift again. Maybe you learned a new skill at work and never pushed it further.
For each one, ask yourself: was stopping the right call, or did I just lose momentum? Some things deserve to end, and not every starting line needs to be crossed. The goal isn't to guilt yourself into perpetual motion, it's to get honest about which finish lines were intentional decisions to stop and which ones you just quietly drifted away from.
If one of them stings a little when you think about it, that's probably one worth revisiting.
I know the idea that every finish line is just another starting line sounds exhausting. It's not meant to. When the next starting line is something you care about, something that aligns with who you're becoming, starting again doesn't feel like a burden, it feels like momentum. The finish lines that lead to dread and the ones that lead to excitement are telling you something, listen.
Did this topic or activity spark any insights for you? I’d love to hear how it landed! Share your thoughts here: Survey Link
Book Updates
As of yesterday, I have finished the first pass of writing my book! The book is clocking in at 97k words across 22 chapters. I’m now focusing on formatting into a single file manuscript word doc and send that to an editor (I hired on Reedsy) in 11 days for an assessment to call out the good, bad, and ugly I’ll use for editing and revisions.
Workshop News
I’ve got a window early April where I’ll be waiting a few weeks for editor to get back, and decided to do something I planned to do once I had a published book, but thought, why wait. So I’ve got a small co-work space rented and doing a one time 2 hour in-person workshop April 22nd in the evening. The possibility for feedback and testimonials would be amazing alone! Majority of my subscribers here are not local, so I’m not sharing here to gain signups, but I’ll be eager to share how this went on the May newsletter.
Always…Follow Your Compass!
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