I woke up this morning, at my usual time (4am), and I’ve been productive ever since. I was practicing time-lapses, and documenting my typical morning routine. As I was preparing for the day, I was also listening to a podcast that featured Mango Street, and it inspired me to ask the question, What is my best self?

Even though I’ve tackled hundreds of creative projects in my life, and even though I have dozen of upcoming projects that have yet to be released, I still don’t think I’ve reached the best version of myself yet. How do I reach a new level of what I would consider, my best self ? Not only creatively, but personally, financially, and spiritually as well. What does getting to that next level look like? What small things should I focus on to bring me closer to my best self? As I write this, Brain.fm is playing in the background, with a mental state of Focus for 30 minutes. I allowed myself that amount of time to think through what all of this means in the moment.

I’m currently reading Elevate: An Essential Guide to Life, by Joseph Deitch. I’ve also started reading Habit Stacking by S.J. Scott. Both books will continue pointing me in this direction that I’m referring to. But it won’t just be reading material, podcasts, and YouTube channels that bring to that next level. We can do all the research we want, but if we never practice the things we learn then it’ll all be for nothing.

I’ve also been learning about the 12 Week Year, which would allow me to group projects and goals into smaller timeframes, and theoretically, I’ll get to my best self sooner. So instead of saying I’ll finish a book in 2018, I would instead finish a book in 12 weeks. Nothing changed, but yet everything changed, because our best work usually happens when we’re constrained with limitations. Whether the limitations are real or artificial doesn’t matter. What does matter is taking those limitations and building something, and then in the next 12 weeks, build something again.