I started writing this at 11 AM this morning. But thanks to some coffee, good sleep and no calendar in place for the day, I monkey-brained the day away. So now, it’s 12:41 AM, I’ve tried to make some cold coffee and splattered it across the kitchen, and I am here. On my favourite blue couch, next to an orange lamp, in a lovely house in Powai.

Now, here are some thoughts I kept going back to through the week.

One. That getting enough sleep is good.

This past week, I’ve slept a couple hours over than what I’d like to need — say, 9 or 10 hours of solid zzz every night. In my head, I account for 7. So I wake up in a frenzy and a little bit upset with myself. Plus, with a feeling of Oh-no-I-am-late-to-my-day. Make of that what you will. However, since getting myself out of bed wasn’t happening, I allowed myself the grace. Maybe it’s my periods, plus it’s sound sleep after so long, plus I’ve been training hard, plus the 9 hours are a definite cycle, plus I am able to show up better for the things I enjoy through the day.

Especially today and yesterday, I’ve woken up with 3 extra springs in my steps. Lightness, better mood, all that. So let me not complicate things and worry about that. And instead, make better use of my awake-time.

Two. The next 20 years of my life are probably my messy middle.

And yes, I watched this video to make sure I was writing what I think I mean. I still haven’t read the book. Scott says, the messy middle is the uncertainty of any creative process. High on anxiety, ambiguity, uncertainty, and often anonymity. That you got to endure the lows, optimise the highs. That the lows get smaller and the highs get slightly taller with each attempt. Go do your own reading.

Now, here’s the thing. I’d decided long ago that I’d either be wildly successful by 17, or hit mild success at 27 and then the next 13 years for any kind of wild success. Absolute wishful thinking. Meaningless. But I don’t think I’ve ever operated with the patience and determination and the “locking in” that should with that kind of belief. I think I can now.

The last 14 days, if I were to log my end-of-day emotion, it’s red-green-red-green-red-green. In fact, I even texted @saurabh about it. That, “yday night everything felt like end of the world cus things weren’t moving or no visible action to me. today morning, there’s so much to do and I see things moving. Things just took their due time. So ya, til or something.”

That same day, I remember thinking to myself — I have been having a lot of these mood swings because of work feeling good or bad. And then spiralling into both. Probably need to regulate better and enjoy the process. Endure. Till 27? Then optimise? I don’t know — the numbers are irrelevant. But I shall now work with both the patience of a 20 year horizon and the sense of urgency from the 2963 Sundays that remain.

Three. Weekend tak to idea die-down ho jayega.

I’ve picked this from an exchange between Nimisha and Saurabh on one of our WhatsApp groups.

Summary: SG finds a very cool automation. Other people agree that it’s cool, and that SG must build it for himself. He says, he’d try it on a weekend. Nimisha says, “Aaj 1 ghanta nikal ke karlo, weekend tak toh idea die out ho jayega.”

That.

Something clicked — I keep getting these super cool ideas and things I could take a shot at. Or things that feel exciting. And keep them in a folder. Despite all the ready, fire, aim we talk about at C4E. And that’s how I let my ideas + joy die.

So now I just put them on my calendar and get started. Get v0 ready or maybe even the mvp of the mvp or put a doc + time block for sometime later that week. But I get to things the very same day. And I think that has pushed me to try and fail more; and enjoy it.

Some things would be: The Last Straw, this sticker pack, these house-rules frames, the latest on Dijon, my experiments on Veo, some bits on MyColourFactory.com with Roshan and other things i don’t have links for YET.

10/10 recommend.

Now, I could go on. But it’s somehow 2 AM now.

So, this should be all.

Love,

Anshika – on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Ps: I share interesting links and stories that tickle my brain through the day on this WhatsApp group. Most of it doesn’t make it to these blogs, but should you like to join — here.

And oh, write back. I love getting messages 💌