Writing

Building Something Bigger (And a Peek Behind The Curtain): My Monthly Review

Posted on by Sarah K Peck


It’s the end of the month (Happy Halloween!) and I’m sitting down to do my monthly review–which happens as close to the 30th as I can get each month, give or take a couple of days depending on my schedule and deadlines. I find that I like to check-in on the 30th to see how things are going, because a monthly check-in is a good rhythm to gauge whether or not I’m making significant progress on my larger goals, what I moved forward on, and whether or not I’m happy with the balance in my health, lifestyle, ambitions, physicality and writing dreams.

I’m sharing a peek-behind-the-scenes into my monthly review because I think you’ll like it–I love learning how people operate and how often they check in with themselves, what (or whether or not) they set goals for themselves, and how they go about reaching them. I like getting things done and making things happen, and this is a system that works for me. I’ve shared it with a handful of people over the past couple of days and so I’m documenting both what I do–and some of the questions they have–as a peek behind the curtains. Continue reading “Building Something Bigger (And a Peek Behind The Curtain): My Monthly Review”

Let’s Stop “Working Harder.” Priorities, Decisions, Strategy.

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

It’s not about working harder. Or longer. Or more. It’s not about competing to get less sleep. (This is stupid.)

It’s not (always) about staying up later to beat the competition. (I prefer to beat them and go to sleep early, isn’t that an even better win?) It’s not about finding ways to grind yourself to the ground.

It’s about working better.
It’s about strategy.
It’s about figuring out priorities.

It’s about making a decision with the time you have, because time, as an input, is limited. It’s about saying no and deciding not to do things, even though a decision feels like you’re killing something.

Sometimes, it’s about finishing.

It’s about making the decision to have the AND. I’m going to have a beer AND work hard AND go for a run AND take the time to relax. I’m going to build a business AND do my project. I’m going to do only the best things for each, and not grind myself to do all of the things.

It’s also about making the decision to say NO. I’m NOT going to go out, I’m NOT going to go to that meeting, I’m NOT going to work late, I’m NOT going to answer every email, I’m NOT going to have coffee with everyone.

I’m going to take the time I need to be the person I need to be, completely.

I’m going to take time off from work, because work is not everything.

I’m going to prioritize the things that are calling at my soul, and stop doing the things that waste my time.

I’m not going to do more, I’m going to do better. And smarter.

The only system you need is the system that works. Constantly and vigorously test if what you’re doing is getting what you need done, and how to make it leaner. If you’re an overachiever, ask yourself how to do a whole lot less and get the same results. Go on, try it. Now you have more time.

Prioritize. Say no. Work better. 

Look, The Trees.

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

“For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.” — Martin Luther

Sometimes while running, a single tree will stop and leave me breathless, unable to move. A tree. I love them so much, these windy, twisty creatures from the earth; each one with a different personality and a different story. Imagine spending your entire life rooted in one place, unable to move, unable to change except constantly changing. Marvel. Join me.

I’ll borrow extensively from Hermann Hesse, in Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte, to share my affinity for these wonderful creatures:

“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. Continue reading “Look, The Trees.”

Indianapolis: PowderKeg 2012

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

I spent the last weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana, as part of the inaugural 2012 Powder Keg Conference put on by The Verge celebrating StartUps, Developers, and Innovation in the central hub of Indiana. While I’d been to Indiana before, I’d never made it to Indianapolis, and it was beautiful to see another Midwestern city in the Fall. I was fortunate to join a host of talented and diverse speakers including Julien Smith, Kate Endress, Scott Case, David Blaine, Scott Dorsey, Dave Knox, Jonathon Perrelli, and many more. I’ll recap some of the best tidbits and ideas on this blog in the weeks to follow, but I wanted to share some of the photos of this beautiful city.

 A view of downtown Indianapolis. Continue reading “Indianapolis: PowderKeg 2012”

Feasts, Powder Kegs, New York, Filming, Indianapolis + Lots of Link Love!

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

Rooftop Yoga On The Standard, NYC.

What another whirlwind of weeks! I touched down in San Francisco a couple days ago, just in time to see that the entire city had turned orange (Halloween and the Giants in the playoffs will turn this city somewhat crazy), and as soon as the wheels landed, it seems I’m back into the circuit with several exciting events and adventures both behind me and ahead of me.

New York: The City That Never Sleeps

I spent the first week of October in New York and Brooklyn as a Fellow at The Feast On Good Conference, a space that “gathers remarkable entrepreneurs, radicals, doers and thinkers that bring their talents to the table to make life better and answer the question, ‘What does the world need now?’ ” This officially marks rounds out my top three conferences to date– Continue reading “Feasts, Powder Kegs, New York, Filming, Indianapolis + Lots of Link Love!”

You Are Loved.

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

In the wake of the horrible bullying and the national headlines–from Matthew Shephard 14 years ago, to the Boy Scouts’ recent denial of an Eagle Scout Honors to a brilliant young man because of his sexual orientation, to the sickening videos by Amanda Todd, the young victim of internet bullying who took her life this week–my heart is breaking.

Instead of judging someone who had the courage to be open and honest about themselves, why can’t we accept them?

Instead of allowing someone to make a mistake, why do we crucify them?

Stop the hate.

I walked into church yesterday morning–the famous Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco–nervous and a bit scared to be back in a Church setting. It’s been a while since I’ve been to one, and I didn’t know what to expect. Over the years, I’ve built up walls about what it meant to be a part of Church, and it no longer felt like a community or a space I could resonate with. I don’t like the hype of what “Church” feels like, and I have a whole basket of mixed emotions about my relationship with the conservative space that has so often stood up for things (or against things) that I can’t align myself with. And in a more vulnerable-than-normal confession: I myself am not always sure what I believe in. I believe in a greater truth, and in a Universe and in things that I can’t explain or understand, but as I walk through life, I’ve not found a certainty or knowing.

But yesterday, when I walked into Church, this crazy-wacky-wonderful church in the derelict-but-somehow-lovely Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, a liberal enclave if there ever was one, I started laughing and crying at the same time. The leader got up on a chair in the front of the stained-glass, folding-chair, high-ceiling amalgamation of people and said,

“Hello, hello. Hello! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m so glad you came. I don’t care if you’re white, black, brown, yellow, old, young, on your cell phone, sick, tired, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, on a spiritual path, not on a spiritual path, or not even sure what you’re doing here.

I’m just glad that you’re here. Continue reading “You Are Loved.”

The Only Constant is Change

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

“You don’t get better by staying the same.”

You get better by doing something different. By trying new things. By pushing out of your comfort zone.

You don’t become the best by doing what everyone else is doing. You do it better.

You think of completely new things and you try them anyways. You keep going even after you fail. You do everything to make it happen, and then some. You hustle when other people aren’t paying attention. You stay late if you have to, or leave early because you know that value is not tied inextricably to time, but that value is a product of creating things worth making and by doing things in better ways than before.

More of the same gets you more of the same. Or, as my coach used to say: “Staying in place is actually somewhat insidious. If everyone else is moving forward, you’ll be moving backwards by comparison.”

Change it up, do it different. Do it better.

Try something new.

The only constant is change.

Go.

We did it!

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…
Swimming Alcatraz Saturday, September 22, 2012

We did it.

$29,382 raised, one chilly swim, and the best birthday present I could ever ask for: clean water for more than 1400 people.

We had more than 400 people donate, over 100 people showed up to the party, and another 50+ companies and individuals donated time, prizes, and energy. This was not the action of a single individual. You all made this happen. Thank you for helping me making it rain: we raised nearly 30K for charity: water in just under three months.

And on Saturday morning, September 22nd, 2012: I woke up at 5 AM, got into a boat with my friends Andi, Alyssa, Laura and my mom, and, as promised, dropped into the cold water at 6:45 AM to swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco wearing nothing but my birthday suit and a swim cap (scroll down for pictures…).

I’ve learned so much, and gained so much, and I hope you all have enjoyed this as much as I have.

To be honest, I’ll be sleeping for the next few days–as well as catching up on work, because even though my company was amazing about letting me take time off last week (they were excited about the swim, too!), now I’ve got to get back and make sure to keep doing the work.

And right now, all I can think is this:

“No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
–Edmund Burke

This happened not from one person, but from the collective action of many hands–from all of YOU. For everyone that donated $5, $10, $29, and $100: thank you.

To the incredible donors that pitched in $290, $1000, and even $2900 because they could afford to and wanted to: bless you.

Thank you.

Show up.

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

Show up.

Every day, or as often as needs to be done.

Figure out the schedule. Perhaps it’s once a week.

It’s not about extremes. It’s not about doing a magnanimous or extraordinary thing on one singular day, or in one moment.

It’s the accumulation of micro-actions.

It’s about consistency.

It’s about showing up, even when things aren’t perfect, even when you’re not sure, even when you’re scared.

Show up.

It’s doing something, even a little bit at a time. Maybe a 10-minute walk during lunch, or a 30-minute light walk, rather than a run. But you’re doing it. You’re doing something, not nothing.

Today.

Show up.