A Guide for Following Arrows in Your Work

for who you've been, who you are, and who you are becoming

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Lately I’ve been paying attention to my own reading and listening habits, particularly the accounts and outlets I visit regularly. What do they do that I admire? What could I learn and apply in my own work? Here are some accounts I engage near daily and one thing I noticed they all had in common.

When I saw in the news that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were visiting Nigeria over the weekend, one of the first things I did was open Instagram and see if Elizabeth Holmes had SMT’d Meghan’s outfits yet.

(SMT stands for So Many Thoughts, the subtitle of multimedia journalist and New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Holmes’ book HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style. It’s also the name of her Substack and it’s an ongoing series she does in Instagram Stories where she shares commentary about royal fashion.)

I also often listen to a news podcast, either The Daily (a twenty minute deep-dive into one news story hosted by Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise) or The Newsworthy (a ten minute overview of the headlines hosted by Erica Mandy).

Sharon McMahon’s Instagram is also a daily staple for me and I learn a lot as she answers reader questions about politics, current events, and how the government works. She breaks down big news stories in simple, non-partisan ways.

I enjoy these accounts as a consumer and I admire them as a creator.¹

But there’s one thing they all have in common that I do not share: All of these are, in large part, responding to something that already exists. The bulk of their work, expertise, and skill is that of a teacher or journalist. They are able to take in information fairly quickly, to summarize, explain, or break it down, and then deliver it in a way that entertains, educates, or informs.

This is a particular kind of work that I enjoy and, in many cases, pay for. It is good and necessary work.

It is also not the kind of work I do.

The content that I (and many, many other creators) make does not initially come from headlines, new stories, or history outside of myself but from a place within myself. That’s not to say the accounts I’ve mentioned aren’t impacted by their own life experience and perspective. Of course our identity, character, and life will always inform the work you do even if you are a journalist.

But the starting point is different.

The starting point for my work is, in a very real sense, anything I want it to be. The good news is I can do what I want. The bad news is I can do what I want.

On a good day, it feels like freedom. But in times of grief, exhaustion, or busyness, it’s more difficult to access clear direction for my work.²

There is no external framework to follow or never-ending stream of content to respond to except that which I create myself. After doing this work for 15 years, I mostly know my lane. But within my lane there are still always lots of options, angles, and directions. If you’re a writer too, perhaps you can relate.

One type of work is not better or worse, more or less difficult, more superior or inferior than another. But they are different and require a different type of energy, planning, and respite.

And so I’m entering a season of rest and re-visioning for my work and business. I will still be working, but you won’t see me as much. If you listen to The Next Right Thing, you know during the month of May I’m revisiting some favorite episodes (this week it’s all about Big Ben and the 2017 eclipse and the passing of time) and then beginning in June, the podcast will be quiet for the summer (a luxury I have the privilege of enjoying because of the support of Soul Minimalists like you!)

These next few months will include some times of resting, planning, and considering what might be next and how to best serve you in the years to come.³

Surprising to absolutely no one who has been here for five minutes, I submit that the way to begin this kind of work is not by trying to see the future. Instead, it begins with looking to the past.

Planning starts by following arrows: not to my next right thing, but to who I’ve been, how I’ve been, and who I am becoming.

If you are in a season of considering what might be next in your own work or life and need a bit of a starting point, perhaps the following questions will be helpful for you as well. I’m answering these as they relate to my work, but of course you answer them how you want. I’m not the boss of you (thank GOD, I have trouble enough being the boss of myself)!

1 - What’s something you miss that surprises you?

Last year I crafted a post at the beginning of the year for Instagram. I never posted it, but it was about how I still like I there. That seemed to be, at the time, and even more now, a deeply unpopular opinion. I think more accurately it’s that I miss some of the things I used to like about it, the creative side of it all. And I still have weird hope that it can become that again.

I’m not drawing any conclusions about that, but it’s good to mark and name it, to notice what I used to love and why, and to see if there are ways to bring some of that forward into the future.

2 - What’s something you finally got to do, see, or experience?

When we were planning to release How to Walk into a Room, one thing I knew I wanted to do for certain was to partner with bookstores and have conversations with readers. I’ve not done that with my other books to the extent we did this time and it was wonderful. I’m so glad I finally got to show up in bookstores and a few event venues and meet readers like you.

At a book event in Cary, North Carolina.

3 - What do you want less of?

Of course we can’t always eliminate the things we want less of but it’s still a good practice to know what they are. Reflecting back on my work several years ago, the answer to this question was easy: I wanted less of my work to be managerial and more of it to be creative.

Now that I’m no longer co-running an online membership site, I wear the manager hat much less often and I’m more fully myself as a result. Naming that was important to me because it became a guiding arrow to the door out of that room. I don’t know if I have an answer yet for this particular season but this is a question I’ll continue to carry.

4 - What do you want more of?

The question is especially important to answer from a whole-life perspective, not just work. Because what I want more of in my life will have to also sing well with what I want more of in my work.

5 - What work-related milestones have you marked recently?

The milestones we mark hold within them a lot of information about what matters to us, what we value, and what decisions led to moments worth marking in the first place. Recent milestones I’ve marked:

• Five years since the release of The Next Right Thing book

• Hitting The New York Times bestseller list for the first time⁴

• Finishing my spiritual direction training

• Team EPF traveling together on a plane for the first time

• Hosting a live conversation with Kate Bowler

• Creating a new Audio Collection for The Quiet Collection app

• Finally having a Content Manager that lives in my actual town

These are all milestones worth marking for me, things that I either worked to make happen for a very long time or things that took me by surprise that I don’t want to forget. Knowing and naming what stands out in my past work helps me to make decisions for my future work.

The next time you’re in a season of planning, evaluating, or making decisions about your own work (creative or otherwise) I hope these questions are helpful at least to get you started.

As always, I’m glad you’re here.

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1. Of course I know this type of work comes with its own share of downsides. I remember a few years ago Sharon McMahon took one week completely off to go to Disney World with her family. And of course, that was the week that Russia invaded Ukraine. Readers were so accustomed to turning to her for understanding and perspective when big things happened that when she was silent that week, people thought something terrible had happened to her. I remember her saying that she had to keep a story panel up at all times with a short note assuring people that yes, she was alive and yes, she would be back after her vacation.

2. I’ve been thinking about this a LOT lately. This type of creative work requires much more margin than people realize and also much more than I’ve ever allowed myself to have. I’m learning!

3. I will still write my end of month letter and my weekly posts here on Substack. Just slowing down a bit for the summer months!

4. This was something I hoped to happen within the next 10 years so to have it happen this year was a true surprise and something to mark!