Nikos Panaousis

Dear Reader,

If you haven’t noticed already, I am a fleeting person.

My interests diverge.

And that is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because I have no shortage of ideas. But, on the other hand, I find it exceptionally difficult focusing on one thing and sticking to it for a prolonged period of time. That’s not ideal because my goal for the past year or so has been to write a book.

In fact, it’s bad enough, that I regularly write essays about this issue wherein I berate myself for not having focus.

I have even created a dedicated area in my Zettelkasten (in the psychology section) chronicling my struggles with my fleeting life. Even my most viewed article on my blog, which is about the Zettelkasten, approaches the method from the point of view of the distracted mind.

Distraction rules my life.

Here is a note that I wrote when I was trying to understand myself, which I believe perfectly encapsulates the nature of my mind:

Note ID: 6/2f3
Titled: “Sailor without sails”

To be an anxious, uneasy mind is to be be a sailor without his sails. Not knowing how to use them or being able to acknowledge their very existence, such that upon finding them I decide to disregarded them as unimportant to my journey. In retrospect, such decisions are always regretted, but the unmapped voyage that my life has become is too familiar, too strong a force, and too acutely embedded to my core to allow me to sail on a straight line.

Now, having said that, I must tell you why I am writing this email. I am writing to you because I have been on a quest to find clarity—as is evident—and I have decided that the best way to achieve that is by writing a book. At the moment this project serves as my organizing principle^[1] in life, helping me maintain a semblance of goal-oriented behavior and clarity.

I want to report on the progress of the book and provide you with the most important tool in my personal, professional, and creative arsenal—in the hopes that it will motivate you and inspire you to keep doing what you are doing.

Before I go on, if you are new here, the book I am talking about is tentatively named The Erratic Path to Clarity: A Guide for the Distressed.^[2]

It’s a guide that will help you find clarity in the midst of chaos, uncertainty, and despair. It’s about the physical and intellectual tools that you can use to find—or create the illusion of—a crystal-clear path in life. It’s about the tools that I discovered and wish I had in my disposal in my journey for clarity. Thus, this guide is about the journey more than the destination, for destinations are mostly illusions.

OK, let’s proceed.

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“Ummm…”

“—duh!”

“Nothing new, Nikos.”

That’s what you are going to say after reading what my most powerful tool in life is.

And you would be correct—indeed, nothing new—except that it is the mundane nature of that concept that, in my opinion, makes it all the more important.

In fact, I believe that the most powerful mental models, concepts, and frameworks in life are the ones that are in plain sight—uncomplicated and universal—smacking us right to the face.

What I want to show you is what I call The Compass, and it is nothing more than a running document that organizes my life and charts my current projects, interests, and goals.

Nothing more—but also everything.

And it works.

It works well. Exceptionally well.

You can think of it as a personal dashboard or a canvas of important notes, resolutions, and to-dos—a simple piece of paper that serves as your grounding log.

Listen to me. If you are remotely like me, that is, temperamental, a generalist, and a fleeting mind, this following simple exercise is anything but mundane.

In fact, I encourage everyone to do it because it will expose your bullshit.

You either have a vision, or you don’t.

You either have priorities and projects or you are the subject of others’ decisions.

The Compass encourages you to take control of your own reigns; it instills a sense of clarity over your life. What it will expose can reinforce your current trajectory or make you re-consider your current path (or lack thereof.)

Why bother writing down what is so obvious?

Because the mind loves to drift—to knavishly escape responsibility. The mind, however focused, will wander—and wandering is a good thing, but only to a certain extend—and getting it back to its rightful path can be more taxing than you might think.

If you don’t have a compass, let’s make one now. It will take three minutes.

1. Take out an empty sheet of paper or open an empty text document on your computer.

2. Now, write, on the top of the page, in bold letters, COMPASS.

3. Next, find a quote that inspires action or creativity—or makes you feel a certain way—and write it down.

4. Below that, write, again in bold and capitalized, “IDENTITY: [Insert Here].”

It is time to stop aspiring and start being. If you want to be a writer, be one. Do not wait for your writing to reach a certain level, because it never will, unless you start embracing the identity. You do not have to share your words with others; you just have to start writing and living the life of the writer, whatever that means to you.

5. Skip a few lines and add a “Now” section.

This section (inspired by Derek Siver’s now page movement) will serve as your short-term organizing principle, reminding you of your priorities and keeping you on track. It’s where you will note down everything you are currently undertaking and thinking about.

This is my Now section:

• I am currently exploring the world of management consulting.
• Doing a mental math course.
• Improving my writing.
  • I am undertaking a 30-day writing challenge.
• I am back to school, pursuing an MBA.
• Prioritizing health, strength, and fitness
  • Project Resilience [[202308151852]]^[3]

Ok, good. We are putting clarity back to life! Let’s keep moving.

6. Right below your Now section, create a “Reading now” subsection.

In our increasingly distracted world, focused reading is becoming an exceedingly rare thing. I have made it my goal to always be reading. Specifically, I have realized that reading two books at a time, one fiction and a one non-fiction, is my sweet spot (I reserve my fiction reading for right before bedtime so that I do not resort to scrolling on my phone.)

This is what I am currently reading:

1. Fiction: Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid
2. Non-fiction: Outlive by Peter Attia

7. Intellectual pursuits

This and the next section are optional, personal additions that are related to my day-to-day work and interests. In my compass document, this section deals with my long-term intellectual ambitions, such as improving my creative writing skills and working on my formal logic understanding.

Think of your intellectual curiosities and write them down.

8. Strategy

My most practical section, dealing with the different strategies and frameworks that I employ to market myself and my writing and manage my social media and email interactions.

9. Save it, print it out, and paste it somewhere visible.

10. Set a reminder to regularly review it and update it.

That’s it. That’s your Compass.

The simplest, most powerful exercise you can do with your time today.

As you might have noticed, the document doesn’t include ongoing responsibilities, long-term ambitions, and fuzzy dreams. This is because it is a tool for action, and not for mental peregrination. Your Compass is designed to be evolving on a regular basis (ideally every a few weeks)—to be updated with new projects and pursuits under the umbrella of your chosen, embraced identity.

Our worlds differ. Some people wake up everyday and dive straight into chaos, uncertainty and distress—always in combat mode—surviving one minute at a time. Others have it a little easier—but no matter where your position in Maslow’s pyramid is, a daily compass will keep you aligned with your north star.

Your friend,
Nikos

P.S. This is my current quote: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle (I add a new quote every so often, to keep things spicy.)

P.P.S. Only after finishing the first draft I realized that I did not provide an update on the book. Progress has been limited, having written a few thousand words, primarily because I have found myself entrenched in research again. This is because I have, for the first time, a more clear niche direction. I will reveal more details in later emails.

P.P.P.S. I am exploring the world of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, anxiety, and Long-COVID. If you believe that you are suffering from one of these conditions, I would love to hear from you by hopping on a quick call (or do it over email if face-to-face is not your thing). Please reply to this email if you are interested. I value your time so I am willing to compensate you for talking to me.

Footnotes

[1]: An organizing principle is a core assumption from which everything else by proximity can derive a classification or a value. It is like a central reference point that allows all other objects to be located, often used in a conceptual framework.

[2]: If you want to receive a free copy of the book when it is ready for publication, reply to this email and I will put you on the list.

[3]: This refers to a lifestyle experiment. I am undertaking a diet and exercise challenge, hoping to see a noticeable improvement in, primarily, weight and muscle growth. Secondary characteristics that I am looking to improve are attention, mental strength, and emotional balance. My theory is that if fibromyalgia is truly to blame for my current symptoms, then I will not have an exceptionally hard time gaining weight. If, during the challenge, I struggle with symptoms that do not align with fibromyalgia and also observe a decrease in the metrics (weight gain; muscle gain; mental wellbeing) something else is happening to my body.