What is in a name?
I’ve been contemplating the name of my publication, “Mindscape Memoirs”.
As I grow in life, not only do my interests change, but my mission and values change, too.
My current mission statement reads,
“My mission is to live with intention and build a life full of emotional richness, intellectual coherence, spiritual grounding, and tangible impact. I want to show up fully for the people I care about, create things that are genuinely useful, and keep growing into someone who leaves things better than they were.”
It leaves me wondering, when am I going to update this statement? I wrote it three months ago, but it already feels a little outdated.
Besides that, where do I want to take this publication from here?
What’s in this name?
I came up with the name “Mindscape Memoirs” almost two years ago, and I think it’s aged well, and epitomizes what I like to do - write out what’s been on my mind, and frame it like I’m journaling.
I have many interests which morph into new ones weekly, it seems. There is so much happening in my mindscape that I don’t want to put myself in a niche.
In the past two weeks, I’ve been studying China including its geopolitics, demographics, wellfare system, geography, tourism, GDP, religious influence, etc. And I’ve been learning the foundations of (speaking) Mandarin.
But China is not the only thing that keeps me up at night.
Bettering myself for the improvement of my personal and professional relationships has been top of mind.
I got sick and watched docudramas and documentaries about Napoleon Bonaparte and read a bit about his political advisors.
I’m also studying for my Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. That’s been fulfilling, as I naturally lean heavily into systems-thinking. It’s fun to know how to quantify variance and to what degree the outputs differ from the standard result.
No, I’m not looking for a job in manufacturing, where this methodology was conceived. At my day job, I make training content, with a side hobby of evaluating and recommending operational systems.
I’m looking at how to make tweaks in existing systems to increase efficiency, and at how to design systems with efficient AND effective procedures from the start.
This, and much more.
The best way I’ve found to keep track of my projects is in my customized template of my digital second brain, which is linked in the Resources section at the end.
Not only do I track my projects by tasks and the notes I make, but I can tag and cross-reference everything easily and see it in a dashboard. There’s also a feature built-in where I can track my media consumption including who recommended it.
It even came with a video training series on how to customize it. If you want a better calendar app, Notion Calendar was released earlier this year along with Notion Mail, and they both integrate seamlessly into this second brain. It’s a digital productivity dream; however,
I don’t always like interacting with my phone or computer. I’ve gotten back into notebooks lately. Dollar Tree sells a 3-pack of mini composition notebooks that j’adore. I put one in my back pocket every day when I leave the house, and I have a few of them placed strategically in my office and bedside.
It’s nice to be able to click a pen and open a book to write down ideas, thoughts, tasks, etc. instead of fumbling through lock screens and dodging notifications. I get distracted easily, and when inspiration strikes, I need to focus.
If any of that info needs to go into my digital productivity system, it’s an easy pic + copy and paste of the text, or a 20 second typing session on my Mac.
Anyway, I have many thoughts that bounce around in my head, and keeping track of them is fairly easy since I have a system.
Here’s to thriving in the midscape, and keeping an organized second brain.
Until next time,
Broc
Resources
My information capturing system
Notebook + pen strategically placed bedside and in home office OR in pocket
Transfer key info to digital second brain for action items, searchable notes, and so much more
The Values Discovery Course I built — repeatable steps I use every few months for discovering and aligning my personal values
Song of the Week
Because it has a bagpipe solo. Celtic anthems are the new thing, and they’re not going away. Not from my playlists, at least.
Click the play button to get a taste of the experience, even if you can’t listen all the way through.