One lesson, thought, or resource to living a fuller life every week. Some bonus episodes here and there.
Suraj Chaudhary is a writer, developer, founder, and a constant learner. He shares lessons and resource to living a fuller life every week.
Welcome to the ”Figuring Things Out” podcast.
In this episode, I share with you how to build a deep life. This guide will cover both personal and professional life.
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Suraj Chaudhary is a writer, developer, founder, and a constant learner. He shares lessons and resource to living a fuller life every week.
Dear reader,
How are you? I hope you’re doing good.
If not so much, don’t you worry, this will pass.
In this week’s article, I wanted to share with you a guide on building a deep life.
But first, why a deep life?
In this era of constant busyness, most people struggle to find fulfillment.
That is what building a “deep life” solves.
A deep life is a life lived in radical alignment with your values.
As you experience life, you’ll recognize that a life of fulfillment is one lived with intention, in alignment with your values.
That is what brings ultimate satisfaction and meaning to life.
There are two major buckets in our lives: our personal life and our professional life.
I will share with you how to build a deeper life for each of those buckets.
Personal Life
1. Circle of intention
There are 3 types of relationships you have in life: leaves, branches, and roots.
Leaves are there for one season. They will provide shade but will leave when the weather changes.
You can rely on the branches, but not for everything. They may break.
Roots are firm and with you at all times. You can rely on them for everything.
Find your roots, cherish them, grow them, don’t take them for granted.
Spend intentional time with them. Take the initiative to strengthen those relationships.
Make sure to be a root for others too.
2. Structure your life
Build a routine.
Use a calendar so that you know what you should be doing and when.
The point of using a calendar is not to remove spontaneity from your life but to add structure.
You are free to move things around when something comes up, but having a routine helps build a life of stability.
Have a shutdown routine for every day.
After a certain time (7 PM in my case), don’t check your emails and don’t work.
Spend time with your family, read, talk to friends, journal, and let your body wind down.
3. Anything above zero compounds
We know everything we do compounds–both good and bad.
Add friction to the things you don’t want to do. Make doing them harder.
Reduce friction for the things you want to do.
Even on the bad and low days, do something.
Use this video I made to learn how to make every single day productive (even the bad days).
4. Read
You don’t have enough time to learn everything by making those mistakes yourself.
A lot of people, a lot of genius people have lived before you.
They have made mistakes, they have had questions, they have found answers, and they have documented those in books.
Read them. Start with 5 pages a day.
Reading will not only make you smarter and more mature than others, but it will enable you to build a more meaningful life.
5. The Art of Pausing
Don’t be productive all the time.
For at least 15 minutes each day, let your mind wander.
Look outside the window, look at people, have a coffee or something in a public park, or walk without listening to music.
Simply do something that doesn’t create a cognitive workload.
These moments of pausing will allow your subconscious to solve complex problems you’re working on and come up with creative solutions to things.
This is also why some of the best ideas come in the shower or the bathroom.
6. Journal
Journaling is cliché but it works.
I started journaling this year and it has already improved my mental health and my productivity by a lot.
This will also help you remember your life, come up with and brainstorm ideas.
It doesn’t need to be fancy.
Use 4 headings:
- Highlight of the day
- Ideas
- Journal
- Lesson of the day
You may or may not fill in the ideas and lesson section every day.
7. Minimize your digital clutter
We use our phones mostly because we have nothing better to do.
Engage yourself in such things.
Build a hobby, work on a project, or simply do something that matters.
Spend intentional time on your phone. Quit social media addiction.
Learn how I quit social media (without missing out).
Professional life
1. Set a direction
Know what kind of life you want to build, what you ultimately want to do.
Find out what you’ll need to do now to be able to do what you want in the future.
Do more of those things.
2. Deep impact > Shallow busyness
Thrive to create a deep impact over being busy.
People like getting quick email responses, but they will respect you more for the meaningful work you will do if you focus on that.
Cut down on email or time when you’re not doing the work that will bring results.
Double down on doing the things that matter. You know what they are.
Be reliable.
Get done what you set out to get done.
3. The extra 5%
After you get something done, take an extra 10-15 minutes to do something extra.
Add things that others wouldn’t.
Maybe structuring things or adding links for ease or adding some colors or basic animation.
The things you don’t have to do but when someone looks at it, they will know that you put in extra work to make it excellent.
In the upcoming weeks, I will share in detail how you can implement each of these tactics to build a deep life.
For now, here’s what I want you to learn:
Takeaway: A deep life is what brings satisfaction. Deep life is intentional, it’s in alignment with your values. Take small actions to make your life more intentional. Start small and repeat. Anything above zero compounds.
This week’s question for you: What would your ideal life look like?
Write me a quick comment response with your answer.
I’ll write again next week.
See you then!
Warmly, Suraj
