A few days ago, I fired up my inbox and flicked open a newsletter with the subject line “2024: My Annual Review”.

A sentence in the newsletter caught my eye:

I like to think of myself as a writer who got stuck in a medical job

I paused when I read that. 

I’ve never thought of my life like this before, but something about the author’s phrasing struck me.

It made me wonder:

What am I?

Am I a writer who got stuck in a banking job?

Am I a daily email nut who got stuck in the 9 to 5?

Or am I a coach who got stuck crunching spreadsheets and fixing up Powerpoint slides?

To some extent, all these are true.

But the more I think about it, the more I see a deeper truth which is less about the roles I play and more about the person behind them.

That deeper truth?

I’m a creative thinker who got stuck in autopilot…

I’m a free spirit who got stuck following the path I thought I was supposed to follow…

And I’m a playful soul who got stuck taking life too seriously.

The key part in all this?

What gets stuck can get unstuck. We can always find our way back to who we really are. 

Perhaps that sounds a little high falutin'.

But here’s my claim:

Everyone is a creative thinker, free spirit and playful soul. These qualities are the essence of who I am, who you are and who we all are. They're baked into us like sugar is baked into a chocolate fudge cake.

Sure, it might not look that way to you. You might class yourself as a no-nonsense grinder. You might think you don't have a creative bone in your body.

But it doesn’t really matter how you class yourself or what you think.

What matters is what’s true.

And if you’re wondering if you’re stuck in autopilot, taking life too seriously or following someone else’s path, you could ask yourself this:

Am I a creative thinker? Am I a free spirit? Am I a playful soul?

If you're stuck in autopilot, the answer might feel murky. It might feel distant, buried beneath a bunch of noise.

Connecting with your true nature is how you know you're getting unstuck.

The more you see about who you really are – as opposed to who you think you really are – the more you’ll rediscover that sense of ease, fun & play, step out of autopilot and step into a life that feels more like you.

But that’s enough about that for the time being.

Finishing where I started:

The newsletter which prompted this email is Edward Says. It’s written by writer, doctor and self-proclaimed Irishman, Edward.

I got to know Edward through Paul Millerd’s community. Ever since Edward and I struck up a convo a year ago, I’ve kept a beady and watchful eye on his writing.

It’s the sort of writing that charms you like an Irishman spilling the craic over a pint of Guinness.  

Nowadays, Edward Says is one of my go-to newsletters.

If you enjoy reading about meaningful work, money, writing & lifestyle design, I highly recommend Edward's newsletter.

If you’d like to sign up:

https://edwardsays.substack.com