We started with our SloDo by looking at our daily habits, not to judge them but to notice what they reveal. That gap between the life we say we want and the one our practices show we’re pursuing? It’s not failure. It’s data.

Then our Deep Dive essay explored why that gap exists—how we lost eternity as our measure and replaced it with goals that promise fulfillment but can’t deliver. The arrival fallacy isn’t just a psychological phenomenon; it’s a theological problem. We’re desiring creatures oriented toward becoming, and goals assume we’re achieving creatures oriented toward getting.

The practice audit in our Focal Things helped us see this pattern in our own lives. Where are we being formed by rituals we haven’t named? What cultural forces shape us more than we’d like to admit?

And then our Character References Sam and Galadriel showed us what the alternative looks like: Sam tending his garden regardless of whether it makes him a hero; Galadriel spending three thousand years becoming someone who could pass a single test. Purpose gives direction without demanding specific outcomes. It sustains us through failure because it’s not about achievement—it’s about becoming.

Here’s what I keep thinking about: becoming takes time. Not the optimized, hacked, 90-day transformation kind of time. The boring, repetitive, day-after-day kind. The kind where you might not see results for years, or decades, or millennia. The kind that requires believing there’s a measure beyond productivity metrics and quarterly reviews.

Recommendation

This article by Liz Bucar is super interesting, but I especially loved learning about training an “analogical imagination”:

Tracy argued this analogical imagination isn’t some mystical gift you either have or don’t. It’s a trained capacity. A learned skill for seeing possibilities embedded in the present moment, for recognizing patterns that point toward transformation.

Religious traditions, he’s saying, have been teaching people how to look at the world as it is and simultaneously hold in their minds what it could become. Not through fantasy or denial. Through what he called “disciplined attention to what reality itself suggests is possible.”

Tracy called this “the one finite hope of liberation to the essential.” I’d call it: the ability to work for something you can’t yet prove will happen.

Religion, Reimagined

What If Trevor Noah Is Right About the Left and Religion?

A month ago, I heard something I can’t shake…

Read more

3 months ago · 3304 likes · 467 comments · Liz Bucar

This note by popped up in the feed at just the right time, too.

And maybe the bravest thing we can do in an age obsessed with being exceptional…is choose to be rooted, grateful, and present— and let that be enough.

Other Things I’ve Worked On

• Chat with Marie Poulin and Ben Borowski about what it looks like to reimagine being human

• Using a discbound planner designed to be trashed, and what I learned from experimenting

• The Chaos Club finally enters 2026 with C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet and Project Hail Mary (the book)

And finally…

It’s tacofredag!!

When I lived in Northern VA, my family and I loved to go to this hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant for the best nachos on the planet: the Nachos Grande platter. Truly, they were well-named. We moved from NoVA years ago, and I discovered that the restaurant became a casualty of COVID, so there’s not even the hope of a visit to top up on Nachos Grande someday. I do sometimes pause in silent honor of this fallen hero.

I share this minor elegy in order to set up just how jubilant I am to have discovered my NEW hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant with very, very good nachos indeed. They’re not quite Nachos Grande (that might be impossible), but they deliver that same somnolent, sated, all-is-well-with-the-world feeling that you get with the right combination of seasoned beef, luxurious queso, fresh guac, and kicky salsa. I’m trying to decide how soon is too soon to go back; I don’t want to seem too eager. Or gluttonous. Or do I?

Aren’t the small local hole-in-the-wall places the absolute best?!

I’ve done a little rebrand of my coaching services recently. Systems Therapy is now Purpose-Focused Productivity.

Same single-session, personal guidance from me; more focus on helping you connect your purpose to your daily systems. Be sure to check it out!

Purpose-Focused Productivity

Let’s be hopeful, creative, and wise—together.

Shalom,

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In this sprint, we explored the phenomenon of zombie projects: the things that never quite finish, never fully die, just keep shambling forward consuming mental energy without ever releasing us. They’re not dead. But they’re not really alive either.

The deeper question turned out to be about us, not our to-do lists. We’re being asked to become zombies ourselves—perpetually available, endlessly productive, with no off-switch. But we’re not machines. We have seasons of capacity and seasons of depletion. We can’t maintain the same energy output regardless of circumstances, because that’s not how creatures work.

We started with our SloDo “Mostly Dead Means Slightly Alive,” an invitation to inventory responsibilities, obligations, and relationships—noticing what feels urgent versus important, what brings joy versus dread, and asking “What feels alive here?”

We then took a Deep Dive into “When Your To-Do List Becomes a Zombie Horde.” Built around Rachel’s coaching session—a working mom navigating 200 minutes of daily driving, unpredictable sports schedules, and the dread of hitting December unprepared—we identified “zombie projects.” We took a look at the cultural expectation that we become “undead workers”—perpetually available, never saying “enough,” also realizing the proactive paradox: we can only plan ahead when we have capacity before chaos hits. We then revisited how purpose serves as a filter: helping us choose between equally good options based on who we’re becoming, as well as providing us with a call to honest assessment of creaturely limits rather than optimization.

We followed up with Focal Things, with tactics for getting ready “Before the Horde Arrives: The Project Brief.” This is a pre-commitment tool that I adapted from the idea of creative briefs and Tara McMullin’s goal-setting work. It offers a practical way to identify three projects for your next major milestone—not ten, just three—and either complete them or shoot them in the head. Use the project brief to think through each one clearly—outcome, stages, resources, troubleshooting—then give yourself permission to let everything else wait.

Columbus from Zombieland served as our Character Reference: “Cardio, Double Tap, and Evening Prep” He modeled this for us surprisingly well: pre-decisions made when you can think clearly, simple rules that evolve as circumstances change, all rooted in knowing what you’re actually trying to protect or accomplish.

I don’t know about you, but the idea of being able to knock zombie projects off the board feels incredibly freeing. It gives us space to sit with the question “Who are you designed and called to become?” Let your answer guide what deserves your attention—and what needs to be left in the rearview mirror.

Recommendation

If you found the idea of a project brief interesting, and you’d like to dig into the book that inspired me, check out Tara McMullin’s What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal-Setting. She goes into the systemic factors that shape how we typically understand goals, while also offering practical solutions at the personal level.

I’ll be digging into more into this idea of challenging the language and practice of goals here in the near future, so stay tuned!

And finally…

It’s tacofredag!!

It’s not a taco in the traditional sense, but it does involve a tortilla. Grab a large tortilla (I like Mission Gluten-Free), heat some oil in a skillet, throw your favorite sliced meats, cheeses, and condiments in there, and make yourself a dang quesadilla.1 Simple but effective.

And if you’re curious about how to create sustainable systems in your purpose-focused life (or you want to get away from zombies), book a free Curiosity Call with me! We’ll take a look at what’s broken, missing, or confused in your processes, tools, or practices, and then see how I can help.

Just Book It!

Let’s be hopeful, creative, and wise—together.

Shalom,

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Happy End of the First Month!!

When I conceived this sprint theme, I originally thought of writing a more traditional “year in review,” which just didn’t feel interesting or “on-brand,” as the kids say.1 But I also wanted to revisit the essay that started it all, as a way to explore what exactly changed in the past year. As I wrote, I discovered that my external system of processes, tools, and practices had come to function more as a Rorschach test of my own internal preoccupations than anything else. The journey of “fixing” a broken system mirrors the purpose-focused journey that I’ve been on for most of 2025.

Which is why, over the past month or so, we’ve been exploring what happens when we (and by “we,” I mean “me”) build productivity systems that exhaust rather than serve us—and what it looks like to practice systems that honor our actual design instead of trying to transcend it.

We started with a SloDo “The Systems We Keep,” raising our awareness around how we talk about our systems—the apologizing, the overselling, the comparing. What does your relationship with productivity reveal about how you view your limitations?

Next, we took a Deep Dive into “When Your Productivity System Breaks You.” I shared my system breakdown story, and the turning point that came when I realized I’d become a curator of other people’s ideas instead of generating my own insights. I was treating my limitations as technical problems to solve when the real challenge was adaptive—learning to trust how God designed me instead of engineering control.

We then shifted to doing something with what we learned by turning to Focal Things, and “Building a System That Fits a Human Life.” I shared the actual tools and rhythms I use now, but more importantly, I shared the questions that keep me honest and help distinguish between solving real problems versus avoiding uncomfortable work. We looked at three specific struggles—system cycling, tool overwhelm, and perfectionism—with concrete guidance for each. The through-line: building systems that work on your worst Wednesday, not just your best Monday.

We wrapped up with a Character Reference from “Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost and the Power of Destroying Your Notes.” We met Dr. P, who taught without notes and destroyed his sermon notes after preaching to avoid being drawn back to old insights and prevented from receiving new ones. His practice reflects profound trust in his capacity to engage with Scripture, his experience, and his relationships. In my own life, I realized that in hoarding highlights and perfecting workflows, I was keeping myself focused on who I was instead of who I’m becoming.

I hope you’ll check out anything that you missed, and that you find something inspiring, challenging, or otherwise worth incorporating into your days.

Use this worksheet to take notes!

Worksheet R21

378KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Recommendation

I have two!

I came across this lovely post and found myself encouraged that what I’ve discovered for myself isn’t unique to me, but is something that others have, and do, work out in their own lives and systems. Check out Notes by Allie for gentle and human-scale systems ideas.

notes by allie

Building systems that work on bad days

Productivity advice often assumes we’re operating at our best: well-rested, energised, motivated, emotionally steady. But most of us don’t live in that version of ourselves very often, especially during busy seasons, stressful weeks, or months when life feels heavier than usual…

Read more

5 months ago · 1158 likes · 30 comments · Allie Dunin

I loved this post by Notion and systems designer Marie Poulin, reflecting on the common principles that underpin every productivity theory (including mine!). Marie offers so many great insights about systems, theories, and tools, based on her years of personal reflection and professional experience. I especially appreciated this one:

It’s normal for tasks to linger on our list longer than they should.
It’s normal to skip doing a weekly review because we’re too tired.
It’s normal for things to feel messy, or information to feel chaotic.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the system is broken; it just means you’re a human doing your best to stay organized in an increasingly complex landscape. Real systems are a little messy.

Given this month’s reflection, whew. Thank goodness someone else said it too.

And if you haven’t yet, you should check out my conversation with Marie on the People Watching podcast!

And finally…

It’s tacofredag!!

No tacos this month, but the next best thing: ham and Swiss cheese on King Hawaiian sweet rolls. Is there anything that doesn’t go with King Hawaiian rolls?

And if you’re curious about how to create sustainable systems in your purpose-focused life (or you just want to talk about simplifying your systems), book a Systems Therapy session! We’ll take a look at what’s broken, missing, or confused in your processes, tools, or practices, and then see how I can help.

Just Book It

Let’s be hopeful, creative, and wise—together.

Shalom,

Subscribe now

1

One holiday down, one to go, my friends.

You can do it.

This sprint focused on appreciating, cultivating, and integrating our multi-passionate, or at least multi-curious, selves.

We started with our SloDo Mapping Your Curiosities & Interests, a mindful communication prompt to reconnect with all the wonderful, myriad interests that comprise our wonderful, myriad selves.

Then we explored the beautiful tension of multi-passionate living through the lens of energy distribution. In Multi-Passionate and Purpose-Focused: How Your Interests Shape Who You’re Becoming, we use the metaphor of sparklers versus bottle rockets to discover that being multi-passionate isn’t a problem to solve but a gift to steward wisely.

Practicing Your Multi-Passionate Purpose helped us learn how we might collaborate with reality’s rhythms, befriend time’s constraints, and let purpose serve as our signal for choosing between equally good options. The goal isn’t productivity but formation—becoming who we’re designed to be through the integration of our many loves.

The key insight: constraints aren’t limitations but invitations to discover what matters most. When we channel our diverse interests through clear purpose—like Hildegard of Bingen integrating mysticism with healing, or Princess Shuri grounding innovation in Wakandan values—we create space for all our passions to flourish in their proper seasons.

Remember: your diverse curiosities aren’t distractions from your calling; they’re conversation partners helping you discover and live into your truest self.

One thing I kept coming back to when I started thinking about re-launching this site and the newsletters was the “problem” of how to share all the things I wanted in a way that didn’t feel so haphazard and disconnected. I kept thinking, “But if I’m interested in these things, isn’t that the connection? There’s a lot going on in this brain of mine, but it’s all still all me, yeah?”

And that’s when it clicked: all of these interests have helped me answer “How do I become who I’m supposed to be?” It’s that question that shapes my own purpose-focused life, and I feel renewed by the realization that I get to explore these multi-passionate interests in the journey of answering it with you.

Use this worksheet to take notes!

Worksheet R21

378KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Recommendations

I came across this post by Yancey Strickler, “How to Long Game,” and it immediately resonated with me in light of thinking about multi-passionate interests, opportunities, and distractions.

Yancey Strickler

How to long game

No AI, no lengthy edits, just a single-shot on a Sunday morning…

Read more

a year ago · 4 likes · Yancey Strickler

One point that Strickler makes is this:

5. THE LONG GAME IS ABOUT CONFIDENCE. YOU HAVE TO WILLINGLY LIVE IN A TRUTH THAT’S NOT CERTAIN, YET OPERATE WITH THE FAITH THAT IT WILL BE. THIS WILL BE A CONSTANT PRESSURE YOU MUST BEFRIEND/TOLERATE.

I love this the idea of living in an uncertain truth with the faith that it will become more certain over time. There’s a lot to unpack here. (You’ll have to read his post to understand why it’s all caps lock.)

Also in my internet rambles, I came across this video by Odysseas. I appreciated his suggestions that we can sample our interests (we don’t have to commit to them for life!), and that some hobbies might be seasonal—rotating them throughout the year might actually serve the same function as crop rotations in agriculture. Who knew?

I hope you’ll check out anything that you missed, and that you find something inspiring, challenging, or otherwise worth incorporating into your days.

And finally…

It’s tacofredag!!

I recently got to visit one of my favorite taco joints, which, for being a favorite, doesn’t mean it’s frequent. Why is that some places in your own city might as well be on the other side of the moon? That said, I tried the Prestige Worldwide: firecracker shrimp with mango salsa, and holy. yum. yum. The fajitas ain’t half bad, either.

Surprisingly, I haven’t tried the guac yet, which is, as everyone knows, is the true measure of a taco joint. Your girl loves her some guac. (HEB Texas has the best, you feel me?)

What’s been on your plate?

And if you’re curious about how to create sustainable systems in your multi-passionate and purpose-focused life, book a free Curiosity Call with me! We’ll take a look at what’s broken, missing, or confused in your processes, tools, or practices, and then see how I can help.

Just Book It!

Let’s be hopeful, creative, and wise—together.

Shalom,

Subscribe now

We made it, friends!!

It’s the end of a month, sprint, quest…thing…

Whether you’ve been traveling with us in real time, or you’re just joining us for this stop, I hope you’re enjoying the new format of this newsletter, and this month’s topic of purpose. We’ve started exploring how purpose provides an enduring, even permanent, anchor or focal point to our lives, transcending what we think or feel in any given moment.

In the midst of an age that would reduce us to our functions, purpose reminds us that we are creatures made for more than efficient execution—we are made for the conscious, reflective, loving pursuit of who we are designed to become.

We started with our SloDo “Purpose as Mirror,” a mindful communication prompt that invites us to reflect on what others’ directions reveal about our own.

Next, we took a deep dive into “The Purpose-Focused Life, or Why Humans Can’t Be Optimized,” exploring how purpose serves as destination, standard, and filter, and keeps us awake to the reality that purpose isn't just what we do, but how we hold what we do—with reflection, choice, imagination, and integration across time.

We then shifted to doing something with what we learned, by using Focal Practices as a way to have “A Conversation on Purpose” with ourselves, get reacquainted with what “purpose” means to us, and how we live it out in our daily lives.

We wrapped up with a Character Reference from “C.S. Lewis and the Paradigmatic Power of Purpose,” observing how the purpose that Lewis identified for his life illuminated his destination, sharpened his vision, and equipped him to pursue a hoped-for future.

I hope you’ll check out anything that you missed, and that you find something inspiring, challenging, or otherwise worth incorporating into your days.

And—let me know what you think of this new format!

Recommendation

I loved this essay by Robert Talbert over at Intentional Academia, where he explores what he calls the “Law of the Whole Person. It states: Each person is made up of uncountable components that cannot be separated into discrete parts.” Purpose invites us to bring our whole person into living it out. Worth a read.

The Chaos Club reads again!! Rachel and I catch up on what we’ve been reading, what we loved, and what we plan to read next. Check it out, mmmkay?

And finally…

It’s tacofredag!!

While I usually get most of my tacos somewhere out in the wide world, I did discover this recipe for shrimp tacos that is legit slap-yo’-mama good. At the very least, I get a big goofy grin when I make them, eat them, think about making and eating them.1

I recommend it, is what I’m sayin’. So if you like shrimp, cilantro, and lime cabbage slaw, I think you’ll like this recipe.

And if you’re curious about how to create sustainable systems in your purpose-focused life (or you just want to talk about purpose), book a free Curiosity Call with me! We’ll take a look at what’s broken, missing, or confused in your processes, tools, or practices, and then see how I can help.

Just Book It!

Let’s be hopeful, creative, and wise—together.

Shalom,

Subscribe now

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