Intentional Enough
Estimated read time: ~3 minutes
I haven't written a newsletter since my first one in January. And the reason is embarrassingly simple…
I was trying to figure out what this newsletter was "about."
I wanted a brand, a niche, a clear topic I could point to and say that's Quest's style. I thought I needed to figure that out before I could write this newsletter again.
So I waited. And while I waited for that to miraculously come to me, I was building and breaking Nuro, training for my 600-mile bike ride down the Pacific Coast Highway, working my 9-5, spending time with my girlfriend, playing rec volleyball, enjoying nice afternoons at the park.
Here's what I realized:
The thing that was blocking me is the thing worth writing about.
I was waiting for some profound, inspirational vision I could share. Something that would deliver real value, consistently.
"Maybe I should pick fitness, maybe I should talk about startups, or systems to improve your life."
But that's not what people need. And honestly, it's not what I need either.
There are thousands of newsletters, podcasts, books, and random Uber drivers that can give you the "fix" to your life. I don't need to be another one of those.
Everything out there tells you to pick a lane. Pick a niche. Pick a career. Be the fitness guy, the startup guy, the productivity guy. Get really good at one thing and build your brand around it.
But that's not me. And neither are you.
Most of us aren't in just one lane. Most of us are in a hell of a lot of lanes at once, trying to figure out how to make sense of it all while still being happy, still being there for the people we care about, still making progress on our goals without letting it consume us.
Think about how easy life would be if you only had to focus on one thing. Just making money, or just getting shredded, or just being a good partner.
Here's the thing: I don't want that fucking life. I want it all.
I want Nuro to be successful, to bike the Pacific Coast Highway, to be a phenomenal boyfriend, brother, son, friend, to be jacked, to travel the world, to be happy — all while not letting it consume me.
But I also want to still be able to take a nap in the middle of the day without guilt, to read fiction books, to eat Costco hot dogs whenever I go, to doom scroll from time to time.
I don't want a filled, color-coded calendar and to be optimized. I just want to be intentional enough. And that's the difference.
So here's the new deal.
This newsletter isn't about one topic. It's about what it actually looks like to try to do everything without losing yourself. Some weeks it'll be about systems or mindsets I use to be more intentional with my time, some weeks it'll be about something fun I'm working on, sometimes it'll be about how this week fucking sucked but here's what I learned from it.
You might resonate with one thing, all of it, or none of it. That's fine. That's how life works.
I'm not going to pretend I have it all figured out. I'm just going to tell you what I'm learning, from whatever corner of my life it comes from that week.
I waited a month and a half to write this because I thought I needed the perfect vision before I could start. I waited months to release Nuro. Turns out I didn't need the vision. I just needed to start.
And I think most of us are doing that with everything… Waiting for more money, more time, a better job, the right moment. Stop waiting. Go live.
That's it. That's the newsletter.
See you next week.