Learning From Myself

I recently pulled out one of my notebooks from a few years ago. Back then I didn’t have the podcast, I wasn’t sharing my thoughts publicly, and I certainly wasn’t focused on marketing as a career.

But the groundwork was there.

In my own writing I found ideas that I hadn’t considered in months.

For the ideas that I took action on, my understanding of the idea has evolved. It's moved from a nugget I heard on a podcast episode to an ideal that's now part of my arsenal of tool.

For others, they're still unexplored - floating around in my head. Resurfacing every once and a while (either on purpose or by accident).

But what I found so interesting about going back to read old notes is how I’m really still on the same path.

Most of the things I was taking notes about or noodling on are things that I’m still writing about (both in public and private). But there are also things that I used to be interested in that have run their course.

But thanks to these notes, my mindset at the time is cemented. It lives on as snapshot of my past. Everything from what I was listening to, how I was eating, even what made that specific day memorable.

It's all there.

And now, I can pick and choose the best ideas from my past and bring them back into my mind and work.

The relevancy of each idea might not be right for right now, but the usefulness continues to grow over time.

In the moment, taking notes sometimes feels unnecessary and tiresome.

Now that I’ve been doing it for long enough, it’s taken on a new form. Note taking is now equal parts fascinating and useful. A new level of growth from notes has been unlocked through the magic of compounding.