🏴 Mission Solitude

Thank you for reading Mission Dominate, the weekly newsletter that helps creators achieve their greatest potential. Each Monday, I share actionable tips, insights, and advice on ways you can become the creator you’ve been called to be.

Today, we’re talking about solitude.

Background

In his book Digital Minimalism, author and professor Cal Newport explores the importance of solitude.

Solitude is defined as:

It’s when we are left with our own thoughts.

Over the past couple decades, it has become increasingly easier to reduce and even completely banish solitude out of our lives.

Yet solitude is a necessary ingredient to thrive as a human.

• Solitude gives us new ideas

• It helps us understand ourselves

• It improves interpersonal relationships

In Digital Minimalism, Newport offers three practices that can help us reclaim solitude in the noisy, hyperconnected world.

Practice

The first practice we can adopt is to leave our phones at home.

When you go to the grocery store, drop your kids off at school, or handle any other errands, give this practice a go.

In 2023, we have this fear that we’ll miss out on something like a text message or phone call…

But it wasn’t that long ago that parents went out on date night, leaving their children with a babysitter who had no easy way to contact them in case of an emergency.

We’ve simply grown accustomed to always being connected through text messages, Twitter, FaceTime, and other readily-available applications.

Can’t leave your phone at home?

Stow it away in the bottom of your backpack or in the glove compartment of your vehicle, and make it a point to keep it in there while you run your errand.

The second practice we can adopt is to take long walks.

This practice dates way back.

Nietzsche and Thoreau, two remarkable philosophers and writers, were advocates of taking incredibly long walks.

Nietzsche even said…

To some, this is mind-boggling, considering the fact that in 2023, we oftentimes think we need to read books, consume podcasts, and engage on social media in order to formulate thoughts and opinions.

Yet Nietzsche would say we need none of that.

In his own life, Cal Newport adopted the practice of talking long walks regardless of weather conditions.

Sun, snow, rain… he used his long walks to solve problems and give attention to areas of his life that needed attention.

About that phone? Yeah… if you need it because you’re uneasy about not being able to get a time-sensitive phone call from your pregnant wife, snap on a fanny pack and bury that phone in there so you’re not tempted to scroll Instagram.

Oh, and a bonus… the more scenic your walk, the better.

The third and final practice is to write letters to yourself.

Whether you keep these letters in a notebook or on scraps of paper, the act of writing down your thoughts will help to develop your thinking.

You can write it in the format of “Dear Self” or you can do something else that allows you to get your thinking out on the page.

Your letters might include:

• thoughts as you make a complicated decision

• the handling of some hard emotions

• the documentation of a surge of inspiration

Much of Newport’s notes on So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Deep Work, and Digital Minimalism had their origins in his letters to self.

And Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation… it had its origins on scraps of paper that Lincoln wrote notes on, likely during sessions of solitude.

He stored those scraps in his hat.

Wherever you record your letters, record them in solitude.

Conclusion

Solitude is the state of being free from other minds.

In the digital age, it’s easy to reduce solitude, or even entirely eliminate it from our lives. There’s always a text or post to reply to.

To reclaim solitude:

• leave your phone at home

• take long walks

• write letters to yourself

… these are just a few of the things you can do to reclaim solitude!

I’m curious… what do you do to experience solitude?

Reply to this e-mail and let me know!

Until next time,
Neil

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