Don't Systemize in your head

I used to take my walks at 3 p.m. - post-lunch.

Then I saw Dan Koe’s $1M morning routine:
→ 30-minute walk right after waking
→ 90-minute deep work block

So I thought, why not try it?

I started waking up at 4:30 a.m.,
Hit the road,
Expecting clarity.

Instead? I got clutter.

The first 15 minutes of that walk, I kept thinking:

• “Did I make any progress yesterday?”

• “What do I need to do today?”

• “Is my system even working?”

• “Am I falling behind?”

Not helpful.
Not calm.
Just spiraling. In the dark. Literally.

That’s when it hit me:

Systemizing things in my head creates mental clutter.

The 1% Shift

So I walked back upstairs. Opened Kortex (my writing app)

And started writing my thoughts down. (instead of thinking them in my head)

• Routines.

• Doubts.

• Goals.

• Friction points.

And then I re-read a quote I had saved:

“The aggregation of marginal gains.”

It means:
Break your work down to bits.
And then improve each part by 1%. Do this daily.

And thats what I did.

Just like that, the spiral ended.
I stopped optimizing in my head,
And started practicing… on paper.

Since then I:

• Gained 50+ newsletter subs

• Built a fully functional website

• Finished my digital product

• Wrote every day

• Walked every day

• Read and reflected - daily

The system wasn’t the problem.
My attention was.

Once I placed it where it mattered - everything clicked.

Walk → Notes → Write.
Clarity → Flow → Output.

When your attention is stuck in spirals?
Your energy leaks.

But when it’s locked into creating?
Energy flows.

Even Marcus Aurelius knew this.

He didn’t post content. But he journaled daily. Only what was useful. What moved him forward.

That’s systemization in its purest form.

What I Hold Onto Now:

Three simple anchors I live by:

1. Don’t optimize in your head. Write it down.

2. Protect the little things you do.

3. Guard your attention - like your future depends on it.
   → Because it does.

If this hit home for you…

You’ll love my newsletter.

Each week, I share one idea to help creators turn:

• Thoughts → into systems

• Systems → into products, audience, revenue

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Let’s stop spiraling.
And start systemizing.

Until next time,

— Vaibhav (VB)