The Strategic Sanity Project

Do you feel like the world is growing increasingly less sane? Do you feel like despite your best efforts you get swept up in the insanity?

I do.

Our lives are increasingly filled by forces vying to control our attention and our emotions. With every new tool for communication we create, the more insidious the insanity becomes.

So what do we do? We meditate. We Journal. We exercise. We try new programs again and again, all of which are fine, but also take up time and energy that we don’t really have to spare. If don’t choose carefully, the very practices that are meant to keep us calm and self-possessed become yet more sources of stress and overwhelm.

This is why I want to try something different.

The Strategic Sanity Project will focus on the life you are already living. It is a mindfulness program with no mindfulness practices. At least not ones that you have to spend time on and do regularly. Here is how it works:

On Sunday you will receive a small “Sanity Sermon”, that will provide a backdrop to the week: a virtue that we focus on, a cognitive tool, or a commentary on how attention and sanity are lost and stolen. Whether or not you meditate or have other practices, there are ways of holding the mind that help defeat distraction and qualities of spirit that can be cultivated in order to be a strong, self-possessed, and virtuous human being. If you do decide to take on deliberate practices, Strategic Sanity will help cultivate a better environment to practice in.

Those that want to explore the Sanity Sermon further, there will be a group available to politely discuss the topic of the week and share how it plays out in their lives.

Participation is not mandatory. Some weeks you will want to jump in and explore the Sunday Sanity message throughout the week, cultivating what you can and using tools as they are needed. Other weeks you might just toss it aside… all ok.

This project is not about magic, occultism, or religion. I teach about those things elsewhere. We may touch on concepts that have spiritual roots, but for the most part this will focus on concepts that are fairly secular. My goal is that if you were to start a discussion at your job about the topic of the week, no one would find you particularly odd.

This project is also not about academics. We will surely touch on studies and research, but everything will be presented in plain language. If it can’t be explained in common language, it won’t be of much use to people.

This project is not about politics or controversial topics. We probably won’t be able to completely avoid these topics, but emphasis is on how you process your positions and actions, not on specific positions. There will be strict guidelines in the discussion group to keep it from devolving into the typical social media battle ground.

This is about Strategic Living. Deliberately being the person that you want to be, whoever that is. Holding your own space confidently and facing whatever comes next.

If this sounds interesting, here are the details of what I propose:

WHAT IS IT? A weekly email and a discussion group. Within the first six months we will be talking Ben Franklins 13 virtues, deconstruction methods, information management, and more.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Ten Dollars a month. Just as I don’t want anyone to be burdened with hard practices, I dont want anyone to be burdened with a large financial commitment. This amount will hold me to producing quality work, and give everyone some skin in the game.

HOW LONG DOES IT LAST? This is the first open-ended project I have ever done. Our consumption of information is itself a practice so this will keep going as long as it proves useful. Anyone is free to opt out at any time.

WHEN DOES IT START? We begin on January 2nd 2022 to get a running start into the new year.

Let’s be real: it may be New Years, but its the same you. We are just going to see if we can make you wiser, more self-possessed, and resilient.