Why now?

If you want to quit your job, forgive someone, forget something, or finally move on, asking Why now? can give you a deeper understanding of what you really want.

If you start a new project, asking Why will it be successful this time? can help you understand what you need to do differently to improve your chances.

If you’re looking to change how things are done within your team, asking Why would my teammates accept this change now? might uncover some reasoning that will help you adjust your communication and get your colleagues on board with new changes more easily.

If you want to quit a bad habit, asking yourself Why would breaking it now really stick? can boost your motivation or reveal the harsh truth that is hard to accept.

Ask Why now? if you want to understand better what you’re doing and why; it just might help you figure out the “how” part as well.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. What could I do now to convince you to reply to this very email? Would a thoughtful reply work?

Now, as much as ever, we need understanding, love, patience, empathy, and courage.

Please give generously and spread these as much as you can.

You’ll get them back tenfold.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. Next time, before you react impulsively, take a breath, think for a moment, then respond with compassion. You’ll be glad you did.

There are numerous paths that lead to your goals. It doesn’t matter which one you take; it only matters that you stick with it for as long as necessary until you reach your destination.

Don’t worry what others might think, especially those who aren’t on the same path. Their opinion is irrelevant, regardless if they’re your spouse, parents, or friends; ignore them unless they’re encouraging.

And if someone has the same goals as you do, but you notice they’re on a different path, let them pursue those goals any way they want, and don’t be discouraged if they seem closer than you are. There is no right or wrong way. Stick with yours, and with time and effort, you’ll get there.

Just don’t waste time running in circles or trying to convince others that they should take a different path or pursue different goals.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. This was heavily inspired by a Hindu proverb—thank you, Luka Peharda, for sharing it with me. And if you, my friend, have something to share, I’m all ears. Find me on Twitter, and speak your mind.

PPS. I’ve switched the newsletter provider to Substack. If you have any thoughts about the change, I’d be thrilled to hear them.

We tend to overthink things.

“What could have been? What should have been? Could I have acted differently? Should this really have happened? Should I really have said this?”

If you sometimes find yourself in one of these loops, you’re not alone.

I do it constantly. I overthink even the tiniest little decisions I make and the actions I take. I find myself wondering if what I said has been misinterpreted. And it takes a while to catch me and pull me out of there—out of my own head.

When this happens, I try to remind myself that I can’t know what others are thinking or feeling, that they just as well might have interpreted my words exactly as intended, and that I did the best I could in that particular moment.

If you’re stuck in a loop, get out of there. Stop overthinking. Do something, analyze the results, learn from them, then move on.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. Am I the only one who overthinks constantly, or does it happen to others? Do you sometimes overthink things?

If you tried everything and you can’t find a way forward, find a different path. Turn around, and go back as far as you have to until you find crossroads that make sense for you, then start a new journey.

If you can’t catch a break, if you’re moving backward, no matter how hard you try, no matter how many times you try, give yourself permission to throw away everything and start from scratch.

Moving backward or staying in place should never be an option.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. Do you have a blog, a social media profile, or a newsletter? Please send me the link on Twitter. I’d love to check it out.

We all feel a little bit lost sometimes. And quite frankly, more often than not, I feel completely lost. Out of my depth. Like a fraud and an impostor.

I try to remind myself that everyone feels that way, that it’s completely normal and expected…. but it doesn’t really help.

What helps, though, is getting on my feet and doing something.

Literally, writing this very newsletter is how I’m dealing with it today. And it works because it allows me to get lost in the words. I forget about the outside world, immerse myself in an idea—and I don’t feel like I’m out of my depth or like an impostor.

But it only lasts for as long as I’m doing the work. The minute I stop typing, editing, and rewriting, the old insecurities settle in again, and everything I’ve created feels subpar, unworthy of your attention.

The key, then, is to jump into something else where I can get lost, lose the track of time, and all my insecurities.

And the result of our work is irrelevant. If the art, a poem, or a newsletter is good enough, people might care, listen and engage. And if not, it helped me get lost in the moment, almost meditatively, which is in by itself a worthy reward.

Now get lost in something you love. (And if you don’t have something like this, spend as much time as you possibly can searching for it—and rest assured, you will find it.)

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. When was the last time you forgot about the time and place? What were you doing then? Just remembering and reflecting on this can make your day.

When it gets rough, just keep going.

It might sound silly or obvious, but it’s an incredibly powerful mindset to adopt.

Your focus should be on improving. You don’t have to accomplish anything; you don’t have to finish anything; you just need to make a tiny bit of progress.

If you can, and if you can repeat this regularly, you’ll get far.

So if it ever gets rough, if you ever feel stuck, if you ever lose motivation or burn out, try to take another step. Just one. It just might be enough to shift your mindset and get your momentum flowing. Everything after that will be much easier.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. Thanks to everyone who replies to my emails. Your thoughtful and heartfelt messages (yes, even simple thank yous) inspire me and help me keep going and sending this newsletter.

You don’t always have to know where you’re going, what your goals are, or how to achieve them.

Sometimes, it’s perfectly enough to have a vague idea of what you want with a firm belief that you will achieve it somehow.

Have faith (for lack of a better expression) that you are getting closer to your goals without a clear path and even without understanding exactly how you’ll get there.

Trust that you know everything that you need to know.

The keyword is, of course, belief. You can’t know if something will happen or when it will happen, but if you keep grinding, working diligently towards it, in tiny steps, you will get closer and closer, even if you don’t see it, even if it doesn’t feel that way.

You will get there.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

P.S. Does this make any sense? It doesn’t feel that way, but I somehow believe that someone somewhere needs to hear this. Perpahs just you.

New Year is a perfect opportunity for a new beginning. Just as every other day. So regardless of when you’re reading this, you can create a mental shift right now, today, and change your future.

Don’t set goals. Create systems around your desired goals and turn them into habits. You’ll only be able to stick to your habits and reach your goals if you don’t have to think about them and if you don’t have to spend the mental energy figuring out when you’ll exercise, write, learn, or do any kind of challenging activity that moves the needle forward.

Don’t wait until tomorrow. Take an hour, write down your objectives and obstacles, and create a clear plan for how to get there. Then start. And continue again on the path you’ve chosen tomorrow and the day after.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. If you want to learn more about creating better habits and getting rid of old habits that no longer serve you, I recommend the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. (This is an affiliate link, so if you buy it through this link, I will get a small commission, while it doesn’t cost you anything.)

Sometimes it might feel like you’re going nowhere, like you didn’t learn anything, like you didn’t improve or even grow. This can be incredibly frustrating.

And whenever this happens, take a step back and try to look at it (whatever it is) from a wider perspective; try to understand where were you 5 or 10 years ago and how your current, imperfect state compares to that.

You’ll be surprised by the results. Just as I am when I look at my writing, code, or videos from just 6 months ago.

This retrospective is incredibly important as we don’t notice our growth on a day-to-day basis; all meaningful progress is only visible on a larger timescale. Just as you don’t really notice your kid has grown until you compare the pictures from today to last year; or when a friend you didn’t see for a year mentions it.

We grow and improve every day, bit by bit. We become smarter, better, more tolerant, and more patient. (Not necessarily everything at once, and certainly not all the time.) But it is only from a distance that we can actually see how far we’ve come.

So open that notebook from a few years ago, that coding project from when you were just starting out, and you’ll clearly see the difference; you’ll get a good idea of how far you’ve come.

And the fact that you’re not happy with your current state only means that you still have room to grow and improve.

Zoran Jambor
Inspiration Bits

PS. The end of the year might be a perfect time to reflect on the previous 12 months to see how far you’ve come. And you don’t have to wait for the last day. The sooner you gain perspective, the better