My birthday was this past weekend.

Rather than eating cake, my girlfriend and I made my favorite dish: カツカレー (Japanese katsu curry) 🤤

I’ve never been the type to get excited about birthdays.

But as I’ve gotten older, they’ve become a reminder that time is precious.

Like New Year’s, birthdays are a natural checkpoint. A moment to pause and ask:

• How do I feel about my life right now?
• How has it changed in the past year?
• What do I want it to look like one year from today?
• What deserves more time? What deserves less?

It’s an unpleasant feeling to look back on the year and realize you made zero progress on anything that truly matters to you.

Trust me, I've been there.

Now some would say that the last thing you should do on your birthday is think about time-management and productivity.

That sounds like toxic "hustle culture."

But that misses the point.

It’s not about always being "on the grind".

It’s about being intentional with your time so you can spend it on what matters most.

Sometimes that means focusing on work, so you can build the resources and freedom to invest in the rest of your life.

Other times, it means doing more things just for fun.

If we think about productivity as producing a life we enjoy living, then hobbies and downtime can be just as "productive" as checking off your to-do list.

But it's hard to know what "progress" even means for your life unless you take the time to properly reflect.

It might not be as exciting as setting up a new productivity system but its far more important.

Without clarifying what you want your life to look like, it's easy to stay stuck while another birthday speeds by.

That's why reflection and realignment is the focus of Module 3 in my upcoming course, Purposeful Productivity.

Join 900+ people who want to take control of their time and systemize their life on the waitlist here.

Have a productive week,

Miles 🤙

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P.S. I know you forgot my birthday... 🥲 You can make it up to me by joining the waitlist.