We finally launched the MAEKAN Shop! It took us a minute to get it going but I’m so proud and happy with everybody’s contributions to get this thing done. A big shout-out to Adrian, Scott, Behzod, Billy, Stanley, and more. It’s often helpful to sit back and reflect on your past accomplishments, not just to give yourself some time to chill but also to think about where things went wrong or right. I’d flat out say that I was a bit disappointed in myself with regards to how long it took for us to complete a goal that’s almost two years old.. I’m the king of being hyper-critical because of a mountain of internalized conflict, but my biggest takeaway from this process is the importance of momentum.

Momentum is something we read about, but in what ways does it apply to our lives? Our work? Our general day-to-day world-building? It’s become clear that momentum manifests itself as both an initial catalyst as well as a sustained direction. Momentum in itself doesn’t define your success but rather allows you to answer questions quickly and move to the next steps of a process.

Whether you’re doing something a bit more operationally orientated or simply producing creative work, momentum pushes you to focus and take stock. Without structure and everyone on a team being fully aware of the tasks necessary to achieve a goal, momentum “leaks” can occur. A specific recurring example of this that’s particularly frustrating is when you link up with somebody after two weeks and a large portion of the meet-up is dedicated to reorientation and reviewing the long list of to-do’s.

For our remote team, our regular weekly check-in alongside very clear documentation and task allocation have been probably the defining part of this whole process. They helped keep us focused and on track, but also kept us accountable amongst one another.

In light of this, we definitely caught a lot of momentum towards the start of the year as Charis came back into the picture on a more involved basis. She and Nate were pivotal in helping get the shop over the line. It’s a bittersweet moment for the team as Charis will be taking up a new teaching role at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. While she may not be able to contribute at the same capacity, the learnings of momentum and creating structures to galvanize it are life-long lessons learned.