This morning, I woke up, ready to write - but I had nothing.

Even my usual backup plan of skimming notes for inspiration failed and nothing felt worth expanding into an email.

UGHHHH

After nearly an hour of yelling at my screen without an email ready to go out, I still had nothing.

So, I slammed my laptop shut, got my workout clothes on, and headed to the gym.

Maybe Bicycling Bill would be up for a quick morning chat again. Or maybe, Weightlifting Will, who I haven't seen for a while, might have a story I could share.

But as luck would have it - the gym was empty, and neither of them showed up.

The gym was empty, so I just got on with it.

If I’m being honest, after having sent 80 newsletters, I'm not surprised that I'm felt this way.

Sticking to any commitment is hard—especially a daily one, and even more so when it has to be published every day.

Giving up felt tempting—it's Sunday, I’ve had a long week, and my brain wasn’t cooperating.

The easiest thing I could have done was skip today's email with a great excuse, write about it tomorrow, and pretend today never happened.

But that's weak sauce - and I didn't want to give up.

At some point during my workout, I figured something out.

Instead of trying to force an email out today, I'm building something on top of my newsletter.

Starting today, Sundays will be different.

I’m introducing The Cooldown: a weekly recap where you can catch up on anything you missed and get a peek at the books I’m reading, things I’m exploring, and whatever else that's on my radar.

Why? Because even in the busiest of weeks, we all need a cooldown—space to reflect, reset, and refocus.

Here’s what you’ll find in today’s Cooldown:

• Quotes I'm thinking about
• A book I enjoyed

Quotes I'm thinking about:

To me, debt goes beyond financial debt. Whenever you 'owe' something, even to yourself, it builds up as baggage on your mind.

This was why I didn't want to skip today's email no matter how tempting it was to give up. Not sending it would have built a 'debt' in my mind that I didn't try hard enough.

A book I enjoyed:

The Indifferent Stars Above was highly recommended by many creators I follow, and I devoured it in less than a week.

The book tells the harrowing story of the Donner Party—a group of emigrants in 1800s America whose journey went disastrously wrong. Stranded in a brutal winter, they went through months of starvation, with less than a third surviving.

Those who didn't die had to eat the dead to stay alive.

One mental health concept I’m fascinated by is the human capacity for enduring suffering and pain.

And that's why I'm drawn to stories like this—accounts of extreme, circumstantial suffering. They serve as a reminder of how much we can endure, how fortunate we are today, and how much of our suffering is really just made up in our own heads.

To Wrap Up:

• If you want to be able to write your future, don't get yourself muddled in debt of any sort.
• You're capable of handling much more suffering than you think you can.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Nicholas Ng