The Character Development Newsletter

Curated to boost your mood and inspire creativity

I’m Bullish on This Year.

I know it’s very popular to kick off the new year with new habits, goals, and lists, oh the lists. But that’s not my strategy this time around.

I keep thinking about a wonderful teacher of mine, who once dismantled hustle culture very simply:

“ ‘ Take the bull by the horns?’ Why would a person take a bull… by the horns? Is there anything more dangerous than that? Get out the hell of the bull’s way!”

It’s a very good point.

I am happy to work hard, but bull wrangling is something else. And I did not sign on for that. Did you?

Still, it’s always tempting this time of year to hand over our flow-state to well-meaning pep talkers and should-sayers. A lot of social media posts will tell you to change everything and do more.

You will not get this message from me today.

This month, I started a new year without epic lists and sky-high plans. The result has been easy, fun days that have been (against all odds!) more productive than ever.

Happy 2023. Here’s to a year without any bullsh*t.

love, Suzanne

Read & Watch.

Fleishman is in Trouble | Taffy Brodesser-Akner

I have been a longtime superfan of Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s profiles and essays. I love how she brings her unique voice and humor into her work. You might be reading her interview with Tom Hanks, for example, but we learn about the writer too.

This bestselling author’s voice was so clear in the Hulu limited series adaptation of her novel, Fleishman is in Trouble. The story is heartbreaking, funny and surprising.

(*Can we take a minute to celebrate a journalist/novelist writing her own screen adaptation?)

Read it. Watch it.

WATCH THE SERIES

READ THE NOVEL