I’m Mike Vardy, and I help people build a better relationship with time — not by controlling it, but by working with it. Through my writing, courses, and community, I explore how intention and attention shape a more meaningful life — one rooted in the original idea of productiveness over productivity.
Epiphany isn’t a lightning strike
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Hello Reader, We’re less than a week into the year, which means this is usually the moment when people start wondering why things don’t feel clear yet. That’s understandable—but it’s also a misunderstanding. An epiphany isn’t a sudden realization that changes everything. More often, it’s a quiet recognition of something that’s been asking for your attention for a while. Nothing new. Just newly noticed. There’s an important difference here. Realization feels dramatic. It arrives all at once and demands action. Recognition is slower. It works through remembering—through noticing patterns, tensions, and truths that were already present but not fully acknowledged. This is where resolutions tend to fall apart. Resolve works best when it’s rooted in recognition, not realization. When you try to commit before you’ve truly noticed what’s going on, effort turns brittle. When recognition comes first, resolve has something solid to stand on. So instead of asking what you should decide this year, try this: What feels obvious now that didn’t feel obvious a month ago? You don’t need to act on the answer yet. Just... notice it. Clarity rarely announces itself. It waits to be recognized. See you later, |
The Practice of Productiveness
I’m Mike Vardy, and I help people build a better relationship with time — not by controlling it, but by working with it. Through my writing, courses, and community, I explore how intention and attention shape a more meaningful life — one rooted in the original idea of productiveness over productivity.
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 45 | January 3, 2026 Hello Reader, I was listening to an episode of Unspooled where the hosts were unpacking Variety’s Top 100 Comedies list. What stood out wasn’t the rankings—it was the friction. They weren’t arguing to win. They were circling tone, era, memory, and taste. What counts as comedy? What lasts? What lands differently depending on when—or who—you are? That’s when it clicked: Lists don’t reveal truth; they reveal judgment. Every list is...
Hello Reader, Most people treat January 1 as a starting line. But I don’t. It’s not the start of my year—but it does act as a marker. A pause. A moment quiet enough to look back without immediately rushing forward. And that’s exactly what I do. Every year, on the morning of the first, I make a cup of tea and sit down with my journal. Not to write. To read. I use a journaling app called Reflection, but this works with any journal—digital or analog. What matters isn’t the tool... it’s the act....
Hello Reader, We're in that strange little pocket of time that shows up every year. Somewhere between December 25 and January 1, the usual markers blur. You check the calendar and still aren’t quite sure what day it is. Monday feels like Saturday. Saturday feels like… nothing in particular. It’s easy to rush past this stretch—to treat it as filler before the “real” year begins. But this in-between space has a quiet gift. When the usual cadence loosens, so does our grip on certainty. And in...