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.
Personal growth spurts aren’t like the other kind
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Hello Reader, Most of us remember what a physical growth spurt felt like. Awkward. Uncomfortable. A little disorienting. Your clothes didn’t fit. Your coordination was off. You needed more rest than usual. And crucially—you didn’t cause it. You didn’t hustle your way into it. Your body just grew, and you had to adapt. A personal growth spurt works the same way—but we often treat it very differently. Instead of accommodating it, we try to capitalize on it. We add goals. Announce intentions. Raise expectations. We confuse growth with acceleration. That’s the mistake. Here’s how to work with a personal growth spurt instead of fighting it:
Growth spurts aren’t moments to exploit. They’re phases to respect. Handled gently, they change you for good. Handled aggressively, they collapse under pressure. See you later, P.S. If you’re feeling slightly out of sync lately, that may not be a problem to fix... it might be growth asking for room. |
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 46 | January 10, 2026 Hello Reader, Legacy is often treated like a project—something to be engineered, safeguarded, and eventually revealed. A thing we can shape in advance if we make the right moves and say the right things. But that belief quietly distorts our relationship with time. It suggests that time is a resource we can spend toward a future outcome we control, rather than a relationship we’re meant to live inside of—moment by moment. When...
Hello Reader, A week ago, the calendar changed.Not your life—just the number at the top of the page. That distinction matters more than we admit. The first seven days of a year are often loud: intentions declared, plans announced, energy projected forward. But a week later, something quieter shows up. Reality. Habit. Drift. Friction. Familiarity. This is where the year actually begins. Not with resolution, but with recognition.Not with ambition, but with awareness. So here’s a better question...
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...