The Hagakure Goes On Hiatus

Time to sprint again.

Dear Subscriber,

I started The Weekly Hagakure back in April this year with a simple idea: to share with others the best tech leadership content I found online for myself. The idea came about because I had just left my previous job, leading into a very intentional (and much needed) months-long break from work. In hindsight, I realize that keeping busy with this newsletter also helped me deal with the experience of living through a global pandemic. More than anything, I wanted to give back.

While the pandemic is unfortunately still an integral part of our days, the other factors have changed since. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, after 6.5 months off, I took a VP Engineering role at Sharpist. It quickly became apparent to me this is now a time for exploitation rather than exploration. In other words, while I’ll always remain curious and read/watch/listen to a lot, my focus is again on applying my accumulated experience helping these people and this mission that I believe in so much.

Regular readers of the Hagakure will have noticed that I often veered into mental health topics, remarking on the importance of self-care. The depth and demands of my role, while immensely satisfying, don’t leave much bandwidth left. At 37, I am becoming aware that I’m not getting any younger, and that I do need to pick my battles. And I would never want this newsletter to become a chore. That would defeat the purpose.

So, the Hagakure goes on “indefinite hiatus”. I once wrote here that life is a series of sprints, and you rest and reflect in between. I’m grateful I had the privilege to be able to rest and reflect for a good while recently. But now it’s time to sprint again. And when the time for another rest comes around, you got my word that the Hagakure will come back too.

Thank you to my almost 600 subscribers (and those who helped spread the word). We’re not done yet, but if these 29 editions have helped at least one individual become a better leader and a better person, then it was well worth it so far.

And remember:

“We don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.” — Archilocus