👋 Good morning from Los Angeles! I'm Nate Kadlac, and this is #115 of Plan Your Next. A Sunday newsletter that connects design, creativity, and how you prepare for your next thing.

If I haven’t been making your knees weak with each newsletter, I encourage you to unsubscribe at the bottom. (FWIW I turn off my unsub notifications so my feelings won’t be hurt.)

💡 What’s new?

🧙‍♀️ “Omg. Riveting! And I’m so excited now!! Dumbledore!!”—is a reaction to the first email of the design course I just launched. Right now, I have 90+ people running through it. Here’s a quick rundown of how it could help you.

🔪 I’ve got a sponsor all set for my next email. But I’m wary of how to promote them in a way that fits within this newsletter. What are some non-annoying ways you have seen sponsors show up in newsletters? What would you want to see?

I have always hated gyms. 

I’ve resorted to using a simple setup at home that consists mostly of bodyweight exercises, an assortment of health apps, yoga mats for stretching, a Peloton, and a couple of kettlebells that are definitely not fun to move between homes. 

Over the years, my at-home routines have cycled through like a pair of dirty clothes that never get the stains removed. I have carelessly bounced between gymnastic aerobics, barefoot running, mobility movements, kettlebell swings, Nike training regimens, Peloton bikes, long walk rucking, semi-cold showers, luke-warm yoga sequences, and too many other half-assed efforts. 

Oh, but the metrics. My data collection from all of these activities also spans the technological trenches of Apple watches, Whoop bands, Withing monitors, Oura rings, iPhones, heart bands, and all of the now-defunct apps promising a healthier lifestyle. 

The last two paragraphs made me sweat as each new gadget or monitoring device came to mind. Searching for the right fitness routine is about as easy as finding the right todo app. 

But of course, there’s one fitness routine on an app that I have been using. The routine is so intense and sweaty that it opens pours I didn’t know I had. Technically it’s a fitness test.

What’s great about this fitness test is that it’s quick, concise, and kicks my ass. What’s not so great is that it completely wipes me out like crushing a bag of Chips Ahoy! Reese’s Peanut butter cookies in a single setting. 

About halfway through the workout, the instructor yells, “THIS WILL NEVER GET ANY EASIER!”

I know this line is coming because I’ve heard it dozens of times. It echoes through my bones mid-workout when I hear it.

And she’s right. The bar is always moving depending on how dedicated I am. No matter what health watch I’m wearing, or what workout I chose to do that day. I’m either getting healthier and the bar moves up, or I’m atrophying and the bar slowly lowers to the floor. It’s never going to get easier.

Anytime we're forcing ourselves to change, our bodies are adapting and we're incrementally getting better while the process continues to be difficult.

Steven Pressfield said, “Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.” My fitness goals sit somewhere in the middle here, never being that far off, but never being fully achieved. 

But maybe I should just join a gym. I’m sure that will solve everything.

⚡️ Two creative hits for you to check out next

🌈 100 Tips for a better life
There are so many great takeaways from this list, but I’m a fan of 17, 35, 50, and 90.

👩‍🎨 What exactly is kerning and line spacing?
I have gotten asked a lot about what the most important thing to learn in design is. I’ve written about it here, but simply, it’s learning to use type correct. This thread visually explores what kerning and line spacing is.

👋 See you next Sunday

As always, my calendar is open to chat about your next adventure, crazy idea, or if you’re feeling creatively stuck.

My goal is to level up the visual vocabulary in the world through my writing, teaching, and design. If you want to support my journey, the best ways are to:

• Sign up for the 80/20 design challenge

• Become a sponsor of this newsletter (Starting at $50—Please reach out)

• Buy Slide Decks with Style

• Discover your own unique style by joining my live workshop

Have a great week,

p.s. Words are just words, but if these words made you feel something, would you let me know by tapping on the heart below?