34 | Reflective Practices and Living Intentionally with Dr. John Miles, PhD

Why do we do the things we do? And, more importantly, why do we keep doing them? Taking the time to reflect – to slow down, look back, and ask ourselves whether the path we’ve been on is the one we want to stay on – helps us be the person we want to be.In this conversation with Dr. John Miles, a writing professor and academic assessment specialist (and my former boss), we talk about the importance of reflective practices to help us move from living on autopilot to living intentionally. Since John and I are both trained in rhetoric and writing, we’re obviously big fans of writing shit down. So we talk about that a fair bit. And/but we also talk about:Navigating distraction in the digital eraCelebration as a form of reflective practiceRecognizing that what we do is not who we are (but it’s a part!)Reevaluating goals as we grow and evolveFiguring out our strengths and limitations as a pathway to career satisfactionConsciously using tools and practices instead of just doing them for the sake of itReferences, Resources, and LinksWofford College – where I was as an Assistant Professor of English and the Director of Digital Pedagogy (best title of my career thus far!)Reinhart University – where John is the current Provost and VP of Academic AffairsDigital Minimalism by Cal Newport. https://bookshop.org/a/109472/9780525536512Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller. https://bookshop.org/a/109472/9780553380118Sherry Turkle – scholar focused on the impacts of technology. Reclaiming Conversation is one of her more famous books. https://bookshop.org/a/109472/9780143109792Kathleen Blake Yancey. Reflection In The Writing Classroom https://www.amazon.com/Reflection-Writing-Classroom-Kathleen-Yancey/dp/0874212383Ironman. The ultimate triathlon event in which participants swim 2.4 miles, then bike 114 miles, then run a full fucking marathon (26.2 miles). It’s bananas. DiSC Analysis. Very business-oriented personality assessment. https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-discHabit Tracker. An app I used to use for, well, tracking habits. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/habit-tracker/id1438388363The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. https://bookshop.org/a/109472/9780143129257Thích Nhất Hạnh. Vietnamese monk and prolific author. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_H%E1%BA%A1nh