Write Your Future Headline

This morning as I ran alongside Austin’s Barton Creek, Hurricane blasted on my Hamilton-dominated workout playlist. The beat speeds up. String instruments kick in. Lin Manuel Miranda’s voice comes to a crescendo as he sings: “I picked up a pen, I wrote my own deliverance.” 

I’ve had the privilege of having a safe, comfortable situation during quarantine. I’ve taken advantage of this time to begin writing my own deliverance. However, just the ability to pick up that pen has been a lifetime in the making, beginning from my childhood. 

Throughout my life, my parents have always given me not only the support to be able to shape my own destiny, but also the guidance to write my future. My dad never asks me the classic question: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Instead, he has always asked me: “In 5 years, what will the headline of a newspaper say about you?” I like that question because it’s not ambiguous nor small-minded as the first may be. Instead, his “headline” framing forces me to put my head in the clouds, and my feet in the muds of a set timeline. Essentially, he asks me: “How are you going to write your own deliverance for 5 years from now?” 

My personal 5-year-headline is “Newest Unicorn at the Intersection of Entertainment and Tech.” This headline didn’t appear overnight. It took outlining, introspection, and rewrites. 

Outlining 

The outlining process for my headline has been years in the making. I find it helpful to write smaller headlines to work towards deciding what my ultimate purpose, and thereby, headline is. This lets me explore all the things I’m interested in to take gradient steps towards my optimal purpose. Therefore, I’m not blocking out anything that may intrigue me, and will never look back and regret having not explored an interest. Below are some examples of “micro-headlines” I’ve set throughout the years to explore a potential major headline, and what I learned from my micro pursuits: 

Exploratory Headline: Be a NYT bestselling author. 

Micro Headline: Professionally publish my third book. 

Timeframe: Set deadline in August 2015, finished in July 2016. 

Value: Self-published my third book. 

Decision: Decided I still love writing, but see more value in CS as a career.

Exploratory Headline: Be the female David Goggins. 

Micro Headline: Win the SF Marathon

Timeframe: Set deadline in May 2019, finished in July 2020. 

Value: Finished my first marathon (quite slowly) and developed a love of running in the process.

Decision: I value intellectualism too much to focus purely on athleticism as being the female David Goggins would require. 

Exploratory Headline: Be a supermodel. 

Micro Headline: Win Miss California USA 2020

Timeframe: Set deadline in August 2019, finished in January 2020. 

Value: Had a wild pageant experience, got closer with a college friend, curbed my horrible college eating habits, and lost 18lb to be even fitter than I was before college.

Decision: This lifestyle and body-shape requirements are just not for me. 

Introspection

These and many other micro headlines have given me the experience to fuel the introspection that led to the creation of my 5-year-headline. I realized I value my brain over my body, but that my body is still the machine that powers my mind and must be well-oiled. I realized my future career should be framed around storytelling, but not defined by it. I realized I want to write my own deliverance, and not be subject to a large company’s commands. 

Rewrites

When I first sat down to write my 5-year-headline, I put a sticky note on my wall that said “run a six figure business.” My dad walked into my room, picked up a fat sharpie, and crossed out the six. He scribbled an eight in replacement. Sometimes you need other’s help in writing your own deliverance. 

My headline also needed to be more specific. What 8 figure business? Why should this be my headline? Over the course of a year, my headline went through a lot of edits to eventually come to my current headline. Writing this one-liner doesn't happen not overnight, it’s not easy, and it should be allowed to change over time. 

Takeaways 

It’s taken a long time, but I finally have a headline — “Newest unicorn at the intersection of entertainment and tech” — that I believe I will stick with, and that I’ve begun building a project around. I hope that, through this process, you can write your own headline. That you can write your own deliverance in the stars, while keeping your feet in the ground. That you will give yourself room to explore all your interests through micro-headlines, regardless of if they fit the plan you believe you should follow. That you will look at yourself with compassion, and give yourself the space to reflect on your goals and priorities. That you will leverage those around you to rewrite your headline. That, above all else, you will hold onto the knowledge that writing your future headline is not about the goal that the headline presents; it’s about the person you become in the process of striving towards that headline. 

-Katie

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What I'm Reading: 10% Happier

What I'm Watching: The World's Toughest Race on Amazon Prime