Is X like sleeping?

This tweet from Jonny Miller lives rent free in my head:

For the last year and change, when I’ve run into problems, I’ve found myself asking “Is this like sleeping?”

When I ask myself that question, I’m asking “Can I make this thing possible on my own, or do I need to focus on creating the conditions by which this thing can emerge?”

In some cases (like exercise), the best way forward is through — I go down to the gym and start moving, and the workout often appears. But in other cases, like relationships (romantic or otherwise), things look a lot more like sleeping.

What I love about this question is that it’s very similar (and related IMO) to the famous Jerry Colonna question “How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?”

Once you realize that the way forward is about the design of an environment/conditions, you can more clearly interrogate where are you getting in your own way.