> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.noteofdaring.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # (Re)designing the Default - URL: https://www.noteofdaring.com/redesigning-the-default/ - Published: 2024-03-11T20:15:26.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-09T15:28:49.000Z - Description: Summer Shorts and Shifting Strategies - Author: Rachel Thompson - Tags: Strategy I’ve been thinking about my clothes recently. My wardrobe tends towards minimalist with basics I default to all the time. For example, I have 5 versions of the same tank top I wear year round and can layer based on weather. Packing is easy. Choosing an outfit is simple. It’s been working for me. \*\* Defaulting to the familiar and the status quo is easy. We do that all the time. Falling into well worn habits and grooves frees up brainpower and helps streamline our capacity. A few of my defaults I’ve been leaning into this winter include my outfits, my morning flow before diving into work, the ways I work, a few consistent options I default to for meals, and a few anchoring activities scattered throughout the week. But sometimes, those habits and routines that once felt supportive have weakened or not longer land. Or the needs behind the supportive structures have shifted and so they need to change as well. A common thought thread that has popped up again recently for me is the power of intentionally (re)designing the defaults. #### How might I make strategic and sustainable shifts to reset a few defaults in my life? And doing that takes reflection, strategy, and action. ### The Trick of Tracking Tracking a thing helps us collect information and data we might use to reflect. We can often easily capture the facts of things - the how much of time worked, money spent, steps taken, music heard, screens on, hours slept, clothes worn, words written… The more important part of the tracking process is to make meaning. Transforming the noise of information into an insightful reflection. Noticing how the layers of overlapping data fit together into a tapestry of a day or a life. Reflection is the harder step in tracking. It requires a pause. A step out of the trees to see the territory of the forest. And it needs honest vulnerability and curiosity. - What are the patterns here? - What’s no longer working? - What are the tangles that keep tripping you up? - What matters? ### Shifting a Strategy How often do you notice how you make choices? I got dressed this morning entirely on autopilot. This pair of black yoga pants with this navy tank top. Add the black long sleeve mid-layer and my warmer cozy sweater. It’s not raining or super-duper cold so go with my daily sneakers. Done. These are my defaults. I made choices when I found something that works for me and then run with it. It’s \*mostly\* working, but with the natural switch in wardrobe that comes with the changing weather, I’m contemplating what minor and simple choices I might make that would slightly shift things. That’s want shifting a strategy takes I think. A collection of meaningful choices that changes the defaults. And I also think more subtle choices are more sustainable. A big aspirational change might look appealing, but that’s not realistic for how I move in the world. ### Anchoring Action A choice becomes real through action. And resetting a default means anchoring the ongoing action into our real, complex, messy lives. #### So, how might I make strategic and sustainable shifts to reset a few defaults in my life? Here are a few shifts I’m considering: - Exploring and clarifying what I’m looking for then getting a few new options for layering pieces and summer shorts. - Joining a local co-working space for the spring to get out of my apartment and be more social. - Setting aside a day each week to work on Daring Studios and writing work and not client work. I’m calling them Daring Days on my calendar. - Finding a few new defaults for lunches. \*\* *What are a few defaults in your life? How do you feel about them?*