Hi there,
Welcome to the first issue of One Good Word from Dr. Dan. You're receiving this because you signed up for a free guide at HeyDrDan.com. Feel free to unsubscribe anytime, but I hope you give it a try :)
A quick preamble
Since this is the first one, I'll explain the format real quick. Every Sunday, you'll get an email with:
One Good Word, a short idea from me to help, encourage, or inspire you in the week ahead.
Three Good Things, which are links to stuff that you might find helpful, fun, or just plain cool.
And that's it! Most weeks it should only take about two or three minutes to read, and I'm hoping you'll always get something that makes you smile or helps you out. One Good Word will always be written 100% by me (or occasionally a guest writer who will be a real human that gets named), and I'll never share your email or spam you.
Future weeks will skip this preamble - thanks for giving it your attention, now let's get to the good stuff!
One Good Word
On January 1, 2012, I made two decisions.
I changed my desktop wallpaper to a simple image that said "Start Something."
And I launched ImproveYourSocialSkills.com.
This was before I became a psychologist, so I had no particular expertise. I just had my lived experience as an autistic person, and some skills I had learned that had helped me and that I wanted to share with others.
But I was scared! I didn't know if people would criticize me. I didn't know if everyone would ignore me.
So I set the wallpaper to remind myself: I wasn't choosing to succeed at something. I was choosing to start something.
Improve Your Social Skills ended up being a huge success. It helped a lot of people and directly inspired me to go become a psychologist. (It's still around too, although I haven't updated it in years.)
But there was no guarantee it would succeed! I've started other things that completely flopped. Before Improve Your Social Skills, I tried offering social skills coaching to people I met on Craigslist (my parents made me stop before I got murdered.)
But that's okay. You can start, and then fail...and then start again.
Today is Aug 23, so not nearly as symbolic of a launch date as Jan 1st. But I'm once again starting something (this newsletter!)
I don't know if this will work. Maybe nobody will read it, or maybe I'll run out of ideas after a few weeks.
But I'll still be proud of myself for giving it a shot. And if it fails but helps just one person first - it'll be worth it.
You get to start things too. You get to create something that wasn't there before.
Maybe it's a hangout with a friend, or a group gathering.
Maybe it's an expression of creativity, something beautiful you add to the world.
Maybe it's another newsletter that will steal all my readers (please don't do that, actually.)
It might not work, to start something.
But what if it does?
Three Good Things
Use Your Words 2, a better version of Jackbox that is one of my favorite things to do with my friends.
Alvedon, a musician whose songs help me focus and calm down
The Whispering Earring, a short story which was written in 2012 but is probably one of the most important things you can read in our age of AI and personalized algorithms
(Got a good thing you think other readers will enjoy or find helpful? Suggest it by replying directly to this email!)
Thanks for reading!
Okay, that was One Good Word #1! I appreciate you joining me as I embark on this. It's scary in some ways but really exciting in others, and I'm genuinely honored by everyone signing up and taking a chance on me starting something new. If you know anyone that might want to read this too, I'd appreciate you sharing the signup link with them.
Got thoughts, questions, or suggestions? Just reply directly to this email. I may not be able to respond to everyone (and I can't give clinical advice), but even when I can't respond I do my best to read every email.
~ Dr. Dan
P.S I struggled to figure out the name for this newsletter until I re-read this essay I wrote last year and I realized that One Good Word was the perfect choice.