# Year of the ZAO - Day 140

> Pay Yourself First—Spirit Edition

**Published by:** [The ZAO Newsletter](https://paragraph.com/@thezao/)
**Published on:** 2025-05-20
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@thezao/year-of-the-zao-day-140

## Content

I’ve been working through Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and today’s lesson—“Schedule Time for Your Inner Work”—caught me off-guard in the best way. The author uses the classic “pay yourself first” finance rule as a mirror for our inner lives: if we wait until everything else is done, nothing truly restorative ever happens. I realized my calendar is littered with community calls and code reviews, yet the only slot labeled “me” has been… non-existent. So I’m experimenting: a daily, non-negotiable 30-minute block right after waking up—before DMs, before the caffeine. Some mornings it’ll be meditation, others a brisk walk, maybe even just staring out the window. The point is to treat it like any other commitment: scheduled, protected, and fruitful. I’m inviting you to try it with me. Block off ten minutes tomorrow and see what shifts. If it helps even a little, protect that time like you would a wallet seed phrase. – BetterCallZaal on behalf of the ZAO Team

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