On Endings

Last week, Michael Xander and I announced that after six and a half years, we have decided to stop publishing new interviews on our joint project, My Morning Routine.

One thing that surprised us after we sent out our final email containing the announcement was all the nice messages we received from subscribers in the minutes, hours, and days that followed. From someone telling us that they started their company after a conversation with an entrepreneur that they had contacted after seeing them featured on the site, to someone reaching out to say that we had inspired them to create a project in which they interview people with Parkinson’s disease, to someone simply saying, “Nice work y'all.”

Another type of message that we received came from people, many of whom we had interviewed or worked with in some capacity over the last six and a half years, who got in touch to congratulate us on our long run, and, equally, applaud us for ending the project while we were still “on top of our game.”

Everything Ends

While we were aware that the decision to stop publishing was not one that we had to make (we regularly had a queue of routines and sponsors several months deep), at the same time we hadn’t thought about the decision in those terms.

Sometimes it’s harder to stop than to go on. But everything must come to an end eventually; and making that call, the call to shut something down, is a difficult one. As Michael and I noted in our announcement, our decision to stop publishing new interviews on My Morning Routine came down to a simple realization that our project is complete. When you combine our book and online archive, it is clear that we have collected together all the tools you need to create a morning routine that works for you over the long term.

Humans Behind Emails

Perhaps my favorite message of support came from someone who wrote, kindly:

I’ve really enjoyed reading these! So easy to forget that there are real humans behind the emails! Sorry to see them stop but best wishes for the future.

I love this reminder.

The work that went into publishing a new interview every week for six and a half years felt like an extremely human process, but to most people who received it it was just another pleasant email in their inbox. I gain great joy from this insight, as sometimes, being just another pleasant email in somebody’s inbox is just enough, and all we ever need to be.

Goodbye, My Morning Routine. Thank you for everything. ∎