Two years ago, when I first moved to Montreal, I searched out a doctor who could consult about various health issues with me. None of them were dire but I needed guidance.

It’s almost impossible to find a physician right off the bat in anywhere these days, but in Canada, it can take a very long time to be assigned a clinician. (The good news: I was assigned a family doctor a few weeks ago — far less time than the 10 years often predicted.)

In Quebec, there is a parallel private system and I found a doctor who could help with my two old friends, anxiety and depression.

The doctor was wonderful. She talked with me for about 45 minutes, taking down my medical history, asking hard questions about how I take care of myself, and recounting stories about other patients. This was both helpful and inspiring — instead of preaching from the mount, she offered up accounts of what others were encountering and what she and they did to overcome their challenges.

She asked me about exercise. At the time, I was running more and I did weights here and there. But I did not have much in the way of a schedule. It was regular but random, my workouts.

By the end of our call, she told me that, in the medication department, just to keep on keeping on. That was good to hear.

Then she told me something so profoundly simple, so inordinately uncomplicated, that I will never forget it:

“You need to exercise every day.”

It took a minute for me to digest this.

She explained that exercise, for me, was no longer an option. Having been to numerous psychiatric conferences, the single most helpful thing that she learned was that exercise was essential for long-term management of patients' anxiety and depression.

It sounds so ridiculously straightforward: exercise every day.

In all my years of therapy, across all of the doctors I saw, the hundreds of self-help books I read, the thousands of Medium blog posts I came across, the podcasts I listened to, no one said this to me in such certain terms.

The doctor offered me a gift.

And this gift helped me immensely. Since then, almost every single day, I exercise. This past year, I have worked with an online coach to help with weight training, running and nutrition. I use an app to keep track of my workouts, my runs, my walks, and my meals. I also schedule rest days, which usually includes walking or biking.

I’m not obsessive about it — and I’m imperfect in applying it every single day. But I truly value the regimen and it works for me.

In order to improve for good, you need to solve problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves.
— James Clear (source)

Creating an exercise program is not unlike building out a design system or a brand standards guide, dear designer. It takes a bit of time to construct what one wants to see in the world — the goals, the standards, the reusable components, the styles, the patterns, and the language that one needs to go forth. A strong design system or standards guide is a reference; it serves as a framework but it is also only that — allowing for variance, it also tolerates adjustment and uncertainty.

Ultimately, systems offer us discipline plus consistency.

My exercise regime is just that for me. I owe that doctor a world of thanks.

I write all of this today because, every once in a while, someone will offer you a gift. It may be inordinately simple and seemingly silly in its initial premise. It may come to you out of the blue or, as in my case, from one's own prompting.

Our job is to be open to what comes across the transom, to take seriously what others put in front of us (right and wrong), to listen for clues — and also not to overlook what might be right in front of you.

Wishing you a good week ahead.

Yours,

andrew signature

P.S. You might notice that Dear Designer looks a little different today. I’m sending this via Ghost, instead of Substack. If this ended up in your spam, I hope you’ll move it to your primary inbox and add this address to your contacts. And if you’re new here, welcome.

TypeQuote, one year on

About a year ago, I launched TypeQuote, a small website that offers a daily quote for artists, designers and well, anyone. I have collected nearly 400 quotes since that time. Last week, I updated the site to make it more typographically tight, more legible, more lightweight and more accessible. I also revamped the backend so that I was not on the hook for finding a useful quote every single day for the rest of my life. If you have a chance, have a gander.

Before you go

My introductory coaching package is open until September 1. I’m honoured to have a number of folks join me already. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.