I write 1-minute insights daily. Below are my latest. Like? Enter your email to get updates.
Helping busy people do inner work.
I write 1-minute insights daily. Below are my latest. Like? Enter your email to get updates.
In reply to my recent post on pain, a reader asked, “I think you were talking more about metaphorical pain, but in regards to physical pain I’m curious what your thoughts are. If I play basketball and my feet hurt, as long as it’s within reason, the solution is to play more basketball. What do you think? Is the pain the solution?”
My response: It might not always be as simple as keep playing basketball—although it could be.
I look at physical pain as a signal. A signal that’s trying to show me something about either my body or the thing I exposed my body to.
When I would run, I would often get spasms in my neck/shoulder area. That was a signal that my neck/shoulders needed more stretching—both before the run and as an ongoing preventive measure.
If I would workout and it caused excessive soreness… it was a signal that the muscle was intensely challenged and needed more attention/reps to be built up.
If an exercise caused injury, however, then a deeper exploration was needed. Deadlift, for example, is an exercise I had to remove from my routine altogether. I would repeatedly throw out my back regardless of how clean my technique was. This was a signal that I just had an injury-prone lower back and deadlift wasn’t appropriate for me. So, I opted for bodyweight and light/moderate resistance exercises instead.
And so, yes, I would still say the cure for the pain is in the pain—not to say we keep doing the same things blindly—but because it’s only by exploring and interpreting the signal of the pain that we can determine the appropriate path forward.
Ever since this interaction I had with a random mechanic (and several other similar interactions I’ve had in the past), I’ve been quite skeptical of going to anyone new.
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with my current mechanic and I feel very lucky to have found him, there are simply some things he can’t do… like body work and dent/scratch repairs.
This past weekend, lo and behold, my car got backed into and got a dent and scratches that need repair.
And so, rather than go to the closest mechanic to my home/work or even look at reviews online… I asked the mechanic I trust who he would trust to get this type of work done…
And he gave me a shop name and a number and told me to tell them he sent me.
Done.
There’s a speed that comes with trust that can be invaluable for getting things done in life.
And if you’re like mechanic #1 in the interaction I linked to above… you’re gonna find yourself climbing some uphill battles throughout your time.
But, when you prioritize trust over bottom line, suddenly the climb levels out and sometimes even turns downhill. Because while bottom line focus might get you some short turn dollars, it usually ends there or shortly thereafter. Whereas if you focus on trust… you’ll create a bond that’ll last much, much longer—maybe even for life.
And as a mentor of mine says, the best way to build a good business is to build a good business.
And being a good person who cares about doing good for other people is an excellent strategy to do exactly that.
I shared a quote the other day to MoveMe Quotes that said, “The cure for pain is in the pain” by Rumi and commented, “Lean into it.”
To which someone replied, “What a load o shite. Lean into it? Really? Pain ain’t a Tug o war team. For some, it’s unbearable. Don’t lean into it. Get help!”
To which I replied, “Getting help nicely aligns with leaning into it. The point is simply not to avoid it/ suppress it/ run from it/ drown it in distractions, drugs, desires, etc.”
“Lean into it” is an expression I’m quite fond of in regards to this topic.
It implies a humble and aligned confrontation with the uncomfortable that isn’t forced, rash, or too intense.
It implies a calm courage that’s ready deal with whatever has been causing the pain… without haste—which further implies a willingness to persevere for the long haul (not being in a hurry is an excellent sign that you’re committed to the process).
…Because pain isn’t something that’s just cured and then gone from your life. Pain is something you have to keep leaning into. Something you keep confronting. Something you keep displaying a calm courage towards… not with the expectation of curing or solving it… but, with the expectation of understanding it, better managing it, and not exasperating it.
The cure for pain is in the pain.
…But maybe not all at once. Maybe by just a little bit after each session.
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Today, the credit card machine at the school I teach at started printing blank receipts.
It’s a problem I’ve never solved before and my instinct was to pass it off to the person who set the machines up in the first place.
…That person, however, is out of town.
And we obviously can’t take credit card transactions without being able to print receipts, so back into my court the problem came.
My initial troubleshooting resulted in me not even knowing how to open the damn thing. So, needless to say, I was off to a blazing start.
Fortunately, there was a support number. So, I called and she walked me through the process of getting it fixed, which, of course, was hair-pullingly simple.
But you know what? Now I know.
And it’s a good reminder that time invested into solving problems—even when they’re not yours—are exactly that: investments.
…Investments into building skillsets and knowledge that save you time long-run and make people very much appreciate having someone like you around.
…Before you go dishing off problems onto someone else’s lap… ask yourself, is there an opportunity for investment that you actually might prefer to have versus just giving it to someone else?
A guy I was playing basketball with today tore his achilles and has an expected recover time of 6+ months.
In the aftermath, it reminded me of how crucially important it is to have a flexible, limber body.
And because of my increasing interest and time investment in playing ball, I kind of fell out of doing deep stretching on one of the days I used to stretch religiously. And I’ve slowly started to feel the effects of that decision.
No injuries (knock on wood), but just a more noticeable tightness.
And this isn’t a good trajectory.
Today’s reminder is simple: invest in flexibility.
Even though it can feel like eating raw broccoli, it’s precisely that raw broccoli that’s going to keep you out of the hospital one day.
Invest a little bit every day, on your time… or be forced to invest a boat-load of time on your body’s time (when it gives out)—which is never convenient.
The choice in how and when you pay your dues—either a little bit daily or all at once—is yours… but remember: there’s no avoiding dues.
P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.
I’m getting better at controlling my downtime.
I know its value and know it’s what my mind needs after intense days/weeks of work, but I don’t want it to zap away an entire half day’s worth of time anymore.
Which, when I would browse all the different social media channels, is exactly what would happen. Not only would it zap away huge chunks of my day, but it would add zero to minimal value to my life and would more often than not put me into a bad mood / state of mind.
So, slowly, I’ve logged out and stopped using most social media apps altogether.
And slowly, what I’ve been intentionally turning to is more long-form content on YouTube.
This gives me control because I can be so much more deliberate in how I invest my attention whereas when I’m scrolling through short-form feeds, I get fire-hosed with dopamine smacks that I seem to only want to get more and more and more of—endlessly.
Long form, however, allows me to be more deliberate, to keep a better grasp in how much time I’m spending, and to focus on content that allows me to relax while simultaneously adding some actual value to my life.
…Worth considering as social media, in my opinion, only continues to trend from bad to worse.
A simple way to cut through the noise of your life and get a clear signal on what your top priority focus should be.
Ready?
Here it is: You are granted one wish from a magic genie—but it has a condition attached to it… it can’t be for anything tangible—including money.
In other words, you can’t wish for lottery money, mansions, luxury lifestyles, or Lamborghinis.
But, you can wish for deeper connections, a better love life, more courage, peace of mind, restored health, more specific knowledge, a group of raving fans, sharper or more diverse skillsets, etc.
And don’t give yourself too much time to think about it… because the wish is valid for only ten seconds after you finish reading this post…!
So, what’ll it be…?!
10…
9…
8…
7…
P.s. …THAT, my friend, is where your focus should be.