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Month: July 2021

Stop Waiting To Be Saved

Published on July 31, 2021

You’ll always be disappointed if you’re always waiting for some big force to save you.

  • A letter from the government saying all of your debt has been forgiven.
  • For all of the demeaning people in your life to suddenly become compassionate.
  • The “magic pill” to finally be invented so you no longer have to exercise or eat well.

When you stop expecting these things to happen, suddenly, there’s no longer any disappointment. Just a refocused use of energy from what’s out of your control (government, people, metabolism, etc.) to what’s within. Now, you’re mental energy can be devoted to:

  • A clearly budgeted and well-thought out financial plan to tackle the debt you’re in.
  • A strategy for cutting out demeaning people and including more compassionate folks.
  • A ritual that allows you to eat well and exercise in enjoyable and long-term focused ways.

If you find yourself disappointed often, it might be because you’re waiting to be saved.

Save yourself.

Are You A Leader?

Published on July 30, 2021

Leadership is influence—nothing more and nothing less.

And if you interact with people, guess what? You influence them.

You can’t interact with someone and not influence them.

Therefore, it’s time you started looking at yourself as a leader.

This, in and of itself, has the ability to change your whole demeanor.

Next, you must carefully reflect on how you’ve been using your influence.

  • Are you influencing people to become better versions of themselves or worse?
  • Are you using your influence to promote more good in the world or harm?
  • Are your means of influencing based in love or hate?

It’s time we stopped looking at leadership as a role reserved for a select few.

It’s a role that each of us gets to embody in full each day.

The question simply becomes: will you own it?

Smile First

Published on July 29, 2021

Imagine coming across someone who was looking at their reflection in the mirror, without moving, for a considerable length of time. And you ask them what they’re doing, to which they reply, “I’m waiting for my reflection to smile.”

You’d probably chalk that person up as crazy.

But, what’s the difference between that person and the person waiting for a considerable length of time for their circumstances to change? Staring at your circumstances unwilling to make the first move until your circumstances smile back at you—is the same thing!

Circumstances change when you change.

Smile first.

When Fear Gets Caught In Your Throat

Published on July 28, 2021

When choking, a drastic and sudden thrust is required—either by cough or Heimlich maneuver.

When choking on fear, maybe what’s required is the same—a drastic and sudden thrust.

Either by temporary uncharacteristic courage or by clever maneuvers against the mind.

Some people’s most memorable moments were closely preceded by the phrase: “F*ck it.”

Why? Because it allowed them out-maneuver the belittling thoughts of their mind and thrust forward, uncharacteristically, into the fear of the presented unknown.

This isn’t always good advice. But, when it is, it’s precisely the kind of Heimlich maneuver required to free a person from the suffocation of a comfort-zone filled life.

To All The “Rocks” Out There

Published on July 27, 2021

To all those who act as a”rock” for others in their lives—thank you.

Being a rock in the middle of a raging river is never easy.

And many times, it can feel like a thankless job.

People spew their problems, burdens, and drama onto those who they consider their “rock” so they can slow the rage that’s going on in their mind.

And once they get it all out, they slowly maneuver their exit, rejoin the raging river, and only return when the rage is, yet again, too much for them to handle.

And that’s okay.

Keep being the rock.

Keep yourself grounded into the riverbed. Keep doing what’s hard and stay true to the rock’s course: here. Present. Undisturbed by what’s rushing and immediate. Focused on bringing calm and ease to the raging world all around.

Joining the ever increasing speed of the river and raging with the rest is tempting—it’s the path of the many. Being the rock is the choice and the gift given to us by the few.

The world doesn’t need any help speeding up. It needs help slowing down. And that’s precisely what the rocks in the world do. And for that, and once again, I thank you.

Strengthening A Weakness Or Weakening A Strength?

Published on July 26, 2021

Creatives are good at creating; marketers are good at marketing; managers are good at managing.

When creatives realize they need to market their creations—they might try to learn the skills of a marketer.

When marketers realize they could profit more from their own creations—they might try to learn the skills of a creative.

And sometimes, the creative or the marketer might even decide to start and manage their own business where they must learn the skills of the creative, the marker, and the manager.

Here’s what you need to ask yourself: is the time I’m investing in learning how to improve upon my weaker areas as beneficial as the time I could be investing in tripling down on my strengths? Would I be better off teaming up with someone whose strengths compliment my weaknesses?

When you seek to strengthen a weakness, be careful you don’t end up weakening a strength.

It’s Not The Axe’s Fault

Published on July 24, 2021

Not needing anybody to motivate you is one of the most liberating feelings in the world.

  • You get to exercise—without needing a trainer, accountability partner, or motivational video.
  • You get to eat clean—without needing a meal-planner, slap from a loved one, or body goals video.
  • You get to work—without needing external incentives, pushes from your peers, or threats from your boss.

Having self-motivation saves time, money, and energy.

But, it also takes time, money, and energy—particularly at the outset. At the times when all you want to do is utilize the motivation that can be taken from surrounding external sources. When all you want to do is dive in while you’re hot.

But, here’s the trick: you have to resist that urge.

The same way the lumberjack must resist the urge to chop the tree with a dull axe.

See, most people just grab the axe and start hacking away. And they burn themselves out, fail to make much progress, and curse the axe for not being good enough.

When what’s really required isn’t hacking—but sharpening.

When you take the time required to sharpen the mind and internalize principles that are intrinsically motivating, you’ll be free of the external needs altogether.

And you’ll start chopping through days worth of trees while everybody else is still cursing their axe.