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Month: January 2022

Present In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

You know what time it is?

—A great time to relax that mind of yours.

Stop what you’re doing and name out:

  • 5 things you see.
  • 4 things you hear.
  • 3 things you feel.
  • 2 things you smell.
  • and 1 thing you taste.

Ground yourself into the present moment and enjoy the beauty that’s already here.

When It’s Time (To Ship)

I had the pleasure of hearing Aminatta Forna (7x Author) speak at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, NY on Thursday, October 14th, 2021.

One of my favorite questions from the night was: “How do you know when a piece is done?”

Her reply: “It’s never done. But, when you can’t stand looking at it anymore, then it’s time.”

Looking For Creative Inspiration?

Try adding the 3 “C’s” to your day:

  • Curate: To fill your mind up. Read books from brilliant minds. Listen to fascinating conversations. Explore the minds of others by asking deliberately deep and intriguing questions. Your mind will start thinking like the minds you most explore. If you want to start thinking big/ different—immerse yourself in the minds of those who already are.
  • Create: To empty your mind. Don’t just regurgitate the same information from those minds you curated ideas from. Add your own experiences, opinions, and insights. Remix anything and everything you come across and make it your own. And give yourself plenty of uninterrupted time to do it. Even if that means staring at a blank page for an hour.
  • Connect: To guide your process forward. We curate and create for ourselves—because it’s what keeps us calm, clear, and collected. But we don’t keep our created gifts to ourselves. We share them with others. Not everybody will like or appreciate our gifts and that’s okay. It isn’t meant for them. Give your gifts to the people they’re meant for. As you would a special gift during the holiday season. Special gifts aren’t meant for just anybody. Give them to the specific people they’re for.

Act It

We are not who we want to be.

We are not who we think we are.

We are what we DO.

If we don’t choose our actions carefully, we’ll end up carelessly becoming a person we didn’t intend to become.

And what a tragedy that would be.

Once we decide who we want to be, we must act it.

Here [Poem]

What a waste
to miss out on what’s here
because we're too busy
whining about
dreaming about
scheming about
what’s over there.

Picking Fights

The easiest fight to win is the one you don’t get into.

Some fights can’t be avoided, but many of them can be.

When you get better at picking your battles, you get better at winning your battles.

Not just because of fights avoided, but because of the energy that’s saved for the others.

More-Ons

The less I need the better I feel.

I start to need less when I stop listening to those who tell me I need more.

Therefore, the path to feeling better is to get better at avoiding (both literally and virtually) more-ons (the people who turn your mind on to needing more).