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Month: August 2023

On Doing “Good”

Published on August 11, 2023

One of my martial arts students pulled me aside the other day, with an upcoming tournament on his mind, and told me his main motivation to compete comes from the idea of inspiring his son—who also trains martial arts.

He told me he wanted his son to see him do “good” so that he’d be inspired to do good, too.

I asked him what doing “good” meant to him.

He said, “winning.”

I asked him if winning was what was most important to him when it came to his son’s performance… because I could put him with a group of white belts if that’s what he wanted (he’s a red belt).

He thought about it for a minute and said, “No.”

He then described how he would want his son to show courage, have fun, try his best, demonstrate good sportsmanship, and use the experiences from the tournament as fuel for his future training.

I told him that if that’s what he wanted his son to prioritize… the best thing he can do is prioritize those same things, too.

P.s. If you’d like to read along, I’m going to start uploading quotes from Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty to MoveMe Quotes in the upcoming weeks.

Why Not Now?

Published on August 10, 2023

I have a 41 year old martial arts student who signed up to do her first ever martial arts tournament this Saturday who also, get this, has never done a performance of any kind… ever… in her life.

Not for theater, not for music, not for school… has never performed in front of people.

And this weekend, she’s rewriting that part of her story.

…This is your reminder that it’s never too late to rewrite a part of your story, too.

P.s. I also published: Replacing Human With Digital Interactions—A Short Story About Connection

Copiers

Published on August 9, 2023

When you’re scared to share out of fear that what you know will get copied or taken… it means you don’t have a sufficient personal growth / learning system in place.

The formulas are simple:

  • When learning/growth < what’s shared ➜ Fear of getting copied / ideas taken
  • When learning/growth > what’s shared ➜ Joy in having people copy and use your ideas
  • When learning/growth = what’s shared ➜ Mixed feelings towards different copying / idea-using situations

Lesson: Always disproportionately prioritize time for learning and personal growth over what you have time to share and you’ll never fear getting copied or having ideas taken—in fact, it’ll only bring you increasing joy to see people act from your influence.

And to those who maliciously copy and steal your ideas in an attempt to selfishly make personal gains—report them and take the appropriate actions, but remember, ideas superficially understood quickly crumble under even the slightest stress test.

Authenticity and an internal understanding of what’s shared are what stand strong against the relentless tests of time. Believe it.

Intentional Slowness

Published on August 8, 2023

Here’s an idea: Wake up earlier—not so you can get more done—but so you can move slower throughout your day.

…Move slower from bed to shower; from one exercise to the next; while eating; while driving; while walking; when speaking with people; when arriving back home and reacquainting with family; while cooking dinner; while reading; while writing; while watching the sun go down.

We’ve been brainwashed to believe that rushing is the key to productivity.

…It’s not.

If anything, rushing is the thief of presence. It steals away from us our connection to the present moment and has us constantly refreshing our awareness of what needs to happen next, next, next. So much so that there’s no awareness left for where we are—physically or mentally—throughout the day.

And so our day slips away. Time and again.

…And how much time does rushing ever really save us anyway?

I’ve rushed to work and I’ve casually commuted and the difference—at max—has only ever been 1-3 minutes. I’ve rushed to get tasks done versus got them done with full presence and have often lost more time than gained in silly mistakes and errors. I’ve scarfed down food and I’ve sat and enjoyed a meal—and maybe 15 minutes were accounted for.

…But is time gained from rushing really time gained?

My argument is that what’s “gained” from rushing is lost in presence. And the loss in presence is the far greater loss in comparison. Which is why, for those used to rushing, sprinkling 30-60 additional minutes throughout the day for intentional slowness could result in a pretty significant and noteworthy gain.

Pure Harmony

Published on August 7, 2023

While food shopping, I saw a can of meat branded as “Pure Harmony.”

Branding like this really ticks me off because pure harmony is the exact opposite of what’s in that can.

As consumers, it’s important to be aware of the impact of our purchase decisions. Whatever we buy increases demand. And so long as there’s a demand, so, too, will there be a continued supply.

Mind you, Pure Harmony, in this instance, is for dog food and I’m not advocating you turn your dog vegan (mine’s not).

I am, however, encouraging you to be mindful of the decisions you make for yourself and your family—modern day marketing can by tricky! Happy cows, dancing chickens, brands names like Pure Harmony, etc… I didn’t make the connection between my food shopping choices and the world at large until I was in my mid-20’s.

Making simple changes like switching dairy milk to a nondairy substitute, or practicing “Meatless Mondays,” or cutting out red meat altogether can have a disproportionately significant impact. One that’s beneficial for the animals, the environment, and your health.

And if nothing else, think of the real step towards harmony you take when the food you eat doesn’t cost an animal their life…

But, I digress.

P.s. If you have any questions about eating less meat or dairy, send a reply to this email.

Busyness Battlefield

Published on August 6, 2023

The busier I get, the more protective I get over my down time.

When you approach “busy time” with the same attitude you approach “idle time,” all of your time slowly gets infiltrated—because the easiest way to get more done is to fill more open time slots.

But, that’s not the way.

All busy and no idle makes us anxious, exhausted, and underperforming human beings.

Increasing busyness requires a proportional increase in boundary strength. For the way to get more done isn’t to try to sustain battling harder for longer.

…It’s to do what’s required to sharpen the sword of your mind before stepping foot onto that busyness battlefield—so that you’re maximally focused, energized, and prepared to slay each task that comes up along the way.

Be like the warrior when planning your schedule: the more intense the upcoming battle, the more that’s done to focus the mind.

P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

Life Knows

Published on August 6, 2023

Today, I tested one of my 8 year-old martial arts students for his green belt.

At the end of each belt test, it’s customary to challenge the students’ spirit by having them do a series of hard exercises.

Today, before the start of the spirit test, I asked him, “What would you rather do: push-ups or sit-ups?”

He said, “Push-ups.”

So, I had him to do max sit-ups instead.

…If we always had things go the way we wanted them to, how would we ever build spirit?

Indomitable spirit is built precisely by doing things that are the kind of hard that we wouldn’t have picked if we had the choice. Because if we had the choice, we’d always pick the hard that was the easiest. And while the “easier” hard is better than no hard, it’s the “hard” hard that trains spirit to be indomitable.

…And I think this is something that life knows, too.

P.s. I finished uploading quotes from The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk. You can read my favorite 55 quotes here.