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Month: January 2024

On Talking To Stranger-ish People

Published on January 10, 2024

Want to learn how to have better conversations? Ask better questions.

Want to learn how to become more interesting? Become more interested.

Want to learn how to more smoothly break the ice? Subtract as much hesitation as you can and simply shoot your first question.

Curiosity is the key to great conversation.

And if you’re worried about awkward silences, here’s a pro-tip I learned from a friend: lean into the silence and let it linger. Think carefully about what’s been said and construct your next question without haste. You might be surprised how often people will reflexively fill that void first and offer additional thoughts for your curiosity to chew on.

Finally, when engaging in casual conversation, a bit short is always better than a bit long.

…Because a bit short implies there were some curiosities that weren’t fully explored—which is an excellent opener for your next interaction.

P.s. How To Have Great Conversations in 7 Steps ➜

Trust What Keeps Bubbling Up

Published on January 9, 2024

I try to write ideas down as they occur to me so I don’t forget them.

When I have a bunch of ideas oriented around the same topic, I’ll purposefully back-burner them all and let them simmer.

…Which is exactly what I did when I was trying to pick my focused goals for 2024.

A good signal that an idea might be worth pursuing—above the others competing for your time and attention—is you can’t seem to get it out of your head.

…It keeps resurfacing on walks, during commutes, in the shower, inside conversation, and even while you dream—in an unprompted fashion.

This is a sign that shouldn’t be ignored.

Not even if your conscious mind has more rational ideas about how you should act on your ideas. Because what it means is that your unconscious mind has picked.

And there’s a depth of understanding and insight that the unconscious mind references that the conscious mind only gets to touch—it’s the drop in the ocean vs the ocean itself.

And it would be wise to trust—and at the very least consider—what that deep wisdom is saying.

P.s. Dreams are NOT arbitrary. Dreams are a primary means of communication. Not convinced? Read this.

Happy Birthday, Ma

Published on January 8, 2024

Today is my mom’s birthday.

And one of my favorite lessons I’ve learned from her is that we humans age like fine wine (she loves a regular glass of red wine so as cliché as it is, it felt too appropriate).

We don’t get worse with age… we get better.

We don’t move away from our prime… we continue to grow as our definition of “prime” grows.

We don’t lose parts of ourselves as we age… we gain deeper understanding of ourselves with each reflected upon experience.

We don’t attach to some pinnacle point in our past… we keep our bags packed light and look towards our next mountain as we continue our climb.

A new decade or a new year isn’t something to be feared… it’s something to be celebrated.

There is no number of trips around the sun that’ll suddenly make you “old,” only stories you can tell yourself that’ll either cause atrophy or spark new growth.

…And there’s always a story you can tell yourself that’ll spark new growth.

Especially when today marks the milestone day when you are the wisest and most self-aware you have ever been in your entire life.

…Which, I’d say, is a cause for celebration, indeed.

P.s. We watched Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019) yesterday as part of our celebration and all thought it was really great. Would recommend.

Personal Growth via Annoying Tasks

Published on January 7, 2024

What’s one chore you find yourself doing more than any other chore?

  • Laundry?
  • Dishes?
  • Landscaping?

What if I told you that inside of this mundane, annoying, hair-pulling chore lies one of your greatest personal growth opportunities?

What if, instead of feeling dread and resentment towards this unavoidable, time-consuming task… you found a way to integrate a task you’ve been wanting/meaning to do, but never seem to have the time to do?

  • What if laundry time suddenly became audiobook time?
  • What if dishes suddenly became meditative time?
  • What if landscaping suddenly became podcast time?

Suddenly… you just made personal growth one of your most time consuming tasks via one of your most time consuming “hair-pulling” tasks.

You might not be able to change what tasks you need to get done to keep your world spinning… but you can always change your approach to these tasks.

Life is too short to spend so much time daily in resentment and annoyance. And you only have so much hair to pull before you go bald. Might as well find ways to align life tasks and change your mind about what you can. Especially if the alternative is awful… what’s there to lose?

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

Using Your Steering Wheel

Published on January 6, 2024

Life only gets in the way if you’re unable to maneuver around the obstacle(s) it puts in your path.

Once you learn how to turn your life’s steering wheel, suddenly, life doesn’t get in the way so much as it gives you opportunities to build steering skills.

What might turning your life’s steering wheel look like?

  • Doing a light stretching session when getting sick stops you from doing your regular workout.
  • Playing an audiobook during your commute because you overslept and missed your morning reading.
  • Practicing intermittent fasting when traveling because you know the options on the road are going to suck.
  • Cancelling a weekend obligation to spend more time with family when work kept you late on a weekday.
  • Immediately starting a rainy day fund where you save 10ish% of each check to help cover big, unexpected expenses like a broken down car, vet bill, or hospital visit.

As wonderful as the straight, unhindered path might sound—it’s the curved, obstacle-filled path that builds skillful life drivers.

P.s. Today I crossed 12,000 insights uploaded to my quote library…!

Taking A Dip Into Other Lives

Published on January 5, 2024

A great strategy for living your best life, is to habitually dip into the lives of others.

There are as many different ways of living as there are people and no one person has lived them all.

But every person has probably found a few strategies that work well for them. Things that make them feel good about their life; things that make them feel joyful; things that make them feel proud.

And if we don’t allow ourselves to dip into other worlds, other perspectives, other experiences—we’ll forever be living inside of a fish tank… completely oblivious to the possibilities of the ocean.

Here; now; with what you know—is as good (or bad) as it gets… if there’s nothing to compare it to.

But, take a dip into the life of a stranger—who you happened to sit next to on a plane and ask them questions that give you a peek into their life… and you just might walk away with a golden life nugget.

Take a dip into the life of a historical figure via a fat biography—and get acquainted with the experiences that truly shaped and guided their path… and you just might end up with insight that’ll alter your trajectory.

Take a dip into the life of a family member who’s always around, but hasn’t shared much of their story—and get a glimpse into what *actually* ends up on people’s highlight reels—and you just might adjust what you’re saving onto yours… now.

P.s. Some of the best insights I’ve ever uncovered from dips I’ve taken into other people’s lives are captured in my first guide. 18% off for a limited time ➜

Where’s Home?

Published on January 4, 2024

One thing that has been helping me with organization is, when I come across something that’s out of place, I ask myself: “Where’s this thing’s home?”

If it doesn’t have a home, then it’s no wonder that it keeps ending up all over the place.

Being organized isn’t just about making things aesthetically neat and pleasing.

It’s about giving things homes.

Places where they can continue to reside; not just temporarily get moved to.

And if you’re going to go through all of that work to clean things up anyway, you might as well do the little bit extra it takes to give them that residential spot.

And not just some arbitrary, hard to remember place—a place that makes sense, that’s close to where it usually ends up anyway, a place that feels right.

P.s. I sip on coffee while I write these. If you enjoy these posts, you can support my future work by supplying me with one of my next cups of joe here. ☕️