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Month: February 2024

18 Saved Lives Per Year…?!

Published on February 15, 2024

A friend of mine donates blood religiously.

It’s integrated into his lifestyle and it’s one of the ways he gives back.

And given that it can save up to three lives in about a one hour time commitment… it’s relatively an easy thing to do.

I don’t donate as frequently as he does, and it has probably been a year since I donated last… but I just scheduled my next appointment and I plan to make it a bi-monthly occurrence.

It was one of those reminders, at least it was for me, that the biggest, most grandiose plan(s) to change the world mean nothing compared to even the smallest of actions.

Plain Fun

Published on February 14, 2024

Yesterday, I hosted a martial arts class where members could train with non-member loved ones as a way to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a unique, experiential kind of way.

My goal was to facilitate a type of class that was all partner themed, game-based, and contact oriented, that felt relaxed and above all… was just plain fun.

And the response from the members after the class was overwhelmingly positive with an almost unanimous request to have more “plain fun” classes just like it.

And it was a pleasant reminder that while adults on the surface often present as serious…

…They’re really just kids inside grown-up bodies who came to adopt seriousness as a way to interact with the world—maybe because it’s what they were taught, what they intuited, or what was required—when really… adults, like kids, just want to have fun.

P.s. The next book I’ll be uploading quotes from is Self-Renewal by John W. Gardner. You can pick up a copy and read along here.

Hunting For The Best In Life

Published on February 13, 2024

Each day, at some point, I go hunting for quotes.

I curate picture quotes, capture insights from books, and save ideas from emails.

I aim to upload five fresh insights per day to MoveMe Quotes.

What I was thinking about today was how my mental state affects my hunt.

When I’m groggy, anxious, distracted… I find myself skipping over a bunch more material than when I’m alert, calm, and focused.

…There have been times when I’ve hunted for upwards of an hour and couldn’t find a single quote worth uploading.

…And there have been times when after a few minutes I found myself uploading close to ten.

Generally speaking… the material I hunt through each day is equally saturated with insights.

What’s interesting for me is how lack of sleep, lack of screen discipline, lack of clarity in priorities can affect my ability to see and capture insights that are floating right by my face.

…And I suspect the same affects us all in many of the same ways as we go about our days and beauty, grace, opportunity, love, and yes, insight… floats right by our groggy, anxious, distracted face(s).

P.s. I finished uploading quotes from Freedom From The Known by J. Krishnamurti today. You can read my 32 captures here.

It’s Not You [Poem]

Published on February 12, 2024

If I think about it
Carefully enough
I can make my heart skip
A beat or two
From replaying times
I was carelessly
With you

A beat or two
Compared to a year or two
Of skipped beats
And skipped stones
And skipped feet
Feels wildly inadequate
Yet fully true

And while thinking of you
Carefully enough
Happens less and less often
There’s a rhythm
My feet and heart once knew
Now my barrier of entry
No skips…

…It’s not you.

P.s. You can read my other poems here.

Interrupting Vibe Killing Thoughts

Published on February 12, 2024

Today Amazon delivered a package of mine to the wrong house.

Not only that… but, it was a house that was 20 minutes away from mine.

And the picture of the package proved it.

Once I realized this, I felt a wave of annoyance arise pretty quickly.

Feeling it continue to bubble up, and knowing if I didn’t do anything I would feel waves of annoyance for the indefinite near future, I decided to control what was in my control and just drive to the house—with as little hesitation as possible. I didn’t want there to be any wasted time or energy in annoyance if I could avoid it.

So I went.

Once I got there, the package was no longer on the porch.

So, I rang the doorbell and a gentleman answered. I explained the situation, and he told me that Amazon took the package back and was going to re-route it to me.

…And before I let another wave of annoyance arise from feeling like I just wasted a bunch more time and energy driving to this person’s house to find out the package wasn’t even there—I quickly interrupted the thought with another.

I told myself that the situation had been handled and that I saved myself hours and even days worth of annoyance and vibe killing emotions.

…And that a little car ride with loud music and droning thoughts was long overdue anyway.

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

The Most Surprising Realization I’ve Had From 1,500 Days Of Daily Writing

Published on February 11, 2024

One of the most surprising realizations I’ve had from 1,500 days of daily writing is that daily writing makes me better… at everything.

It makes me better at:

  • Speaking
  • Listening
  • Coaching
  • Reading
  • Relating
  • Being (Present)
  • Strategizing
  • Healing
  • Helping
  • Meditating
  • Sleeping
  • Exercising
  • Taking Risks
  • Taking Ownership
  • Taking Aim
  • Building
  • Breaking Things Down
  • Solving Problems
  • Prioritizing
  • Relaxing
  • Simplifying
  • Optimizing
  • Living… My best life…

And these were just the things that came to the top of my mind in a matter of minutes…

…I simply can’t think of a single area of my life that hasn’t been improved from daily writing.

And maybe… if improving every aspect of your life sounds like a good thing… you could try it, too?

P.s. Hat tip to Craig for inspiring this post. Thanks for all of your support.

Day 1,500

Published on February 9, 2024

Today marks day 1,500 of daily writing…!

And in honor of this huge milestone, here are some pivotal moments that shaped this journey:

January 1, 2020: Day 1. The day I overcame imposter syndrome. The day I took a quote, wrote a few paragraphs, numbered the bottom: (1/365), and posted it to FB. The post that eventually became this article.

January 3, 2020: Knowing I didn’t want these posts to be owned by FB, I created “Beyond the Quote” where they could be housed for peace of mind. Here’s Day 3’s post. This carried on through Day 414.

December 10, 2020: Throughout year 1, I felt like I had something to prove… and the length of my posts showed it. Here’s an example of the length I was trying to crank out each day… it was mentally exhausting.

December 24, 2020: I took a road trip that completely changed my perspective. It helped me realize I had nothing to prove and marks the day I started writing drastically shorter posts.

January 1, 2021: Day 365/365…! Mission complete! …And my thoughts.

February 3, 2021: Created a FB group so that readers could get notifications. Posted there from Day 400 – Day 1,092.

February 18, 2021: (Day 414) Created https://matthogan.blog. Felt like the words I was sharing deserved their own house and audience outside of MoveMe Quotes.

November 2021-ish: Gave myself a formal constraint: No more than 280 words allowed.

January 1, 2022: 2 Year mark… and my biggest takeaway.

October 30, 2022: Day 1,000… and the 25 biggest lessons I learned up until that point.

February 9, 2024: Day 1,500… systems in place… pace established… and no signs of fatigue in sight.