Skip to content

Month: August 2024

Gone to Burning Man!

Published on August 25, 2024

From Saturday (8/24/24) to Wednesday (9/4/24), I’ll be off grid.

That means, you won’t get daily emails from me until I get back on the grid on Thursday (9/5/24)-ish.

Rest assured, I’ll still be writing daily—it’ll just take on a more primitive form (that’s right folks… pen and paper).

And when I get back, I’ll share what words made it to paper during what I’m expecting to be a wild, curious, mysterious, serendipitous, and nothing-short-of-inspirational week.

Don’t know what Burning Man is? I can barely explain it. But, this video does a pretty solid job.

Thank you to each of you for your ongoing support. I look forward to reconnecting when I get back. ♥

P.s. If you’re feeling generous, you can send a little love via coffee here. This trip will definitely require copious amounts of caffeine. Cheers 🙂

What’s Next…?

Published on August 23, 2024

A parent came up to me yesterday and said, “Happy birthday! I have two questions for you, one work related and one personal… which would you like first?”

…And after we finished talking about the work question (business first, obviously), she asked me, “What’s next now that you’re 35? …What’s going to be your focus for this next year?”

And to be honest, I was a little caught off guard.

I spent a good amount of time reflecting on what I’ve learned over the last year(s), but hadn’t thought about what I want this next year to bring… how I want to change… what I want to focus on or do better…

And after thinking about it a little more, here’s what I decided on: initiate more IRL interactions.

I want to do a better job of inviting people over to my house, getting people together to go out and eat, booking tickets to shows/events and getting a squad together, talking to more strangers, and taking spontaneous trips to meet up with friends scattered around the world.

This is the modern day antidote. This is what I think I need a little bit more of. This is what I think *we all* need a little bit more of…

IRL Minus VR

Published on August 21, 2024

There’s this girl who sits at a table by the side of the road, presumably selling something, who’s on my route to and from work each day.

I’ve seen her maybe 6-8 times in the last week or two and still have no idea what she’s selling.

Why haven’t I stopped to ask?

Well, to be honest, she doesn’t look like she wants to be bothered. She usually has her hood up, she’s slouched in her chair mostly hiding under the table, eyes glued to her phone, there’s no signage, and she rarely looks up to see if anybody is even slightly interested…

…Mind you, she doesn’t look to be any older than 13.

And yet, something about this scene resonated with what I see often in modern society.

People hiding, mostly in the comfort of their homes with their windows shut, slouched in their chairs playing keyboard warrior, eyes glued to screens, no clear indication of who they are/ what they’re doing with their lives/ how they’re trying to make a difference, rarely looking up to see what’s happening IRL when they’re away from that virtual reality (VR), waiting for someone or something to happen to them for the better.

There’s no question that there are countless, phenomenal opportunities that can be accessed IRL via VR.

But, what most modern day people seem to forget, is that there are countless, phenomenal opportunities that can be accessed IRL minus VR, too.

Use The Damn Tool(s)

Published on August 20, 2024

In reply to my post on one lesson from 35 years, my uncle replied with the following:

“It’s funny, most of the educated, ‘smart people’ I know told me not to retire early… ‘you’ll be sorry.’ Funny that they text me to see if it’s actually working… why??? Because they don’t get job satisfaction anymore and want to jump. It’s not about getting rich, it’s not about all the zeros in that account… it’s about having enough, having health, and being able to savor the flavor of life. I, we, take things slow, and my old way of looking at life is/has changed. Money can’t buy health or time.”

Pair this with a nugget of wisdom from my great grandmother (that my mom shared at my birthday party this past weekend): “If your problems can be solved with money… you don’t really have problems” and two thoughts come to mind.

(1) Damn, I feel so lucky to be surrounded by such incredible role models in my life. It makes such an impact (probably one of the biggest impacts) on a person’s life… and if you’re not surrounded by good role models… do everything in your power to change that.

(2) Get rich, quick! is the current of modern day society—swim against it. Which isn’t to say you should disregard money. There’s no doubting the fact that money is a powerful tool. But, that’s just it… it’s a tool. Don’t become so obsessed with hoarding the tool that you forget to use the damn thing to do amazing things!

The handyman who merely collects and stores tools is no handyman at all.

Ask yourself… Is the person who merely collects and hoards money really living at all?

One-To-One Influence

Published on August 19, 2024

Before asking me what I’ve learned from 35 years of life, my dad gave a beautiful toast that featured some of his thoughts about me.

And one thing he said impressed him the most was how long I’ve been doing the important work of impacting lives—not on a “one-to-many” basis—but on a “one-to-one” basis.

This blog is a “one-to-many” form of influence/impact.

I know I’ve influenced/impacted the lives of some of the people who have read these posts.

…But, I also know I’ve influenced/impacted the lives of those whom I’ve connected with on a one-to-one basis and over an extended period of time… more.

As is how one would expect it to be.

Which isn’t to say one form of influence/impact is better than another per se.

…Who’s to say having a noticeable, but relatively small impact on 100 people is less than a comparatively big impact on one person? Or vice versa?

It’s merely a reminder to not forget about the tremendous opportunity hidden inside the “just one person” whom you cross paths with each day.

Modern society will have you brainwashed into believing that number of followers and amount of engagement determines your influence on people/society.

And, like with many things, modern society is mostly wrong.

In a world where most everybody is trying to be the “one-to-many” influencer… swim the other way… and be the one who doesn’t miss an opportunity to make a comparatively massive impact on “just one.”

…When honestly, that’s who needs it the most.

One Lesson From 35 Years…

Published on August 18, 2024

Today, my dad asked me what I’ve learned from 35 years of life.

After thinking about it more, and to keep it concise, I’d say what’s become more and more clear to me—in these modern times—is that the path forward almost always goes against the current of society.

The current of society is pushing with increasing intensity each day towards:

  • Screens… swim against it and aim to keep your screen time to an absolute minimum.
  • Social media… swim against it. Spend more time IRL. Minimize comparisons. Reclaim your attention. The attention you bring to your moments become the building blocks you use to define your life.
  • Comfort… swim against it. Maybe not all of the time—it’s good to spend an appropriate amount of time relaxing. But, for a good chunk of your day? Aim for uncomfortable. Exercise… learn… experiment… meditate… fail… etc.
  • Hate… swim against it. Divisive media that elicits reactions gets pushed to the top of timelines—push love instead. Modern news is war, crime, death, collapse, fear, and so on… spend your time consuming the opposite instead.
  • Busyness… swim against it. Intentionally slow down. Intentionally free up time. Intentionally stop looking at/thinking about everything you need to do and just focus on one thing at a time. Not being in a hurry is an EXCELLENT sign that you’re enjoying the process. And not enjoying the process, let’s not forget, is not enjoying your life.

I could go on and on with this analogy, but as I mentioned above… concise.

Swimming against the current has become a sort of mantra and guiding light for my life. One that I’d encourage you to think about for yours.

The Modern Day Solution

Published on August 18, 2024

A tip from a friend on what to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed:

“The best advice I ever got from my 5th grade teacher stuck with me until this day. If you have a list of 10 things to do, don’t look at them all at once. Pick one and go from there. We’re only one person and if we train our minds to slow down when we have a meticulous or time consuming project, I find it relaxes the anxiety of feeling like I’ll never get it done. Hope this helps.”

I particularly like this idea of not looking at them all at once.

…Sure, make your list and get yourself organized on what all needs to get done. And sure, prioritize so you can distinguish between what needs to get done, what you want to get done, what doesn’t really need to get done, what can be delegated, and what can be deleted. And sure, take a quick look at it all.

But after that… stop.

Enough looking at the list.

The longer you look at the list, the more likely the list will paralyze you to inaction (and lead you to a modern day distraction).

Just pick something.

Go from there.

Train your mind to slow down.

Having a lot to get done is the modern day dilemma.

Getting one thing done at a time with a calm, clear intention is the modern day solution.