Month: November 2024

On Opening Doors You Can’t Even See

Published on November 14, 2024

A creator I follow sent a newsletter the other day that opened with, “How are you doing? What are you building? Hit reply and let me know. I’ll get back to you within few days.”

It was such a refreshing use of a space that’s usually devoted to ads, hyperbole, and clickbait.

So, I leaned in and opened a dialogue.

I told him about this blog, MoveMe Quotes, how I was doing, of course, and praised him on creating content that I’ve been consuming for years now.

I don’t usually compose or send these kinds of emails and what I noticed in myself was a sense of pride that swelled up as I briefly outlined the 14+ years I’ve been actively building MMQ and the (almost) 4 years I’ve been writing daily blogs.

I remember thinking to myself right after I hit reply that he could literally click to any post or page on either site—from any year—and I’d be happy with what he found.

…It felt like one of those moments where I was able to point him to the “pudding” and in it, he’d find the proof. No long-winded intros, pitches, or talking-some-kind-of-talk required.

And then just today, as I was curating quotes for MMQ, I stumbled on this nugget: “Your hard work is opening doors you can’t even see right now.”

…And I suddenly understood what that meant in a way I never had before.

P.s. The creator I’m referring to above is Janis Ozolins. He does an incredible job of explaining ideas visually and always keeps it uplifting, educational, and concise. Check him out here.

Life’s Temporary Reminders

Published on November 13, 2024

A buddy of mine messed his ankle up today while sparring.

Shortly after that, I found out my grandmother fell on the weekend and got a pelvic fracture with some displacement.

And before both of these events, one of my employees told me she was going to have to take her great aunt off life support today.

Reminders like this—which is exactly how I try to receive them—should be given space where their true weight can be felt.

…Because what they could serve so powerfully as are reminders of our impermanence… of life’s temporary nature… of our vulnerability.

…Of precisely what makes this life so very precious in the first place.

When you come across an injury in your life—remember to give thanks to what’s uninjured.

When you come across a serious injury—remember to give not just that person a more serious space where they can feel the full weight of your support… but to give the same to yourself… maybe not to feel support, but to feel gratitude for what’s seriously still going right.

When you come across death—don’t hide from it. Don’t just leave others to deal with it. Don’t suppress your feelings about it. Let it give rise to that potent feeling of delicacy… that terrifying feeling of the ticking clock… the thoughts of consciousness fading to black.

And let it serve as just as potent of a reminder… to live.

From “Winging It” To Strategy

Published on November 12, 2024

If you wake up and “wing it”—you’ll always fall victim to what’s urgent and distractionary.

If while you’re winging it, however, you discover there’s something important that you missed, could’ve done better, or did too late… and you create a reminder or system for next time…

Then suddenly you have a strategy.

And the next morning, when you wake up and follow it—you’ll likely notice a few things:

1. You’ll feel a pull to go back to what’s urgent and distractionary. Quick dopamine will always have an appeal, but at the expense of doing what’s meaningful long-term. Keep your prior lessons at the forefront of your mind.
2. You’ll discover something else that’s important that needs to get prioritized. And so the iteration goes. Slowly but surely, you’re strategy will grow and improve and become a productivity force to be reckoned with.
3. You’ll start to feel a little better about what you got done during that day. Quick dopamine wears off and leaves you feeling empty. Getting done important stuff leaves you with a lasting feeling of goodness.

Here’s the thing: we all start by winging it.

…It’s how we figure things out when we don’t have any experience or guidance to reference or fall back on.

But, continuing to wing it is a choice.

And not turning learned experiences into a strategy is a choice.

The question is: What kind of choices are you making in your day-to-day?

P.s. I started uploading quotes from The Win Within by Bert Mandelbaum today. You can grab a copy and read along here.

Take Control or Get Controlled

Published on November 11, 2024

In reply to my post yesterday, one reader quoted the following line:

“Surround yourself with people who feel like a dark cloud or barren desert and you’ll struggle accordingly. Surround yourself with people who act like sun and water and you’ll grow just fine.”

…And said, “…I wish we could hear this on mainstream media.”

To which I replied, “Agreed. Mainstream media is feeling more and more like dark clouds and barren desert by the day. Guess we’ll have to make our own sun and water and surround ourselves with people who think and do the same.”

…Because here’s what’s crucial to understand: the less we try to take control over the amount of sun and water that touches our life, the more we’ll get controlled by the dark clouds and barren deserts.

…Because dark clouds and barren deserts don’t wait patiently for their turn or passively idle in the background of our life… they’re aggressive seekers of power/attention/control and will only continue to succeed in obtaining exactly that the more people (hopefully not us) decide to go with the modern flow and relent.

P.s. I finished uploading quotes from Waking Up by Sam Harris. You can read my 19 favorites here.

Playing Bad (But With The Right People)

Published on November 10, 2024

One of the dads I play basketball with brought his son—maybe 14 years old—to play with us today.

Basketball isn’t this kid’s first choice sport and it was pretty evident that it wasn’t something he practiced very often—it was something he was doing for the fun, the workout, and the connection… very much like myself.

What was cool to see, however, was how inviting and supportive the rest of the crew was with him. It didn’t matter if he rushed a play, shot an airball, or mis-dribbled and got it stolen… everybody was deliberately trying to keep his spirits up and was praising him for taking opportunities when he did.

Like a budding plant… those initial interactions in this new world for him are crucial.

They’re the difference between playing again and quitting; wanting to practice and wanting to avoid; speaking constructively to himself and self-sabotaging.

Surround yourself with people who feel like a dark cloud or barren desert and you’ll struggle accordingly.

Surround yourself with people who act like sun and water and you’ll grow just fine.

P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.

Does Family Come First?

Published on November 10, 2024

…Is it true that, as the expression goes, family [should be prioritized] over everything?

No—if you’re talking about prioritizing family over yourself. Yes—if you’re talking about what priority comes first after you. You wouldn’t be doing anybody a service by ignoring your own needs, trying to service others from a state of misery, and—as the proverbial expression goes—fill family members’ cups from your empty one. There’s a bit of a caveat when considering high-need dependents. And even then, the priority of the dependents and the needs of the self should be intricately intertwined and considered with equal priority… looked at as almost one unit instead of two.

No—if your definition of family is limited to blood relatives. Yes—if your definition of family is inclusive of those who have proven to be the most important to you in your life. Proven is the key word. Being a blood relative who can’t be trusted… who has a history of manipulation or abuse… who takes advantage or always seems to have an agenda… shouldn’t be prioritized over someone who has proven themselves—over an extended period of time—to be the exact opposite of that. Family should be defined beyond blood.

Two fundamental keys to feeling fulfilled in life are growth and contribution. Point #1 above speaks to growth. Point #2 speaks to who you should contribute to first and foremostly. Do these two things really well and the rest—everything else—I’d say will fall into place.

Inner Work Prompt: I was asked, “Who is a person you met only once that had an impact on your life?” I answered: The Almonds Guy. What about you?

Paving The Way Towards Memories

Published on November 9, 2024

An associate of mine pointed out that what we were doing today—by preparing our martial arts students for tournaments and demos—was paving the way for them towards what will hopefully become some of their most fond memories in life.

When we—at least for this associate and I—think back to our days of doing tournaments and martial arts demonstrations, we get all giddy inside and start to fan-boy over some of our favorite big moments.

…Moments we didn’t even realize would become some of our most fond that other instructors paved for us.

…And what a privilege to be able to lead others towards something that may very well end up being the same for them and their lives.

Inner Work Prompt: What are some of the most fond memories of your life? How can you pave the way for an experience like that for others?