Month: February 2025

If You’re Going To Rep… Rep Right.

Published on February 21, 2025

While helping my students get ready for a tournament this weekend, we spent some time talking about the difference between reps and visualization reps.

They are NOT the same thing.

A rep is mindless… it’s intention-less… it’s muscles being moved around by signals from a distracted brain.

A visualization rep is the opposite.

A visualization rep is mindful… it’s completely intentional… it’s your whole being moving through a sequence that you can see in your mind, feel in your body, and connect to with your soul.

The time it takes to actually do each of these reps is identical. But the ROI is exponentially in favor of the visualization rep.

The only difference… is the minor investment required up front to connect to the future moment… The moment when the rep will be used in its most desired way… to unlock a feeling that only that well performed rep can unlock… to realize an untapped side of your potential that only that well executed rep can realize.

And what does the minor investment upfront entail? Exactly what it sounds like… careful visualization.

Visualization of the environment… the people… the sounds… the smells… the textures… the feelings. And then the moment when the rep is about to be called upon… the moment when the heart beats fast, the palms get sweaty, and the thinking clouds up… And then the moment when the decision is made to take a deep breath… and do it.

A rep done from THIS headspace is NOT equal to a rep done while thinking about what’s for dinner.

The mindset is this: If you’re going to do it… do it right.

Relationships Are Like Social Media Feeds

Published on February 19, 2025

The relationship you have today will not be the relationship you have tomorrow.

Not with your spouse, your girlfriend/boyfriend, your parents, your siblings, or yourself.

Relationships change as quickly as your social media feed.

And like your social media feed… what direction your feed goes depends entirely on how you interact with your feed today.

…Not in how you intend to interact with your feed or how you plan to, hope to, or want to interact with your feed… but in how you actually interact with it.

Invest in better content, connect with better people, better utilize block/mute/unfollow… grow. Do the opposite… regress.

Invest in better experiences with people, take more initiative in surrounding yourself with better influences, better enforce your boundaries and prioritize your mental health… grow. Do the opposite… regress.

Nothing ever stays the same. Remember this as you’re deciding how you want to actually act today.

So… Many… Keys…

Published on February 18, 2025

When I think about learning piano… it feels daunting.

Like… there are so… many… keys…

But, then I remembered how good I am at typing.

…And how much smaller a key is on a keyboard vs a key on a piano.

…And it came back to me how I once felt daunted at the prospect of learning how to type without looking and with more than two fingers.

…And I realized that, today, I can type lightning fast, without looking, and with all of my fingers.

This is what people mean when they say perspective changes everything.

In the snap of my fingers I went from a feeling of hopelessness about learning something new to a self-confidence that’s not fluff based… but evidence based… that stands up against the tests and challenges of my ego as it tries to keep me confined within my comfort zone.

…And it really can happen that fast.

Inner work prompt: …What’s something that feels daunting to you in your life right now? Are there any evidence based experiences or scenarios that you can reference that might change your perspective on that?

Hardening Your Mind

Published on February 17, 2025

When I lift weights… time crawls.

When I train martial arts or play a sport… time flies.

Some people will tell you to only do the things that make time fly.

…After all, why suffer your way through exercise, for example, when you could be getting it in in a fun way?

And while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with choosing the fun route… there is something to be said about learning how to discipline yourself to endure the type of temporary suffering that leads to lasting benefits/rewards, too.

Because once you can learn to do it for, again, weight lifting as an example… not only will you be hardening your body… but, you’ll be hardening your mind.

And a hardened mind isn’t only useful for lifting weights…

It’s one of the most useful tools for every single other endeavor you ever come across in life.

Balancing Passive Learning With Active Experimentation

Published on February 17, 2025

I’m learning how to DJ.

It started with an admiration… turned into a curiosity… lead me down many rabbit holes… resulted in several purchases… and has evolved into a new creative outlet.

Being a complete beginner in something again reminds me of the importance of balancing theory with experimentation.

Before I made any purchases and when I was going deep down YouTube rabbit holes, I felt like I was understanding pretty well what I was watching.

…Like I could do pretty easily what I was watching people—who made it look easy—do.

…And then I got a DJ controller and realized I didn’t have a clue.

It’s one thing to watch and learn passively from the comfort of your couch while you stare at a screen.

…It’s a whole ‘nother thing to experiment and learn actively from the uncomfortable position of trying and failing and having to dust yourself off and try again.

Here’s the thing though: we learn best with a solid balance of both.

All passive learning and no active experimentation leads to “book smarts” and no “street smarts.”

All active experimentation and no passive learning leads to “street smarts” and no “book smarts.”

The people who uncover the most of their potential in any learning domain in life are the ones who do both—and prioritize time, energy, and effort to both well.

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

Living With Dead Potential

Published on February 16, 2025

If you look at motivation as something that happens to you… something you wait for to arrive… something like lightning that strikes when it strikes…

…Then you’re going to live with so much unrealized potential.

Motivation isn’t something you should expect to happen to you anymore than you should expect a charge to happen to your phone.

Wait for lightning to strike a charge into your phone and you’re going to live with a dead phone.

…Which is what so many of us are doing: living with dead potential.

And not because we don’t care… I think we all want to realize our potential… but, mostly because we don’t know how to activate and grow our potential.

The motivation required to do the things that help us realize our potential is something we make happen to ourselves… it’s something we actively seek out… it’s something that simply requires a (re)charge…

And rather than wait for motivation to strike:

We create a space for our creative work… and we honor it—through boredom, busyness, and curveballs.
We team up with people who can hold us accountable, challenge us to grow, and be there to support us when we’re down and want out.
We watch videos, listen to podcasts, read books, etc., of people who get us charged up rather than mindlessly consume passive entertainment on the socials.
We can commit to a daily habit and start a streak. Momentum is an undeniably powerful thing, and if we can lean into its power, we can start a process forward that becomes self-sustaining.

…What else? What gets you charged up? How can you actively incorporate these ideas into your daily practice?

Stop waiting.

Genuinely Caring

Published on February 15, 2025

While eating out tonight, my waiter asked me towards the end of my meal if I had ever eaten at that restaurant before.

I told him I hadn’t.

He replied simply, “Well… you’re always welcome here.”

And what surprised me about this, I guess, is that not only did I feel like he really meant it… but he couldn’t have been any older than 17 years old.

…Obviously I’m welcome to come in and spend money at the for-profit business he works at.

But, you know… what most business owners don’t realize… is that us customers… we can sniff out whether you mean what you say or not pretty damn quickly.

And it’s the business “hack” that too many people ignore… genuinely caring.