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Month: November 2025

Going From Reading To Riffing In A Public Speaking Setting

Published on November 17, 2025

Most of my part-time martial arts instructors, at the end of a class they teach, will read a typed out “Mat-Chat” to the class as a way to connect the physical training to the mental/character development.

Some of the more senior instructors and masters will look at the “Mat Chat” topic and then riff on it based on what comes to mind for them in those moments and from their extensive experience.

How does one get to the point of being able to “riff” on topics, off-the-cuff, and do it in a professional setting to paying clients in a way that’s confident, yet concise and provides a high enough value?

Simple: by investing enough time, energy, and effort into the topic. Eventually you’ll absorb enough of the key points and ideas that you’ll be able to speak freely about them without the prompt of the pre-written words.

If you want to be able to do better than just regurgitating what’s on the paper, you’ll have to do deeper dives that extend beyond the paper itself. If you only ever read the paper, of course that’s all you’ll be able to talk about because that’s the only source you’ll have to pull from.

…You have to expand your sources. You have to interact and examine more closely the material. You’ll have to be more curious and intentional with the topics at hand. You’ll have to do more inner work that’ll allow you to unpack and relate personal experiences. You’ll have to go above and beyond.

…That is, if you want to be able to do something that’s above and beyond what the rest can/would do.

Being Busy Is A Choice

Published on November 17, 2025

Dear busy person,

It’s good to remember that being busy is a choice. And that you don’t have to do everything during the day that you do…

…When, in fact, you choose to do it all because each task outweighs the consequences of not doing it (otherwise, why do it?).

…And if that’s true, then why do it all with resentment? With anger? With upset? With anxiety? With rage?

…If it’s true that doing each task is your top choice for things to do in that moment because it outweighs the consequences of not… why not do it with joy? With presence? With humor? With care? With grace?

Why not try to really enjoy your busyness rather than try to hastily get to the busyness finish line (is there even such a thing)? Don’t you think busyness is precisely what life is made up of? If not that, then what? And if life isn’t experienced in the bulk of the everyday, then when?

…Something to reflect on throughout your day today. :)

In The Smallest Of Corners In The World

Published on November 16, 2025

How nice to walk into a quaint, quiet café and sit with two or three other customers… with one owner of the café serving you and the other owner sitting with a customer in a booth having a relaxed conversation.

No sense of urgency. No there-just-to-get-a-paycheck. No resentment in having to serve or do the work. No tapping feet or staring at the clock. No doing the bare minimum or avoiding ways things could be made better.

…Just a couple regular folks, making an honest living, by providing goods and a service that’s worth more than the money it costs, while doing it happily, in the smallest of corners in the world…

…Precisely where a few people could really use it and, as far as I could tell, really appreciate it.

How To Keep The Fun Alive In Things We Take Seriously And/Or Work Really Hard At

Published on November 15, 2025

1. Alignment: Make sure you’re aligned with whatever it is you’re serious about and working really hard at. If you’re playing a sport to please your parents (because they’re living vicariously though you) or you’re practicing law because a younger you thought it would pay a lot of money (turns out, you also have to pay a lot in stress and time committed)—then obviously, it’s not going to be fun because you’re not doing the thing for you. See maybe you don’t align with the sport your parents are pushing you to play… but, you do find yourself drawn to a different sport or can’t help but doodle and draw when you’re passing time. Doing things because you enjoy the means is play… doing things because of a specific end is work. Prioritize doing more of the things you would do even if you weren’t being paid to do them—things that maybe you’re even paying to do. Enjoying the means is the crux to having fun.

2. Prioritize play: Once you’re in alignment, the second part is to give yourself permission to not take yourself so seriously and be more playful. Being playful is a mindset and a skill that’s developed just like any other muscle. Maybe you joke more or answer questions in silly ways or smile in the midst of busyness or cheer somebody up who’s beating themself up or model taking responsibility in a more lighthearted way… Ultimately, this step isn’t something that should require too much conscious effort… it’s something that should naturally arise when you’re aligned and you’ve given yourself permission to do so.

Water Lines [Poem]

Published on November 14, 2025

Trust is trust
And cheating is cheating
Until someone you trust cheats
And someone who cheated
Becomes someone you trust

Oh, the ease
Of a life black-and-white
One can only dream
As infinite hues
Storm down, thrash, flood

Tread, paddle, stroke
Head above water
Choose, wait, contemplate
Let the universe decide?

No—blame the rulebook!
Draw lines in the sand
Except you touch only water
The last gone
Before the next is begun

It’s just you
Your experiences reflected on
Your heart and mind
People you want to be like
Your intuition, actions, time

Paint your own picture
Make freakin’ water lines
Build, break, reformulate
Surf, surrender—rise.

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

3 Ways I’ve Been Using AI (And One Way I Still Refuse To)

Published on November 11, 2025
  • I use Claude to answer my random curiosities / summarize large or complex problems/questions. For example, I asked Claude recently to summarize who and what will be on my voting card on Election Day. This was quite helpful, even though it was a pretty small election year. I’ve also asked it about the government shutdown, international conflicts, news rumors, and so much more and it always delivers.
  • I use Koupon to find all of the best deals online—even the hidden coupon code ones—so I don’t have to waste time, energy, or money. It’s like shopping on an app where only discounted items show… my kind of shopping for sure.
  • I use Jerry to quickly shop and compare car insurance coverage options for me. It lists all of their competing prices and what the coverage includes. So. Much. Easier. Than calling every single company every year to keep my coverage price competitive. It also has an option to track how you drive and reward you for safe driving.
  • I don’t use AI for Writing. This is a personal choice. I like the struggle… the fight… the challenge of figuring it out for myself: What do I think? How can I best share these thoughts? What personal stories/experiences/anecdotes can I incorporate? This isn’t to say using AI to help brainstorm ideas, create rough drafts, and edit like a college professor aren’t extremely useful tools. It’s simply to say: doing the inner work and building the skill(s) are higher priorities for me.

My question(s) for you are (1) how have you been using AI? and (2) what are you prioritizing in the age of AI? Send me a reply :)

Changes Done Daily Are Never Small

Published on November 10, 2025

I just learned this fall season that I like pumpkin seeds.

I hadn’t really given them a fair shot up until this year, but for whatever reason with this go around of roasting and lightly salting the seeds scooped out of the Halloween pumpkins picked from the local farm, my taste buds were partying.

What I did with this newly found knowledge is swap them in place of the pretzels that I eat daily while working—which turns out to be a much healthier option that’s just as satisfying.

A small change, indeed.

But… compounded over the course of every workday that I snack throughout the year?

…Is actually no small change, indeed.