Month: January 2026

It Matters

Published on January 10, 2026

A good friend of mine told me once that his college professor said whatever he’s physically like when he’s 25 is essentially how he’ll be the rest of his life.

And what an awful mouthful of complacency crap to spew at room of knowledge-seeking students.

Does it become harder than when you’re 18? Sure. And maybe what the professor was trying to communicate is how “it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks”—in the sense that the habits we’ve built up until that point are the habits we’re going to mostly live by there forward.

But the real frustrating consequence of this statement is the seed that gets planted somewhere in the back of our minds that whispers, “It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m gonna miss my workout!” …Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway.
“I’m tired and just want to binge eat.” …Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway.
“I’m stressed and feel like some beers.” …Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway.

But here’s the thing.

It matters.

It matters that we show up for our workout—even if we’re late and it’s just for a few reps.
It matters that we learn to build self-control habits for our appetite even when we’re tired.
It matters that we find and prioritize healthy ways to managing stress.

Every decision is a vote. And inside us are two selves running for Bodily President. What that professor above said is some smear campaign to spread fake news and elicit a lower-self win. What we need to do is spread more of the opposite, rely on truth and fight for honest small victories that elicit that highest-self win… one key vote at a time.

Bringing Quality INTO The Time

Published on January 8, 2026

A coaching client mentioned today how frustrated she was that she hasn’t been spending enough quality time with her son.

She explained that every time she has been with him recently, she felt busy and tied up doing life things: cleaning, meal prepping, scheduling, etc…

I told her: rather than have this distracted need to be done with all the life things before she brought a quality time task to her son, maybe she could find ways to bring quality into the life things.

I told her: quality time isn’t a task; it’s a state of mind.

And the reality is: it’ll never all be done!

The key is to meet yourself where you are, let curiosity arise in the current situation, and find ways to playfully engage a quality into the time.

“An Ounce” Is An Excellent Strategy

Published on January 7, 2026

We become writers by writing.
We become runners by running.
We become musicians by playing music.

All of the intention in the world pales in comparison to even an ounce of practice.

…Which is an excellent place to start, I’d say: an ounce.

Then simply aim to do that much again the next day… and the day after that.

Let that be your blueprint.

Soon, you’ll be lightyears ahead of most.

And it won’t be long thereafter either that you’ll notice… you’ve suddenly become.

A Chapter A Day

Published on January 6, 2026

When discussing New Year Resolutions, an associate mentioned he wanted to read a-chapter-a-day.

His strategy, he explained, was that he had both a “serious book” and a child’s book ready so that on the nights he couldn’t complete a “serious” chapter… he could read from the child’s book instead.

Having attempted and failed this resolution in the past myself (minus the child’s book part), I offered him an alternative strategy.

Rather than making a-chapter-a-day the goal… I suggested he make reading a-page-a-day the goal. This way he could eliminate the children’s book altogether (unless he really wanted to make that his focus read) and read exclusively from the book(s) he most wanted to read from.

The thing about a-chapter-a-day is that chapters are definitely not created equal. And there will be days (most days, in fact) when your appetite for reading and the length of the chapter will be completely mismatched. You’ll find yourself reading short chapters on days when you’re feeling most motivated and staring gravely at the number of pages you still have to go on the days when you’re feeling the least.

The thing about a-page-a-day is that it fixes that. The challenge is equal each day and the strategy is optimized for the days when you’re feeling least motivated—precisely when you’re most likely to fall off the wagon. And if it’s true that we can read even one page on our worst days… then nothing is stopping us from reading every day.

…And what’ll probably end up happening is you’ll read the amount equal to your appetite each day anyway.

Exactly how it should be.

You Realize You Don’t See With Your Eyes, Right?

Published on January 5, 2026

“Most people walk the earth unaware that they are not seeing with their eyes. Instead, they are seeing with their emotions, and often these emotions are just the echoes of their past hurts.”

Yung Pueblo

You and I can live the same day—objectively. But subjectively? We’ll always interpret and internalize things differently—regardless of how identical our days are. Why? Because as is mentioned above: we don’t live from our eyes… we live from our emotions.

You and I might both see a roof over our head, the sun peaking in its head from our bedroom window, and a loved one sleeping besides us as we open our eyes in the morning. Yet to one, roof might equate to shelter, safety, and warmth… and to another it might equate to mortgage due, repairs needed, and work. With the sun, one might see a beautiful day ahead… while the other might see missed morning routine and late. With loved ones by our side, one might see blessed companionship whereas the other might see constant fighting and drama.

This is why, from a visual outside-looking-in perspective, a person can seem to have “it all” and yet, live miserably… while another can seem to have barely anything at all and live joyfully.

The path to getting ahead in life has little to do with what the eyes can see.

The path to getting ahead in life has everything to do with what our emotions can see. And how do we get our emotions to see things differently? With more gratitude? More joyfully? The same way you would try to teach your son or daughter… with time, energy, and effort—except focused within.

I’m Coming Back To Social Media?

Published on January 5, 2026

The first time I ever opened up TikTok, I blinked and 2 hours of my life was gone.

I deleted the app.

A few years later and… every. single. app. is. the. same.

I open up Instagram, blink, 2 hours gone.

I open up Facebook, blink, 2 hours gone.

I open up YouTube, blink, 2 hours gone.

Besides that, X feels like a toxic cesspool and Linkedin feels too business-y for me.

None of it feels aligned.

Which is why I haven’t posted to social media in as long as I have. I focus my energy on posting to this blog and have been stubbornly holding back my creative inclinations to post to social media until I found a platform that prioritized content distribution differently..

Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with short video… I just want to blink and find myself still in the same moment… surrounded by words, artistic images, and intriguing dialog—not eyeballs deep down rabbit holes I never asked to be sucked down.

And a new space I’m dipping my big toe into for 2026 is Substack. It feels like a space that finally doesn’t prioritize video shorts but rather prioritizes the written word.

Which is noteworthy because different primary content medium platforms attract different audiences. And a platform that prioritizes actively reading the written word over passive video consumption… is going to attract a much different kind of user.

One that’s maybe more intentional… more thoughtful… more engaged and ready to connect in more authentic ways…

Why? …Because it’s a more demanding and difficult medium to consume.

Which is the point.

Which is where I think my people will be.

Come check it out…?

Reconsider “Personal Development” Books

Published on January 3, 2026

Here’s a key insight I discovered after nearly two decades of personal development reading: it comes packaged best in the classic literature section of the bookstore.

The major difference is this: self-help books give the essential, actionable, key takeaways needed for… well… personal development. It’s the stripped down version of an insight that we attempt to push into memory from the outside-in.

Classic literature, however, tells a story. And oftentimes, a story that takes hundreds and hundreds of pages to unpack and fully digest. During which time, you’re living another life… seeing reality through another’s eyes… feeling their emotions and living out the consequences of their actions in real time—as if they are your own… and you’re nurturing an understanding that grows from the inside-out.

This difference in how we retain insight and how it affects us cannot be understated.

The insight being pushed down often gets rejected by what’s already deeply rooted and has been growing for decades within. It’s like trying to blow a tree over with your best exhale.

The insight that’s planted and is given hundreds and hundreds of pages worth of space and time to grow is able to entrench its roots and become a powerful tree in its own right. Eventually overtaking the resources from the “old-ways trees” and seesaws power into the new.

So the next time you’re at the bookstore or contemplating what you’d like to dive into next—with the intention of developing yourself personally—consider the classic literature section over the self-help isle.

The classics are called classics and have stood the test of time for good reason.