Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

7 Big Lessons From 2023

Published on December 30, 2023

Today, I published 50 of the Most Impactful Lessons I Learned From 2023. Below are seven of my favorites—my 1-minute version if you will. Enjoy :)

1. Making your future goals actionable today is how you prove to yourself that you’re serious about them. Not doing anything about them in the present means they’re still fantasies.

2. There is no easy-only option… only hard now and compounded hard later. Remember this when you’re on the fence about exercising, meditating, writing, being honest, doing inner work, etc.

3. Thumb taps and mouse clicks drastically change lives. Be ruthless in how you curate the media that you allow to reach your eyes and ears. Do NOT underestimate your role in this.

4. Pay yourself in time/energy/attention FIRST. Then, when full, give extra or what you have left over to others. You will never be able to give others enough of your time/energy/attention — they’ll always gladly demand and accept more.

5. What gets measured, gets managed. And what gets managed gets your time. And what gets your time… gets your life. Measure the moments that make you feel alive; time spent with loved ones; the depth of your self-understanding… Measure what really matters.

6. Solitude is a necessary ingredient for great work. And if you’re serious about wanting to produce great work, then get serious about prioritizing solitude into your days.

7. The inner work we choose to avoid becomes the outer suffering we can’t seem to escape. As hard as it might seem upfront, it’s the easiest it’ll ever be to confront right then and there. The things we carry with us only get heavier the longer we carry them.

…Read the rest here.

Tearing Down Isn’t A Good Building Up Strategy

Published on December 28, 2023

Before you plunge into the New Year with your list of everything you want to do and improve… take a minute to lay a foundation of good that came from this previous year.

Usually when resolutions come to mind, we think about everything we didn’t do, everything we failed at, everything we woulda/coulda/shoulda done but excused ourselves from for one reason or another… and we enter the year from a place of lack and a mindset focused on shortcomings.

Instead, try replaying the year in your mind and highlighting the things you did do, the things you succeeded at, and everything you didn’t excuse yourself from that you did even when you didn’t want to.

Even if not many things come to mind… bring to light what you can.

…And remember, there’s always something that can be brought to light.

Now ask yourself what went right for you to get those things done; how you approached those tasks differently; how you got those things to stick where other things slipped…

And from there… build.

We don’t construct the life of our dreams by constantly tearing ourselves down. We build up to that life one brick—one success brought to light—at a time.

P.s. Tomorrow I’m publishing an article featuring the most impactful lessons I learned from 2023… I’m curious… what was one (or a few) of yours?

Who Can Love You If Nobody Knows You?

Published on December 27, 2023

What follows is a quote from Sheldon B. Kopp from his book, If You Meet Buddha On The Road, Kill Him! In it, I found there to be some pretty profound ideas worth sharing and elaborating on. Let’s dive in:

“If I am transparent enough to myself, then I can become less afraid of those hidden selves that my transparency may reveal to others…” How true is it that we hide what’s within, not because we want to hide… but because we’re afraid of what we might find—it’s something we haven’t fully explored yet ourselves. And until we explore it—via writing, reflecting, meditating, etc—we’ll likely continue to struggle with transparency.

“…If I reveal myself without worrying about how others will respond, then some will care, though others may not.” We’ve all met a few of them in life. The rare ones who are who they are and don’t give one care what anybody thinks about it. And their authenticity makes them attractive—to some… and a repellant to others. The key is that it’s attractive to some—the ones who vibe at a similar frequency and want to join your tribe. The others don’t matter.

“…But who can love me, if no one knows me?” …And if you don’t know yourself, how can you expect anyone else to?

“…I must risk it, or live alone. It is enough that I must die alone. I am determined to let down, whatever the risks, if it means that I may have whatever is there for me.” …Even if what’s there is pain, suffering, and loss. Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.

Coming In 2024…

Published on December 26, 2023

There are five things that I’m seriously considering pursuing in 2024.

A Poster Store. I have the words. I’ve been having a great time generating AI Art. I want to combine and share them in inspiring ways.
A Podcast. I’ve been toying with the idea for years. I have my questions and I know who I’d ask… it’s only a matter of doing it.
Video Courses. My digital guides are the syllabus’. Next I would turn them into self-paced courses that would provide significantly more guidance than a simple .pdf file.
Live Workshops. My vision is to keep them small. Five to ten people max. Everybody participates and works together to answer challenging, hard-to-face alone, inner work related questions.
More Digital Products. I have shipped two. I have ten more outlined that I want to produce for The Art of Forward Series. And I have a slew of other digital products that I want to create outside of that series. Including Kaizen templates to help guide daily action, the Ultimate Kindness/ Pay-It-Forward Party, and Poetry books.

I’m sharing this because I’m sure you, too, have a bunch that you want to do in 2024. My recommendation is don’t make it your goal to do it all. Start by writing and feeling them all out—yes.

But then, pick one thing to focus 100% of your energy on. None of it ever works out to be as easy as it seems in your mind. Try to do too much and you’ll fail at it all. Get an A+ in one and you’ll be well on your way to properly conquering them all.

Excusing Self-Discipline

Published on December 25, 2023

During holidays, it’s typical to excuse self-discipline in the spirit of presence, relaxation, and—of course—indulgence.

We work so damn hard every other day, we deserve to have a day off to just… not do that, eh?

And I am no outlier from this mentality. I skipped my morning workout and spent the whole day lounging around with family, opening gifts, watching football, and eating way more food than what would’ve left me comfortably full.

Today’s post isn’t about not doing that—it’s healthy to balance in a little indulgence on occasion.

Today’s post is a reminder to not turn one day of indulgence into one week (or more) of indulgence.

Because what your ego is going to argue is: it’s pretty much still the holidays… can’t just not eat these leftovers… already this far off track who cares now… might as well just let this ride until the new year hits… I’ve worked hard all year, I deserve this whole week… etc.

And the problem with going from one day to one week off track (or longer) is that you’re going from one blip in your lifestyle to… a whole new lifestyle.

And recovering from a blip is a helluva lot easier than recalibrating a whole new trajectory.

So before you write yourself off for the rest of the year… consider today your new year.

And keep your trajectory calibrated as is before it’s too late.

P.s. My “Direction Altering” Guide is on sale for just a few more days. Learn more here.

Don’t Forget To Bring… The Spirit

Published on December 24, 2023

Out doing some last minute shopping today for the holidays, I saw:

Cars fighting over parking spots.
Shopping carts left carelessly all around parking lots.
People evidently stressed out on the phone talking with people about gifts.

And towards the end of it all, I had a refreshing encounter with a woman who asked me for advice on a gift she was considering. She was calm, warm, and present. And after I gave her my advice, I asked her if she was ready for it all.

She said, “Honestly, yes. I’m not worried about it because even if I’m short a gift or missing something, I know that gifts aren’t what the holidays are about. So I’m going to celebrate the day as it should be celebrated and be present, helpful, and as joyous as I can be.”

And I think she nailed it.

Don’t miss the forest for the trees this holiday season.

It’s the spirit we bring with us to each of our encounters that counts—not the material gifts.

P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

“I Am Not The Dancing Type”

Published on December 23, 2023

At a recent holiday party that was being hosted at the school I teach at, I put on fun dance music, had a big group of kids make a circle and told them to copy whoever was voted to go into the middle.

The kids who were voted in danced, jumped, spun, cartwheeled, ran, slid, kicked, ducked, jumping jacked, wormed, can opened, back bent, and so much more—with very little hesitation or self-consciousness. And there was a 100% participation rate.

After a few rounds of that, I told the kids to just dance however they wanted to—that there was no need to copy any more. And they all pretty much did.

…Except one little boy who couldn’t have been older than seven who came up to me and said, “I am not the dancing type.”

Which was curious to me because he participated and moved the entire time we were in the copying rounds.

So I responded as unhesitatingly as I could and said, “That’s okay, you don’t have to be. Just keep copying the other kids and don’t worry what anybody else thinks.”

And so he agreed and went off jumping, spinning, cartwheeling, running, sliding, kicking, ducking, jumping jacking, worming, can opening, back bending, and so much more.

I don’t know how he came to the conclusion—at seven—that he wasn’t the “dancing type,” but what I saw was a kid who was “dancing” just as good as any other on that floor.

And it was a wonderful reminder that the words that follow “I am…” follow you. So be VERY careful what words you choose to fill in that blank with.