Skip to content

Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

Reality Based Testing

Published on April 22, 2026

I came across a sale to learn a new language for 60% off.

For $239, I could learn a whole new language and have lifetime access to the lessons.

A pretty killer deal if you ask me.

But, I didn’t buy it yet.

I’m reality testing my actual commitment level by creating a space for free language learning first.

It has ads and I assume it isn’t as good as the paid option.

…But, that isn’t the point.

The point is I’ve bought similar courses in the past and never finished them.

Because while it sounded great in my head, I never reality tested it to gauge my actual commitment level.

Before you take the plunge and commit to a full on sprint: create a space. Establish a bit of a pace. Test it against your reality. See if you can make adjustments on the hard days. See if it eventually sticks. Then… double down on your investment.

Cleaning Party

Published on April 21, 2026

I was out at a music show dancing not too long ago when out of the sea of people in front of me, a person with a bucket in one hand danced towards me and pointed to a crushed bottle on the ground.

Confused at first, but quickly putting the pieces together, I picked up the crushed bottle and tossed it into the bucket.

…A giant dance party ensued.

Little did I know, the person carrying the bucket was working for the event and had six others trailing behind them who were trying to encourage participants to clean up and help keep the space clean.

And what an efficient, fun, and aligned strategy that was.

All seven workers would circle and dance and hype up whoever helped clean and turned the space into an immediate mini-party. They even gave me a giant blue cape with the music show logo on it as a gift. And I flew to a bunch of others and continued the vide: I mysteriously pointed towards random crushed bottles on the ground, the bucket, and continued the dance party whenever somebody obliged.

Sure, you could just send workers around with buckets and garbage claws. And you can hope they don’t complain and look miserable while they clean.

Or you can get creative in your approach and find a better way… a more fun way… a more aligned way.

Building A “Perfect” World

Published on April 20, 2026

Imagine being born a prince or a princess.

And growing up with parents who wanted to make your life perfect.

Imagine what that might look like… imagine what essentially unlimited resources (being king and queen) could do… imagine what they might do to make sure you never knew a moment of suffering and had every need and desire met…

Imagine them building up a wall around your castle so that you never saw suffering or met people of different classes… imagine indulging in the best foods daily… receiving every gift you even slightly wanted… having servants cater to your every need and demand…

…Imagine what that might teach you about the world.

I’ll tell you what it’ll teach you: not much.

Not only is the above the story of Buddha… but it’s the story countless parents play in their head of what they want for their children—whom are the most precious things in the world to them.

…And protecting them, caring for them, and creating a “perfect” little world for them to live in is an instinctual part of a parent’s nature.

But the more the world skews towards “perfect”—in the sense of every desire being met and no suffering—the less it actually teaches us about the world, isn’t it?

Because life is imperfect. The world is imperfect. Humans are imperfect.

Suffering is everywhere. Needs aren’t something given—they’re earned. Desires aren’t meant to always be fulfilled.

THAT is the nature of things.

And the more you intermingle with the “imperfect” world… the more flawed humans you interact with… the more suffering you see through to the other side…

The more you’ll learn about life for real.

Location Associations

Published on April 19, 2026

In the modern age, many people work remotely. And common advice for people who do is to create a space that’s for work only. This way, the brain starts to associate the work with the space and eventually, just stepping into the space can trigger work mode.

In self-defense, the opposite practice is needed. In many cases, self-defense is practiced in martial arts schools, in very specific rooms, that often have a sacred element to them. But, much like how our mind starts to associate work mode with our designated work space, our mind can make a similar association with self-defense mode and our martial arts training space.

And we’ll rarely ever have to use our self-defense skills for real when we’re there… it’s precisely when we’re NOT there that we’ll have to use them. Which means we won’t be mentally primed and may get caught off guard.

If we can do careful visualization, serious role play, or reality based training, however… our mindset will start to expand outside of the martial arts school and into the rest of the world… which is an excellent strategy since that’s where it’ll be needed.

And this isn’t the only example of a skillset that’s required to be used in reality versus a classroom or computer screen… the question I have for you today is… which skill(s) are those for you?

How Would You Describe Dancing?

Published on April 18, 2026

I might say… spontaneous joy being expressed by the body.

…Which isn’t the only way to express spontaneous joy.

But if you want to dance and you don’t… for whatever reason… does the spontaneous joy ever get expressed?

How Much Time Do You Spend Thinking Each Day?

Published on April 16, 2026

When I’m trying to think, it’s so much easier when I’m not being told what to think.

As I sit down to write each day, if I’m staring at a blank page… the thinking gets reflected back into my own mind and I’m able to settle and sort through my thoughts until I land on something I feel is worth sharing.

…If I’m staring at my email inbox, however, my thinking gets pulled into the subject lines, the senders, the questions that might arise over the different pieces of mail, and I’m no longer thinking internally—my eyes are gathering info that’s telling me what I should be thinking about.

The same is true if you’re trying to think, but you’re looking at a screen playing passive entertainment… or when you’re listening to lyrical music… or when you’re in a highly stimulating environment. It’s really hard to think when your senses are being bombarded with other thoughts and opinions and emotions.

This is why going for a walk in nature is so helpful for thinking. The trees don’t tell you what to think. Nor do the flowers or grasses or animals. The wind doesn’t have an opinion. And neither does the rain, snow, or sunshine.

And if that’s not an option available to you when you need to think the most, never underestimate the power of closing your eyes and sitting still. Bonus points for noise cancelling headphones. Double bonus points for noninvasive neurostimulating type music.

Try it. Do a little bit of it each day. But don’t take it for granted. It’s becoming harder than ever to find uninterrupted personal thinking space. It’s necessary. And it takes effort.

GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO

Published on April 14, 2026

When there’s a lot going on and a lot to do, people can busy themselves in the distractions—just like they’re used to doing in their everyday private lives with screens, internet, and AI.

When there’s not a lot going on and nothing to do, most modern day people feel immediately a lack… like there’s something missing… and all of the usual fast-paced, quick dopamine-hitting energy pools and can feel pent up in a way that can sometimes feel like anxiety or irritability. Like: GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO.

But what many of us don’t realize is that what we don’t give to distractions… doesn’t hurt our inner self… but is actually what we get to keep for ourselves. And that feeling of pent up energy? Is the perfect pool to channel and pull from for imagination, creativity, inner work, connection building, personal growth activities, and so on.

I’ve noticed this in myself as of late: the anxiety that builds the longer I avoid looking at my phone: particularly as I sit down to write each afternoon. “I’m missing something.” “I need to check on this or that.” “I wonder if he/she replied yet.” …And sometimes I cave. But sometimes I stay in that feeling of “anxiety” long enough to realize, it’s just a well of energy waiting to be tapped into and channelled into the very tasks that add depth and meaning to my life.

…And so it is for you.