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Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

Busyness Battlefield

Published on August 6, 2023

The busier I get, the more protective I get over my down time.

When you approach “busy time” with the same attitude you approach “idle time,” all of your time slowly gets infiltrated—because the easiest way to get more done is to fill more open time slots.

But, that’s not the way.

All busy and no idle makes us anxious, exhausted, and underperforming human beings.

Increasing busyness requires a proportional increase in boundary strength. For the way to get more done isn’t to try to sustain battling harder for longer.

…It’s to do what’s required to sharpen the sword of your mind before stepping foot onto that busyness battlefield—so that you’re maximally focused, energized, and prepared to slay each task that comes up along the way.

Be like the warrior when planning your schedule: the more intense the upcoming battle, the more that’s done to focus the mind.

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

Life Knows

Published on August 6, 2023

Today, I tested one of my 8 year-old martial arts students for his green belt.

At the end of each belt test, it’s customary to challenge the students’ spirit by having them do a series of hard exercises.

Today, before the start of the spirit test, I asked him, “What would you rather do: push-ups or sit-ups?”

He said, “Push-ups.”

So, I had him to do max sit-ups instead.

…If we always had things go the way we wanted them to, how would we ever build spirit?

Indomitable spirit is built precisely by doing things that are the kind of hard that we wouldn’t have picked if we had the choice. Because if we had the choice, we’d always pick the hard that was the easiest. And while the “easier” hard is better than no hard, it’s the “hard” hard that trains spirit to be indomitable.

…And I think this is something that life knows, too.

P.s. I finished uploading quotes from The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk. You can read my favorite 55 quotes here.

Practicing Frustration

Published on August 4, 2023

This morning I caught myself practicing frustration.

I was literally envisioning my enraged facial expressions, body language, and word choice if the shirts I ordered came in late, didn’t fit, or were poorly made…

…What a waste of time.

A Step Back From Complicated

Published on August 3, 2023

When I first started writing daily, I felt a strong inclination to share pictures with each post.

I knew that images grab attention and might hook along more readers.

I also knew that images can add a level of communication for the visually inclined learners that words alone might not provide.

But, what I also knew was finding the right image added steps to my daily process… it took time to thoroughly search, download, reformat, resize, upload, caption, add metadata, etc.

…Sometimes, this process even took me longer than writing the words themselves!

Which is why, in spite of the obvious benefits of having images associated with my writing, I decided against using them.

It’s important to remember that when you set out to do something, you don’t have to do it in the absolute best way you know how. Sometimes (oftentimes), it’s best to just keep it simple and cut out anything and everything that doesn’t have to do with the core of the work itself.

A single step back from complicated is worth a dozen steps forward (or more) in simplicity.

It’s Not Over

Published on August 2, 2023

I live around the corner from a large church.

Every now and again I’ll turn the corner in my car—usually lost in thought thinking about my “problems” and how I might solve them—and see a hearse parked in front with a few people dressed in suits and black dresses surrounding it.

It’s a jolting reminder that, regardless of where you are on your journey, it’s not over.

As hard as things might be, as scary as the future might appear, as painful as the past might feel… so long as there is still breath and beat in your body… let there, too, be life.

And by life I don’t mean existence… I mean life. Time spent doing all of the things the person in that hearse maybe wish they were able to do in the final few days of their life.

…It’s now or never, y’all.

Let’s journey each day like we mean it.

Imagination Decline

Published on August 1, 2023

I got an email from a writer I follow online titled: How to create 1,000 content ideas in 11 minutes.

With the first line revealing the secret as: “…look no further than ChatGPT.”

And while I have no doubt that this is possible and true… the thought of 1,000 content ideas produced in a matter of minutes for me to then process gives me ANXIETY.

Sure, I know I don’t have to read through and process them all—but, why create them then?

If there’s anything I’ve learned from writing 1,200+ days in a row now… it’s that we don’t need 1,200 ideas to write about right now. Or in 11 minutes for that matter.

What we need is just one idea to focus on just for today.

And the best way, from my experience, to come up with that idea isn’t to default to ChatGPT—it’s to look within and spend a good chunk of time in uncomfortable quietness / boredom.

While it’s true that ChatGPT gets better the more we use it (and we at understanding how to use it), what also gets better the more we use it is… get this… our imagination.

…And imagination seems to be in a proportional decline as ChatGPT usage continues to spike.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way for us.

Life’s Footsteps

Published on July 31, 2023

Time spent in creative self-expression is time never wasted.

In those moments when we’re spreading paint, choreographing movement, wrestling with words, etc… we’re staking claim to the existence that is uniquely our own.

…Consider for a moment all of the things you uniquely created since being born.

Could anyone else have created those things in the exact same ways? Surely not. And for something to spontaneously arise from within based on the unique DNA, experiences, and perspectives of the creator—is something, by definition, incredibly special. What a shame to be born a unique manifestation of life and to rarely express it!

It’s with this in mind that I encourage you to spend more time in creative endeavors.

Not only will you never regret it, but you’ll leave behind the rightful legacy that is uniquely your own. A path of metaphorical footsteps that, with each creation another imprint in the earth formed. Proving your existence and ultimately leaving behind a path composed of colors, movements, and paragraphs that we—all of those who come after—may absorb and use to influence the next creative expressions of our own.

Leaving behind a legacy not only of footprints in the metaphorical earth, but a legacy of footprints along the metaphorical hearts of all those who your creations leave an imprint on.