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Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

It’s Never Just About Us

Published on January 19, 2025

Some of my martial arts students celebrated one of the biggest accomplishments in their lives today by achieving their black belt or higher degree.

And at the end of it all… when it was all said and done… every single graduate who I saw was looking to celebrate their big moment with family, friends, and loved ones.

Not a single graduate (who I saw) got their belt, patted their own back, and just left without any kind of exchange.

This should tell us something about our journeys… it’s never just about us.

Our biggest accomplishments feel empty without having someone to share them with… all of our growth is for nothing if nobody is there to feel the impact of it… and when you boil it all down… nothing we ever accomplish in life is done so alone.

Create space on your journey for others to join in. Keep loved ones looped into your journey and connect with them on both your high points and low points. And always try to balance growth with contribution and gratitude.

This is how the great accomplishments of our lives are made great—by the great people we’re surrounded with, supported by, and able to share our greatest moments with.

What To Do In The Calm Before The Storm

Published on January 17, 2025

Tomorrow there’s a black belt and higher degree test for almost 50 of my martial arts students.

Tonight, we had one final open workout.

At the end, I gathered them together and gave them three simple pieces of advice:

1. Drink lots of water. Hard physical performances are made proportionally harder based on how dehydrated our body is. And hydration doesn’t happen 20 minutes before a really hard physical performance… it happens 20 hours before.

2. Don’t forget electrolytes. Many of the students will be fasting prior to the test so this reminder is key. Without electrolytes our muscles won’t function properly and can oftentimes lead to cramps, spasms, less fine motor control, and general fatigue or dizziness. Electrolytes are the key to strong performances and can be consumed in a capsule.

3. Get as much rest as you can. The day before the test is not the day for hard practice. It’s the day to trust in your hard practice. It’s the day to take your mind off of the hard practice. It’s the day to appreciate all of the hard practice you’ve done and just allow your body to… soften.

…In the calm before the storm, we need to learn how to allow ourselves to be calm.

…So that when the storm comes, we can RAGE and give it our undeniable all.

When The Owner Comes Up To Your Table

Published on January 16, 2025

Today, while out at lunch, the owner came up to my table and started a light conversation.

She asked me how the food was… told me a little bit about the dish I ordered and how she made it… and told me to be safe while driving because of heavy snowfall.

It couldn’t have lasted more than 2 minutes and wow… what an impression it made.

What’s more is that before she came to my table, she was chatting it up with another table that had a mom, a dad, and a newborn baby. And while they were chatting I overheard the mom say, “Yeah, it’s her birthday today and we wanted to bring her in to see you! …Can you believe it has already been a year?”

Now, I don’t know if they *actually* know each other outside of the restaurant or not, but I like to think she started a light conversation with them a year-ish ago and they, too, were impressed and kept coming back as a result…

This is really all it takes to make a lasting impression…

A little initiative… A good intention… and a genuine interest…

The rest… surely enough… tends to take care of itself.

The Formula For Impact. Taught By Spiders.

Published on January 16, 2025

We catch opportunities in life much like how a spider catches dinner.

We don’t wait for opportunities to fly into our mouth… we create a web to catch them.

Try to make your web too big and you’ll have but a single strand of webbing circumferenced over an excessive space with a big hole in the middle… and your opportunities will fly right through. This is what happens when we try to make a difference or create a connection that involves too big of a jump from where we are.

This seems to be the default in a world that has the world at their fingertips. We see it, the full scale of it, and are constantly getting fed the image of the .01% who are impacting it, at that scale, and we want to do the same… so we try and skip the whole growing, building, developing process and try to just web a strand from where we are to the other side of the world in hopes of catching the opportunity easily.

But, of course, this doesn’t pan out.

Focus more on what’s in closer proximity… on building connections with people, places, and things in your local community and utilize resources in your own backyard… and what you might find is an appropriately sized web that catches an appropriate amount of opportunity.

…And slowly, you’ll grow into a bigger spider, capable of creating larger webs with thicker strands that’ll catch more opportunities (dinners) which will only perpetuate the process further and further from there.

This is the formula to impact. Not one long piece of webbing… but an appropriately sized, complex web that no bug can get past.

What Advice Would You Give Your 17 Year Old Self?

Published on January 14, 2025

My dad once remarked that I was as “focused as a laser” when I was around 17. And he commented on how remarkable it was for someone at that age to be like that…

  • I was excelling in school.
  • I was in a serious relationship with an amazing girl.
  • I was three years into a job I loved and knew I wanted to make into a career.
  • I was competing at high level martial arts tournaments—and succeeding.
  • I had an incredible group of friends who knew how to have a good time.
  • And I had the most supportive and loving family throughout.

In hindsight, when I think back to this time and everything that would soon unfold over the next several years, I would probably tell myself to relax that laser a little and enjoy being a 17-year-old more.

…Because while being focused like a laser is a gift, so is wandering, exploring, and spending time experimenting while life is simpler and you’re living on somebody else’s dime.

Do I regret living how I did at 17? No. I know it’s precisely what made me into who I am today and I know that if I changed myself back then, the butterfly effect would probably have me in an upside down life that I actually did regret.

But, what’s important to remember is that my 17-year-old self is still inside me somewhere. As is every other version of who I’ve been in the past. And inner work conversations like this, with them, is precisely how my today self grows into the evolved version of that 17 year old…

…So I can live with that hindsight wisdom—today.

The Customer Isn’t Always Right

Published on January 13, 2025

Another observation from meeting my sister’s favorite people yesterday…

They all met each other through work—as waitresses, hostesses, and bartenders at a local fine dining restaurant—and all commented on how much they loved their job versus other places they’ve worked.

When I asked them why they loved it so much, they all replied that it was the owner that made the difference.

He trusted them to do their job(s) and wouldn’t micromanage, was always fair and kind, and would always tell them that they were his top priority—not the customers.

And by focusing on his key people, of course, his key people were able to focus on the customers. When you hire the right people, wanting to succeed is a given… focusing on nurturing the absolute best environment possible and giving them the tools they need to succeed should be that hirer’s top priority from that point forward.

…Undermining them, spreading toxicity, and cutting out their legs—even if it’s what the customer wants—is not what the business needs.

On Attracting Amazing People Into Your Life

Published on January 12, 2025

Tonight, I met some of my sister’s favorite people for the first time.

And towards the end of the night, as she was reinforcing to me why she loved them as much as she did—because of how kind, funny, supportive, adventurous, generous, loving, spontaneous, and so forth, they each were—she told me she often wondered how she got so lucky.

And I told her it was simple…

The people she attracted into her life were a reflection of her. It was because she was kind, funny, supportive, adventurous, generous, loving, spontaneous, and so forth that those very same kinds of people were attracted to her. And that it was no coincidence that so many amazing people loved being friends with her.

…Because she put the work in to become amazing herself.

P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.