The full collection of explorations.
Starting a stopped body is hard.
Keeping a body in motion is easier.
Even if that motion is heading in the wrong direction.
Redirecting is easier than starting.
Which is why you should start even without knowing which direction is the perfect direction to head. You can always turn the steering wheel as you go. It’s really no big deal.
Just do what’s hard, start your damn engine, and get going already.
When you stop the intake of information you give your mind the space it needs to process the information it has already taken in.
Never stopping the influx of information is like continuing to open new tabs on new tabs on new tabs in your browser.
Soon, the clutter overwhelms the machine and everything gets throttled. And, resultantly, you get frustrated, angry, and/or upset.
Rather than getting emotional at your computer—try closing yourself off to all inputs.
Stop opening new tabs. Stop watching videos. Stop having conversations. Stop reading books and articles. Stop listening to podcasts. Just, stop it all.
At least for a period of time. And at least once a day.
Just, let it all—settle.
In more cases than not, what your mind needs isn’t more information; what it needs is more space to process the excessive information it has already consumed.
In short, what you need is to plan more nothing into your days.
Life isn’t only a byproduct of what you do—it’s a byproduct of how you do what you do.
Take writing as an example. A book isn’t only a byproduct of the words that are used.
It’s a byproduct of how those words are arranged; how they are grammatically formatted; and how well they work together to communicate ideas.
If you took all of the words within War And Peace, for example, and rearranged them, changed the grammar, and disregarded the context—one of the all-time greats will be completely lost.
Same exact words. Completely different byproduct.
And so it is with life, too. What you do matters—yes. Just like what words you pick when writing a book matters. But, you can’t ignore the how.
How are you doing what you’re doing? Are you present or elsewhere? Do you care or are you only pretending to care? Are you pacing yourself or sprinting? Are you being true to who you are or are you putting up a front? Are your priorities really straight or are they actually backwards? Are you acting selfishly or selflessly?
The bottom line? Actions matter. But, don’t forget that intent colors actions with signals that are easily perceived by those whom the actions affect.
Asking questions doesn’t make you a fool; it’s you refusing to become a fool.
Seeking a coach isn’t a sign of incompetence; it’s you refusing to become incompetent.
Talking to a therapist isn’t an admission of poor mental health; it’s you refusing to let your mental health get to a poor state.
Asking for help isn’t you giving up, it’s you refusing to give up.
People generally move through life with their guard up.
They know what it’s like to be hit and shell themselves from the possibility of getting hit again.
Acting in hate, anger, rage only reinforces this fear and makes the world a harder place.
For them; for you; for all of us.
What we need is more people who can act in love, patience, and compassion.
People who can prove to us that we don’t always need to have our guard up so high.
People who can help soften the texture of this otherwise hard, hard world.
The best way to beat a liar is to not be like one.
The best way to beat a cheater is to not be like one.
The best way to beat a bully is to not be like one.
For as soon as you act like one, you’ve become one.
And to have become one is to have joined forces with the opposing team.
If you want to be beautiful don’t make ugly choices.
If you want to be excellent don’t make average choices.
If you want to be a professional don’t make amateur choices.
Identify who you want to become and align your choices accordingly.
Worth noting: intent, goals, aspirations, dreams, desires—all have nothing to do with it.
We are a byproduct of our choices. Nothing more and nothing less.