Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

Current State vs Future State Thinking

Published on July 22, 2025

I remember one of my ex-staff members reaching out to me saying they might be interested in coming back to take on a full-time role after college at the martial arts school I ran.

And I remember thinking to myself how tough it would be to hire another full-time employee with the current state of the school at that time.

When speaking to my associate and boss about it, they answered completely differently and with an unhesitating, “Yes.”

…Because they weren’t thinking about how they would make it work with the current state of the school—they were thinking about the future state of the school once this person added that much value to the business—if not more.

And this is a mindset I’ve tried to hold close ever since—especially when it comes to teaming up with people who can potentially add tons of value.

Don’t think in terms of current state… think in terms of future state.

…All I had to do was make sure the culture, training, and systems were in place so as to pave a clear way.

In what ways might you benefit from thinking future state vs current state?

Flight Delayed

Published on July 21, 2025

Yesterday, my flight got delayed.

The first announcement was that the plane had been sitting in the sun all day and the A/C wasn’t able to cool off the inside of the plane enough to allow people to board. So they told us they were going to keep trying and keep us posted.

The second announcement was that they attached a separate A/C unit onto the plane that should help expedite the cooling process.

The third announcement was that the previously mentioned A/C unit wasn’t working and was only blowing more hot outside air into the plane.

The fourth announcement was that they were going to have us fly out on a completely different plane that was still 40 minutes away from landing at the airport.

And finally, after around three hours of delays, we finally were able to board the freshly landed plane.

You can imagine the irritation and frustration experienced by the people waiting at that gate.

The people I was with, however, ended up having a great time.

We had some great conversations. We joked and laughed. We shared ideas, pictures, and videos. And, in retrospect, it ended up not being a three hour inconvenience, but a three hour opportunity to connect more deeply with the people I happened to be delayed with.

When you stop letting things outside of your control ruin your state… suddenly… your state isn’t ruined nearly as often. Because, generally speaking, your state is always something that’s within your control. Get it?

It’s as John Wooden so famously once said, “Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

An Impressive Response To Losing

Published on July 20, 2025

I took a martial arts class from a former UFC fighter yesterday and he said something I loved.

He described to the class a time when he competed against an incredible Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor and lost.

And rather than talk trash… or print the guy’s picture out and place it on his treadmill… or even sulk in his loss and beat himself up over it… guess what he did?

…He invited the guy to his school to teach a seminar and then took a private lesson with him after.

I knew very little about this guy before I took his class, but I can tell you what… I have a pretty good idea of why he’s successful after just that one story.

“Is That A Buddha?”

Published on July 17, 2025

I donated blood today.

And for whatever reason, I was being short with my answers and quiet.

Sensing this, the guy doing the blood drawing didn’t try too hard to start a conversation, just was doing his job quietly and efficiently.

Right after he stuck the needle into my vein and the blood starting swirling down the tube out and away from my body, he asked me two simple questions:

“Is that a buddha?” —Referring to my tattoo. “No, it’s a reading warrior.” —And then continued to explain what it represented to me.
And “Are you reading anything good right now?” —An easy segue from the above discovery.

Which resulted in a fine conversation that lasted the rest of the appointment. He recommended several books to me and I to him.

The takeaway for me is to, yes, meet people where they are and if they’re being short with their answers and quiet—maybe don’t force the opposite kind of energy onto them. But, maybe don’t assume they’re in a bad mood or hate you. A few simple questions are always classy when interacting with unknown or sullen people.

The “Green Monkey” Strategy

Published on July 16, 2025

An 8 year old martial arts student of mine was having a breakdown in the lobby today.

When he finally opened up to me, he said he was having a “really bad day” and his mom was forcing him to take the class in spite of it.

After thinking about it for a minute I asked him, “Do you know why mom is trying to force you to take class today?”

And after a few moments of contemplative silence I told him, “It’s because of green monkey.”

You can imagine the facial expressions that followed—which was partially my goal.

But, it lead to a very important point.

I told him that our minds are awful at negating thoughts. Meaning, if we tell ourselves not to think about our “really bad day”—all we’re going to think about is our really bad day. Just like if I told you not to think about a pink elephant—you can’t help but think of one.

What I suggested was mom wasn’t trying to make him miserable… mom was simply trying to give him a “green monkey” for his mind to focus on for a while—so that he didn’t have to dwell on his really bad day any longer.

By attending martial arts class and moving his body, pointing his mind at specific techniques, and connecting with other students and instructors—he would undoubtedly feel better. Certainly more so than continued dwelling would make him feel.

And guess what…?

He said it made sense… went to class… and left class jump kicking with a smile on his face.

Never underestimate the power of the “green monkey” strategy in your life.

To Enjoy While Not-Doing

Published on July 15, 2025

“Sitting by the fire at Allegany, listening to the creek, watching the critters, and losing oneself in the fire burning down is the absolute gold of getting away to anywhere. My love of Finger Lakes the same. Yes, it’s great to get out to the wineries, or hike a trail, but it’s better to get back and watch the water…”
My father

This was a reply my dad sent to my post, “Add Sitting To Your Travel Itinerary—Yes, Sitting…“

…Which was about how you can learn just as much from a place by mindfully sitting as you can from actively sightseeing.

But, I think you can also enjoy as much from a place by sitting—by a fire or body of water—as you can from doing (e.g. hiking a long nature trail or Jet-skiing).

In fact, what’s interesting about your ability to enjoy while remaining still… is that it’s reflective of your ability to enjoy—pure and simple.

The thing about doing, doing, doing is that it’s a form of active entertainment… there’s constantly refreshing scenery, there’s dopamine hits, there’s things to do with your body and places for your mind to curiously explore… it’s easy to enjoy while doing.

But, it takes a much more mature mind to enjoy while not-doing. To enjoy while sitting still. To enjoy when things are calm, when there’s no quick dopamine hits, when there’s nothing to actively do or think about…

This is the kind of deep enjoyment that comes from deep inner work… and it eventually gets to the point where it surpasses even the most incredible of active entertainments/adventures…

“MEDITATE!”

Published on July 14, 2025

A student in the martial arts school I teach at was having a complete meltdown in the lobby the other day.

I was in an office doing paperwork when I heard, “Let me GO!” “Let ME GO!!” LET ME GO!!!”

What was happening was this child’s mom had to leave him at the school with his uncle because she had an appointment—and he did NOT want her to go.

I gathered both the student and the uncle into my office so the mom could leave.

Once there, the uncle—who was very compassionate and well-intentioned—was matching the child’s temper-tantrum with flustered, emotional energy as he offered suggestions for calming down: “It’s going to be okay!” “You’ll see MOM LATER!!” “TRY YOUR MEDITATION!!”

Seeing that this was only feeding the tantrum, I asked the uncle to leave so I could work with him individually.

Once gone, all I did was sit in front of the door (so he couldn’t chase mom into the parking lot), legs crossed in half-lotus, and… meditated.

Here’s what happened:

His temper-tantrum slowly burned out.
He sat quietly in his chair with his upset face on for a while.
And after about 20 minutes, asked me, “…Now what?”

And I said, now we get you some water, walk you into class to either watch or participate, and you go home to see mom so y’all can hear about each other’s days.

And that’s exactly what happened.

See, the uncle was right—meditation was a fantastic idea (especially if it was something I intuited they had done/been working on).

All I did was model meditation instead of insisting he “MEDITATE!” while in a flustered state.