Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

Distance From Truth

Published on February 5, 2026

Osho says that misery is nothing but distance from truth.

Think about the proximity of truth in some of the best/worst relationships you’ve ever known. The relationships riddled with lies were probably the most miserable. And I’m not even just talking about lies with your partner… I’m including lies you’ve told yourself… about who you are, what you want, and how you’re going to show up in the relationship to make it work. And I’m sure the inverse is true as well. Lies move pain (misery) into the future—truth moves pain (misery) into the past.

Think, too, about some of the best/worst job or career paths you’ve ever pursued. The work that was most aligned with the truth of your personality/spirit, was the work you undoubtedly most enjoyed. And the work that felt like a direct contradiction I’m sure caused the most misery. But, again, we can’t be true to our work until we’re true to ourselves. We need to do personality tests, build skills, join clubs, follow our innate curiosities, experiment/side-hustle, and, of course, do inner work to reveal our truth which we can then align with work.

And even just think about some of the best/worse moments in your life… when you were crossing items off your bucket list—doing things that truly fulfill you. Or when you were forced to do something you really didn’t want to do or hated every second of… that was so against your inner truth…

Once you understand this, moving towards truth can become a mantra of sorts that’ll guide you in just about every dimension in life. Once you uncover, of course, what your truth is.

Something Has Got To Give

Published on February 3, 2026

One of my employees mentioned struggling to get her work done after being asked to take on new work.

What I told her was simple: you’re being asked to take on new work because we see you as the person who can help us solve this problem in our business.

And what I suggested she do is prioritize her work tasks and continue to take on the highest level, most important tasks on that list (it’s what adds value to her position and what leads to better titles, positions, and pay) and to delegate the rest of the lower level, easier to do tasks.

What doesn’t lead to better titles, positions, and pay is overcommitting and underperforming. Burning out isn’t good for anybody—not her and not the business. And neither is spreading herself too thin day-in and day-out and pretending like everything is fine.

And if delegating isn’t an option for you in the context of your life… then consider deploying the same strategy, but automating or deleting those lowest level tasks instead.

Something has got to give.

And if it’s not some of your tasks… then it’s probably gonna be you.

Misery Has No Outer Cause

Published on February 2, 2026

…It is only ever caused from within.

People saying ugly things about you? …Speaks only to the quality of mind from which they came—ugly words come from ugly minds. Nobody can insult you without your consent.

The news featuring hateful, horrific events? …Illustrates only the need for its antidote: love. We don’t fight fire with fire. We don’t gouge an eye for an eye. We strategize, organize, and fuel our efforts with life’s strongest emotional resource: love.

Living a toxic/imbalanced/unhealthy lifestyle? …It’s supposed to result in misery, because it’s supposed to force you to change. Understanding this emotion changes the emotion. It’s no longer something awful to be suppressed—it’s something caring that’s to be honored.

To realize this is to realize an unbelievable power.

One where insults, hate, and toxicity no longer cause misery.

…But have no effect on your inner weather at all.

What affects your inner weather is what you allow… what you consent to… what you honor, organize, and prioritize.

Proceed accordingly.

Is It Possible To Experience An Extraordinary Moment That Isn’t Self-Created?

Published on February 1, 2026

In other words, can we experience something extraordinary without any active involvement or effort on our end?

I’m not sure we can.

In fact, when I list some of the most extraordinary moments I’ve experienced in my life, they’re all moments I was very much involved with facilitating. Things like:

Skydiving (researched, booked, paid for, attended, trained, got on the plane, stepped out, etc.)
Travel/Cultural Experiences (researched, booked, paid for, packed for, traveled to, noticed, absorbed, etc.)
Milestone Moments (graduations, big purchases, martial arts ranks obtained, etc.—all worked incredibly hard for)
Deep Connection Moments (heart-to-heart conversations, intimate energy exchanges, the depth that comes from sharing the same long-term path, etc.)
Flow State Moments (when immersed in an aligned game/activity, when dancing/celebrating without self-consciousness, when training/being challenged appropriately, etc).
Indomitable Spirit Moments (when being pushed to my limits physically, mentally, or emotionally).

I’m not sure we can just passively sit around, wait, and get hit by an extraordinary life moment that’ll make it onto our life’s highlight reel.

Sure there’s luck, serendipity, and happenstance. But not without our active involvement in some way, shape, or form. In fact, my experience has been that the more I do of the latter, the more I tend to get of the former.

Which is worth reflecting on… does this ring true for you? What are some of your life’s most extraordinary moments? What moments are you actively building to be soon experienced in the next week? Month? Year? Decade? What extraordinary life moments are on your bucket list that you can start actively building for today?

How Often Do You Upgrade Your Thoughts?

Published on February 1, 2026

One of the best things I ever did for my career? Daily writing.
One of the best things I ever did for my relationships? Daily writing.
One of the best things I ever did for my mental health? Daily writing.

Here’s why: writing is thinking upgraded.

We download the raw content of our mind in our initial drafts…

Each edit not only improves our piece, but updates the original thought process.

And so if we ever download that content again… it’ll be the updated, upgraded version.

…And the more we repeat the process the more upgraded our thinking becomes.

So when I’m asked to give a presentation at work, my most recently upgraded thoughts get pulled… when I’m asked a question by a family member, friend, lover, etc., my answer is a reflection of what my most recently upgraded thoughts are… when I’m alone and thinking existentially or self-critically, the thoughts I pull are the most upgraded ones.

And if you haven’t written or done any inner work in 10 years… your most recently upgraded thoughts are going to be from 10 years ago. The same is true for a year ago, a month ago, a week ago, or a day ago.

…And not only that, but think about the frequency, too. One upgrade per year? Per month? Per week? Daily?

A bug fix is a bug fix is a bug fix—they all matter. Big upgrades and small ones.

But maybe think about how you might increase the frequency of them in your life.

I promise you it’ll be worth it.

Recognizing Moments Of Reward As They’re Happening

Published on January 30, 2026

Every afternoon, between 2-3pm, I:

Put on noise-cancelling headphones
Sit quietly into my posture-correcting chair
Sip on a scorching cup of black coffee
Read, re-read, think, re-think, stare at blank pages…
And write

And it’s one of my favorite hours of my day.

Not because of what gets done… but because of how much reward comes from the moments themselves within the hour.

I feel this way about my time spent teaching, practicing martial arts, playing basketball, dancing at music shows, conversing with my favorite people…

These are the things we should be packing our days with—the things we don’t want to end.

I dread the day when I won’t be able to do even one of the above mentioned activities… because this is how I’m most enjoying spending my life’s time.

And today’s reminder is simple: don’t get so caught up in trying to finish, trying to be done, in being “productive”, in being “efficient”, or in getting to whatever is next that you forget to enjoy the reward that comes from doing your favorite things right here in the now.

Reading With A Brilliant Little History Professor At Your Bedside

Published on January 29, 2026

History was a subject I struggled with in school.

Dates, names, countries… I had such a hard time remembering specifics.

A curiosity has come alive, however, as of late while reading historical fiction that’s changing this internal narrative.

It started with a fascination of Miyamoto Musashi and the historical context that surrounded him during feudal Japan.

And has grown considerably within the past few weeks as I began to read All The Light We Cannot See after having recently finished The Book Thief.

Typically, reading was something I did to understand overarching story lines, general plot, and to absorb key insights. Dates, names, countries… I mostly just skimmed and paid little attention to.

Now I find myself curiously doing deep dives into dates and what was happening in countries at that time and what it might mean for the character context.

And let me tell you… this is an excellent use of AI.

I use Claude and it’s like having a brilliant little history professor at my bedside ready to answer my ignorance with crucial digestible context.

Some questions I’ve recently asked: “What was happening in the world, specifically around France, around August 1944…” and “Can you give me an overview of d-day?” and “What does congenital cataracts… bilateral… mean?” and “The story went back in time. Can you tell me what was happening in Germany in 1936 roughly?” and “What was so humiliating for Germany at the end of ww1?”

I share this for two reasons: (1) “I’m not good at history” is a made up story—one that can be rewritten at any time; (2) Using AI as a comprehension companion is a highly underrated life hack.