Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

Progress During Plateaus

Published on October 8, 2023

One of the most frustrating things about plateaus is the lack of growth… the hair-pulling stagnation… the continued effort minus the measurable results.

And it’s so easy to quit during times of plateau because where you once had progress—one of life’s biggest motivators—you now seem to only have effort. Which, I’ll go ahead and say for the both of us, is a sucky trade.

But, what if I told you you were missing an entire dimension of progress measuring?

See, in today’s society, progress of body and mind are measured almost exclusively.

For body, think: weight lifted, distance travelled, rounds completed, inches around the waist, scales that measure weight, body fat %, BMI charts, and so forth. For mind, think: grades in school, standardized tests, certifications, courses, books read, problems solved, connections made, diplomas earned, and so on.

But, how does one measure the progress of their spirit?

…Not so easily defined, eh?

You might say: ability to meditate or how long a person can endure a cold shower…

But, what about: by measuring how long a person can carry forward when they’ve hit a plateau?

…By doing the work even when it’s hard. By showing up even when the efforts aren’t yielding the same incremental results. By continuing to try their best even when—especially when—it’s easy to quit.

What if effort in spite of progress is precisely how progress is made in the realm of the spirit?

P.s. Looking for a more specific guide on how you can carry forward—even when forward is tough? My NEW guide will help.

Showing Up (Too)

Published on October 8, 2023

At the martial arts conference I’m attending, there was a Tai Chi class being offered for all attendees at 6:30am.

Out of 100+ attendees, only three showed up.

Why? Who knows…

Too early…? Too slow…? Not “sexy” enough…?

That’s all besides the point.

The point is that these sessions are usually PACKED…

I knew it… and the other two people who showed up knew it…

But, the instructor—who had to have known it (being an attendee at the same conference since before I was born)—didn’t miss a single beat.

He didn’t give one care to the audience size. Not one huff and not one puff. Not one feeling of awkwardness, frustration, or upset was expressed or sensed from me as a student.

In fact, it was all the contrary.

He was genuinely happy we—all three of us—were there. He was completely present with us during the entirety of the session. He was interesting, methodical, and deliberate. He was a great story teller. And he was evidently having a ton of fun.

This is all to say, he didn’t show up with expectations; he showed up with love.

And love lights the way for whomever and however many care enough to do their part and show up, too.

Moral Code

Published on October 7, 2023

I’m at a Martial Arts Conference this weekend and one of the presenters said the following:

“When my daughter, 14 years old, starts dating—in 23 years (said only half-jokingly)—the person who takes her out better be able to articulate a moral code. Because if they can’t, that’s because there probably is no code.”

Regardless of whether or not you’re dating, married, single… if I asked you right now to articulate your moral code… could you?

As in, could you articulate to me, right now, what you stand for… what you value… what you believe… what guides you… what keeps your moral compass calibrated… what “forward” on your moral compass looks like…

Because if you can’t articulate it… what you have to ask yourself is—with full honestly—is there one there?

P.s. If you’re looking for help calibrating “forward” on your compass, this guide will help.

Skipping Thinking

Published on October 5, 2023

Thoughts that we try to remember end up throttling our brains—like a skipping record that’s stuck playing the same beat.

Here’s how I imagine it going down:

Average thought
Average thought
Average thought
Average thought
Average thought
GREAT IDEA
REMEMBER
REMEMBER
Aver—REMEMBER
Averag—REMEMBER
Avera—REMEMBER
Ave—REMEMBER
GRE—REMEMBER

Essentially all further thoughts get halted as our brains try and remember the one.

We need to write down/record the random thoughts/creative ideas we have so as to free up our minds for smooth, continued thinking.

The more we try to remember, the fewer total ideas we’ll have.

And the fewer ideas we have, the lower the chances we’ll come across (allow) our best ones.

P.s. I use the notes app on my phone for this. It’s simple and easy. Don’t complicate this. You just need an easily accessible place where you can brain dump on the fly.

The Pulls

Published on October 4, 2023

I aim to upload 2-5ish quotes to MoveMe Quotes (here) every day.

This afternoon, I noticed in myself a real trouble focusing while reading. I felt my mind going a mile-a-minute and felt that modern day pull towards screens and dopamine hits.

I wanted to share posts.

I wanted to check email.

I wanted to refresh and see what I missed.

So, rather than entertain each and every pull, I made a paper and pen list instead.

This strategy has helped me on many occasions by freeing my mind from the “pulling” thought (writing it down means my brain doesn’t have to remember it any longer) and has kept me from rabbit holing—which is precisely what email, social media, and websites are designed to do… keep you there. Even when you only intend to be there for a quick moment.

The next time you’re trying to do screen-free work and you feel a similar type pull, rather than do the digital thing right away, try writing it down with good ol’ fashion pen and paper instead. Create an ongoing list, stay committed to the non-screen task, and finish the written down task(s) later—when it can all be done in one fell swoop.

Non-screen type tasks get increasingly easier the longer you stay away from screens and get increasingly harder the more you give in to the pulls—regardless of how “quick” they end up being.

Push yourself to resist the pulls.

P.s. My website is fixed. My landing page is no longer an incredibly frustrating “404 Error Page.” My apologies to those who landed there.

Curveballs Never Come At Good Times

Published on October 3, 2023

…And without missing a beat, life throws a curveball my way two days after the launch of my new guide and breaks my website.

Hopefully it’s fixed by the time you read this, but when you click on that above link, at the time of this writing, you get the dreaded “404 error message.” And not only on that page… but on EVERY PAGE OF MY WEBSITE (except the homepage).

Which means, of course, that everybody who tries to “Learn More” about the guide from all of the sharing I’ve done, will be met with a 404 error page instead.

…And then likely click away and forget about it altogether.

Not to mention all the people who were hoping to read one of my blogs, collected quotes, or short stories who will be met with the same.

And it is in this state of frustration that I am reminded of two timeless lessons:

(1) Expect curveballs — especially when you least want them. That way, if they don’t come, it’ll be cause for celebration! And if they do, well… you were expecting them

(2) Relax — I did what I could do. I contacted my IT team. They got to work on it. And they’re going to send me updates. There’s nothing else I can do (short of learn the entire inner workings of a website and try to fix this issue myself—a task requiring hundreds if not thousands of hours of learning). And while updates every 12-24 hours sounds awfully long, it pales in comparison to that alternative.

Curveballs never come at good times.

But, it’s always a good time to practice adjusting to the curveballs that are thrown.

Grand Champion Class

Published on October 2, 2023

“That was probably the worst kata I have ever done.”

…Was said by the martial arts competitor who won the grand champion division at a tournament I attended this past weekend.

Now, for those who don’t know, kata is a pattern of moves that are performed in martial arts as a means to practice self-defense without needing a partner.

And the grand champion division takes the winners from several different divisions and has them compete against each other to determine a “winner of the winners.”

What’s more about the above line is that this competitor said it after he found out he won.

While it may very well be true that from his perspective it was the “worst” kata he had ever done, I (and several other competitors) found it to be quite distasteful. What he was saying, essentially, was even his worst kata was better than everybody else’s best katas.

To which I say: keep it classy.

Be humble—in victory and defeat.

Keep comments that demean others (whether directly or indirectly) to yourself. And be grateful for your talents, opportunities, and surrounding competitors. You won’t always be in the position you’re in. And when you no longer are—it’s only a matter of time—people might not remember that specific tournament…

…But, they’ll always remember how you made them feel.

And making people feel like crap isn’t a good strategy for any worthwhile means or end.

P.s. If you share my new guide on any social platform, I’ll send you the first three meditations free! Just reply to this email and let me know you did it. Thanks in advance!