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Category: Direction Matters

Do Right By Your Past Self

Published on December 11, 2021

After 20+ yrs of training, today is the day I got to test for my 5th Degree Black Belt in ITF Tae Kwon-Do.

As I was prepping for this day, I thought about what 11 year old me—the one who started Martial Arts all those years ago—would think if he watched me perform.

I imagined that overweight, self-conscious, always-hard-on-himself kid and I thought about everything he wanted to become: fit, confident, disciplined, looked up to, able to perform under pressure—and able to do cool moves, of course.

And it was an overwhelmingly emotional moment for me when I finished the test and thought to myself: I think he would’ve been proud.

Be On Purpose

Published on December 3, 2021

What do all of the greats have in common?

They didn’t become great by accident—they became great on purpose.

From this point forward, don’t be accidental.

Be on purpose.

Discontent Is A Bad Guide

Published on November 26, 2021

The byproduct of desire is discontentment.

You cannot be discontent AND happy.

But, you CAN be content and focused on growth.

Don’t let discontent guide your life—it’s miserable.

Focus on what fills you up instead.

And let your curiosity, enthusiasm, and generosity lead the way.

Nowhere In Particular

Published on October 21, 2021

If this person/ place/ thing doesn’t serve your higher purpose why are you investing time/ energy/ effort into it/ them?

Built into this question is the assumption that you know what your higher purpose is.

If you don’t, all actions become arbitrary; all uses of time become fungible.

If you want to arrive at a certain type of destination, you need to point the GPS of your actions towards it.

And you need to know well enough not to get off every exit of the highway while you’re on your way.

Random wandering—random uses of time—can only get you, by definition, nowhere in particular.

Crazy Horse—And The Power Of Vision

Published on August 28, 2021
Image by Author

The white statue is what the sculpture will look like when it’s done.

The mountain in the distance is the progress that has been made so far.

…Over the course of 73 years.

The original sculptor has passed.

But so has his dream of carving Crazy Horse into the side of this mountain.

Many are still working to finish this colossal, unfinished sculpture. And there is no estimated completion time.

But, the idea of working towards the completion of something bigger than yourself, that quite possibly won’t be done in your lifetime, that will dwarf all other sculptures in the world…

Is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Don’t be stubborn with your dreams.

Cultivate a vision that captures the imaginations of many. That way, even if you fall short or your time expires before you’re done, your dream can carry on.