Category: Enjoying The Journey

Close your eyes and bring to mind your favorite moment from yesterday…

Now bring to mind your favorite moment from last week…

And then bring to mind your favorite moment from last month…

And keep going back for a year… maybe two… maybe ten…

It’s impossible to know for sure what your favorite moment of tomorrow will be.

Or from next week, next month, or over the next few years…

But one thing is for sure… your favorite moments from your past are excellent indicators as to what might lead to favorite moments in your future.

Maybe not in an identical way… but at the very least in a way that rhymes.

…Trust the rhythm of your life.

One of the worst things you can do at the start of a journey of learning… is compare yourself to those who have already reached mastery.

Suddenly, you’re going to see they’ve put in 10,000+ hours and if that’s where you want to be… then tick, tock, tick, tock… the clock is going to feel like you’re biggest adversary.

Deliberate practice for that long… you’ll tell yourself… is for a younger, more independent, freer me. And you’ll start looking for and finding the reasons why mastery isn’t probable.

But, like a clock stared at while working a dreaded shift at work… it’s the perspective that becomes the greatest obstacle towards achievement—not the gap of time.

And rather than count how many hours you have to spend before you reach a certain level or count how many steps ahead of you different people are… what you really have to do is what they found a way to do for all that time that lead up to mastery…

And that’s to get lost in the steps… to get lost in the hours… to learn from the masters and to never compare… to turn off the top 1% highest achievers achieving on repeat via algorithmic feeds and to focus even just 1% of your daily energy on building your dreams…

And not to do it to beat… or prove… or impress…

But, because that’s what living looks like… lost and completely absorbed in the mix… feeling young, independent, and free.

Like a DJ, I love the idea of seamlessly stitching together one beat of one experience of my life to another beat of an upcoming life experience.

…How can I take what I learned and play it like music in my everyday life?

…How can I stay in touch with the people I’ve met and turn single beats into a rhythm?

…At which point in my life’s track am I—the intro, the build, the drop, the breakdown, the second build, the second drop, the second breakdown, the outro, etc—and how can I fully embrace this section of it while also planning ahead where I want the next phase to take me?

What I love about watching great DJs is that they masterfully balance being present and dancing to their sound while properly planning ahead where they want to go.

And whether you realize it or not… what you do daily shouldn’t feel so much different.

P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

One of my young employees told me yesterday that he’s not sure he wants to be a martial arts instructor when he gets older because he feels a pull towards science.

“…You’re 14,” I told him.

And then proceed to say something along the lines of: Of course you’re not sure what you want to do when you grow up. To think you should know what you want to do for a living at 14 is crazy. And anyone who tells you or makes you think you should know that by 14 is crazy.

…Lean into your interests. If you feel a pull, follow up. But, keep your doors open. You just don’t know how things will play out… the key, I think, is to just keep on playing.

And this is advice that I think is as true at 35 as it is at 14 as it is at 44 as it is at 76.

We aren’t carved from rocks. We’re constantly flowing as a river.

I’ve been surprising myself lately with my sudden interest in music—something I’ve never really been drawn to… and I’m 35. My current plan is to play around with it and see how it plays out.

…Advice I’d pass along to you if you’re feeling any sudden pulls in life, too.

In victory, we remain humble… and hungry. Because victory is only a temporary status. And arrogance only makes it more so. Maybe even immediately so.

In defeat, we remain hungry… and humble. Because defeat is only a temporary status. And self-loathing only makes it less so. Maybe even permanently so.

Because most of all, the goal should always be to keep on playing. Because life is only a temporary status. And spectating only makes it feel more so. Maybe even unknowingly so.

P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.