Category: Investing In Yourself

“Whenever something isn’t working in our career or our business, we naturally stop and ask why. We look for patterns, analyze what went wrong, and try to improve it. But we don’t always do the same with ourselves.” ~ Rosy Singh

Isn’t that the truth…

Why is it that we take our professional growth so seriously… all the way down to the cent on our profit and loss statements… and create the most elaborate graphs and visual metrics to understand trends… and do all of this complex training and research to improve strategies…

…While when it comes to our personal growth, we don’t even have the slightest clue how many calories we’re eating or need to be eating each day—let alone grams of protein or sugar or carbs. We can’t seem to type the questions into search bars that would tell us how to exercise optimally, create a profitable side hustle, or create content that resonates with people. We can’t even seem to read a page or two of a book that promises to transform the entire fabric of our lived reality as we know it.

…Isn’t that something?

Maybe it’s the accountability of having a boss and coworkers and dependents?

Maybe it’s the years of programing and brainwashing and test taking?

Maybe it’s the mismatch in priorities and perspective and energy expenditure?

…Whatever it is: maybe it’s time to reclaim some of that mental acuity, attention to detail, and borderline obsessive care and point it more generously at our personal life?

…Keeping up implies comparison.

And comparison falls short because there’s always somebody you can compare yourself to who is below your level and somebody who is above your level.

Do this too much in either direction and the end result is the opposite of growth.

Compare yourself with those below your level too much and you’ll stop trying. You’ll lose your hustle. It’ll all become “too easy” for you and you’ll become complacent—growth’s enemy.

Compare yourself with those above your level too much and you’ll lose hope. You’ll burn out. It’ll all become too hard for you and you’ll become frustrated—maybe even to the point of quitting. And there’s no growth in that.

Take comparison out of the equation altogether.

Return your focus back onto yourself. Measure where you were yesterday, take action that will result in a step forward from there, and repeat tomorrow.

Growth isn’t about keeping up—it’s about moving forward in your own way.

Years ago, I exchanged martial arts private lessons for cooking lessons from a student of mine who was a chef.

I would bike to his restaurant, meet him in the basement, and act as his apprentice for a few hours each week—cutting, caramelizing, mixing, mincing, simmering, and sautéing with his direction.

And on the flip side, I would meet him at the martial arts school, teach him one-on-one lessons in forms, self-defense, and weapons.

This continued weekly-ish for about 6 months.

Fast forward to 2026, and I recently started a subscription to a food + recipe delivery service. They deliver recipes and all the groceries you’ll need for those meals. All you have to do is follow the steps and voila! …Your meals are done within a reasonable timeframe (one that you can pre-select).

…I am learning more from this latter approach than I ever did doing private lessons from a professional chef.

And in retrospect, the big reasons why include: (1) He was preparing meals for 50+ people at a time—so the quantities, portions, pot ware used, etc., was significantly inflated from what I needed to be doing for my one-stomach-self; (2) He was giving me intuitive advice—things based on taste, not recipes… and my palette wasn’t nearly as trained as his; (3) The experience gap was too great—I was simply too much of a beginner to really digest everything he would say.

This is all to say, sometimes you don’t need to learn from the best in a field… in fact, it might serve you (and your wallet) better to learn from those who are just a few steps above where you want to be.

Your body adapts to the demands of its environment.

Sit at a desk all day, take the elevator, use valet, consume passive entertainment on the couch, skip your workouts… and what you’ll effectively be telling your body is: all of that beautiful life energy you gifted me… isn’t needed.

And your body will reduce how much it produces in the future. Until you get to the point where doing even the most basic of tasks is exhausting.

Do the opposite and use it all up though? And your body will find ways to not only produce more, but increase your future stores.

The people with the most energy aren’t the ones who have saved their energy the most… they’re the ones who have used it up most consistently.

Remember this when you’re on the fence about showing up to your workout or playing with your kids outside or going for a walk around the block… because you’re tired.

…Yes, there’s a line that needs to be honored and rest could very well be the better decision if you’re truly fatigued.

But remember that what you agree to as being your energetic limit is what your body will adapt to from there. And if you’re being dishonest with yourself, then your energy stores will iteratively shrink. And if you’re being honest, then they’ll iteratively grow.

And why lie to yourself about something that can so drastically affect your life? Life energy is one of the ultimate life currencies… and the good news is that you get to spend all that your gifted each day and you’ll be fully replenished, plus some, the next!

Hope you have an exhausting day ;)

…To illustrate this, watch this video of a guy interact with his dogs at a low vibration and then at a high vibration.

The dogs have no idea what he’s saying (and neither do we)… but there’s definitely a version that both the dogs and I (and maybe you) would prefer to be around… who we’d prefer to give back to… who we’d prefer to help out and present opportunities to…

Two questions to consider: what helps you raise your vibration better than just about anything else? How can you increase the frequency of this in your life?

I’ll never forget when somebody criticized a high school friend of mine on her desire to “look good” before playing in soccer games. The criticism being around the idea that she’s going to play a sport and get dirty and sweaty and messy anyway… so why do all of that extra “look good” work before the practices and games?

She replied simply, “When I look good, I feel good. And when I feel good, I play better.”

And it really does play out like that.

When we’re feeling our outfit… we’re also feeling more confident… and our actions reflect that versus what we might’ve done if we were feeling self-conscious and awkward. And better actions, of course, lead to better results and outcomes.

I recognize a similar correlation when it comes to martial arts. The students who take the time to get their uniform right and look sharp also tend to be the students with the sharper technique. And the ones who arrive disheveled, tend to have sloppier technique.

The reminder today is simple: invest a little more time, energy, and/or effort into feeling good. Whether that’s in your appearance, your fit, your workspace, your room, your wellness routine… it’s all correlated. And by investing into the one… you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised to find some positive returns in the other aspects of your life as well.