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Category: Investing In Yourself

Your “Just Right” Crowd

Published on July 14, 2021

When I was growing up, life for me was football in the street, wresting on lawns, basketball in driveways, and expeditions to the corner store for 50 cent mega-freezie pops.

I don’t remember much about school or homework and I didn’t really participate in any extracurricular activities. All I remember thinking about was getting back outside and picking up where we left off the day before—right before the streetlights came on and it was time to go home.

Playing with the kids on my block was the focal point of my life.

Each of them challenged me in unique ways. Some made me want to be faster and more athletic. Some made me want to stand taller and speak louder. Others made me want to be more understanding and witty.

Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. We had our fair share of arguments and more-than-play-fights. But, that’s what came with the territory. We were active, competitive, emotional, rowdy, and inexperienced. It always turned out okay though because, without even knowing it, we challenged each other “just right”—“goldilocks” right.

Too easy and I wouldn’t have had a reason to work hard, deliberately focus, or persevere. Too hard and I wouldn’t have bothered trying in the first place. Without them, skill building wouldn’t have ever even been on my mind—I probably would have just binged on TV instead.

That period of my life laid the foundation for my character that I still take pride in today.

The truth of the story is this: if we want to develop optimally, we have to find ways to challenge ourselves “just right.” As the kids on my block did for me whenever we played. As the people in your life can do for you as soon as you find your “just right” crowd, too.

Shoulders Of Giants

Published on July 10, 2021

If I have seen further it’s because I have spent a lot of time climbing the shoulders of giants.

Giants being the people who have grown into bigger, better versions of themselves. The people who can offer a perspective towards life that’s deeper and more developed than my own.

Humility check: none of our perspectives are perfect—each has its flaws.

But, there are people with less flawed perspectives. People who have spent a considerate amount of time carefully analyzing their thoughts, dissecting the thoughts of others, quieting the chatter, training their minds, and seeking the appropriate help.

And it’s those perspectives—those shoulders—that we must seek to climb.

And let’s be clear: climbing is no picnic—it’s always hard. But, gaining access to their shoulders isn’t.

Heck, many giants want to have their shoulders climbed. They write books featuring their best perspectives, share insight on podcasts and videos for those who don’t (want to) read, heck!—many of them even answer well positioned, thoughtful questions for no other reason than to help.

If you want to see further—if you want to gain a bigger, better perspective towards life—start by climbing onto the shoulders of someone who sees further.

It’s there—from that elevated perspective—that you can start developing your own elevated opinions towards the surrounding landscape.

Until then, you’ll just have to settle with what you see from down here.

Don’t Force The Drip; Drip Naturally

Published on June 11, 2021

Information comes into our brains one word at a time, one sound at a time, one touch at a time, one image at a time, one frame at a time—one drip at a time.

And our brains are filled with sponges that capture those drips. What’s cool about the sponges of our mind is that they grow or shrink based on demand.

For example, the sponge that holds self-improvement information in my mind is simply gigantic because I’m constantly dripping information into it. My obsession loads the sponge to maximum capacity and so it grows to account for that demand.

But, the sponge that holds calculus information, however, is teeny-tiny because I never drip anything into it. The sponge is dry and continues to shrivel up each day because I don’t drop anything into it—and I’m okay with that.

Here’s why this is important: (1) The sponges you drip information into will grow; (2) the sponges you don’t drip anything into will shrink; (3) you can only wring information out of a sponge that has had enough dripped into it.

Are the drops of information that you’re soaking in every day getting added to sponges that you actually want to grow or sponges that you’d actually prefer shriveled up? How much information do you have packed in your brain from Keeping Up With The Jones’? What drip adjustments do you think you could make?

Finally, are you trying to wring out a dry sponge or is your sponge soaked with information?

Keep in mind that once your sponge hits capacity, it will start to leak information in that domain naturally—as it grows and in real-time. People can sense when you’re forcing/wringing/squeezing information from a dry sponge. And they can also tell when it’s legitimately soaked, dense, and overflowing.

Soak the right sponges. Soak more than you wring. Let the drip come naturally.