Category: Investing In Yourself

Beware: in many cases, it’s when we’re attempting to be most useful to the world that we actually end up being the least useful to ourselves.

An outward focus on productivity and getting things done can easily turn into a toxic work ethic that leads us to disregard the things we most need to do for our own personal wellness.

This is classic workaholic-ism.

Now, beware: the remedy I’m going to offer, like most pills, might be hard to swallow.

What we need to become comfortable with and practice is the idea of uselessness.

That’s right—being more useless to the world.

Did that thought make you cringe a little?

It’s got a distinctly counter-culture sound to it that might make you feel uneasy when thinking about.

Which would only further prove my point.

Being useless to the world isn’t an attack on your self-worth. It’s the very means through which you get to be more useful to yourself.

…Time when you get to stop compromising, negotiating, accommodating, pleasing, bending-over-backwards for, and sucking up to others in order to get things done.

Being useless to the world is about total and complete surrender to outward obligations and a wholesome focus towards the calls of your spirit.

Not towards distraction, inaction, or suppression—but towards introspection, healing, and overflowing.

Because we can only ever be as useful to the world as we become useful. And if we’re only ever focused on being useful to others, we never have a chance to be useful to ourselves. And one of the only times we get to ever be most useful to ourselves is when we’re most useless to the world.

Swallow the pill.

We are a mind, a body, and a spirit.

We cannot perform at peak capacity with just one and not the others.

Train the body to improve the mind; train the mind to improve the body.

Train the mind to improve the spirit; train the spirit to improve the mind.

Train the spirit to improve the body; train the body to improve the spirit.

Order doesn’t matter.

Spending time on EACH is what matters.

What are the things that make you feel great?

And I’m not talking about 10 seconds great… I’m talking about 10 hours great.

I’m not talking about pleasure-seeking tasks—I’m talking about soul-filling tasks.

Exercising? Walking? Journaling? Meditating? Stretching?

First of all, once you come up with your list—why not include each of those things into each of the days of your week?

Why would you ever skip out on the things that make you feel great?

Your state—mentally, physically, emotionally—affects everything else in life. And so they should get the top priority each and every day.

Especially on the days when your state is at its lowest.

Skipping state-boosting tasks when you feel off/down/awful is a mistake and only reinforces that feeling of off/down/or awful.

And, worth noting, skipping them on the days when your state is at its highest is also a mistake.

Because if you stop doing the things that make you feel great when you’re feeling great—it won’t be long until you’re no longer feeling great again.

And up and down the rollercoaster you’ll go.

Better to prioritize feeling great on all the days.

Your hearing is as good as your ears. Hearing aids can help with that.

Your sight is as good as your eyes. Glasses and contacts can help with that.

Your life is as good as your mindset. Art, music, books, videos, nature, mantra, writing, therapy, mentors, exercise, relaxing, initiative, laughter, kindness, presence, podcasts, gratitude, journaling, having fun, meditation, forgiveness, compassion, speaking up, aiming higher, slowing down, self-discipline, healthy eating, curating media, embracing flaws, working harder, working smarter, helping friends, helping strangers, doing what’s hard, making things easier, athletic endeavors, community service, taking more breaks, building new habits, getting better sleep, minimizing resistance, embracing spontaneity, establishing boundaries, accepting responsibility, eliminating expectations, befriending better people, redefining what you desire, cutting back on obligations, venturing into the unknown, reprioritizing your priorities, saying “No” when you want to, saying “Yes” when you’re scared to, eliminating all comparison to others, letting go of what’s outside of your control, focusing more energy on what’s inside your control, immersing yourself in wisdom—

—can help with that.

Maybe not all at once, of course. But a few at a time? Undoubtedly.

Order doesn’t matter. Making mindset a priority is what matters. If you don’t, it’s like expecting ears to get better without aids or eyes to get better without glasses.