We become writers by writing.
We become runners by running.
We become musicians by playing music.
All of the intention in the world pales in comparison to even an ounce of practice.
…Which is an excellent place to start, I’d say: an ounce.
Then simply aim to do that much again the next day… and the day after that.
Let that be your blueprint.
Soon, you’ll be lightyears ahead of most.
And it won’t be long thereafter either that you’ll notice… you’ve suddenly become.
Here’s a key insight I discovered after nearly two decades of personal development reading: it comes packaged best in the classic literature section of the bookstore.
The major difference is this: self-help books give the essential, actionable, key takeaways needed for… well… personal development. It’s the stripped down version of an insight that we attempt to push into memory from the outside-in.
Classic literature, however, tells a story. And oftentimes, a story that takes hundreds and hundreds of pages to unpack and fully digest. During which time, you’re living another life… seeing reality through another’s eyes… feeling their emotions and living out the consequences of their actions in real time—as if they are your own… and you’re nurturing an understanding that grows from the inside-out.
This difference in how we retain insight and how it affects us cannot be understated.
The insight being pushed down often gets rejected by what’s already deeply rooted and has been growing for decades within. It’s like trying to blow a tree over with your best exhale.
The insight that’s planted and is given hundreds and hundreds of pages worth of space and time to grow is able to entrench its roots and become a powerful tree in its own right. Eventually overtaking the resources from the “old-ways trees” and seesaws power into the new.
So the next time you’re at the bookstore or contemplating what you’d like to dive into next—with the intention of developing yourself personally—consider the classic literature section over the self-help isle.
The classics are called classics and have stood the test of time for good reason.
I spent about 8 hours cleaning, organizing, and preparing my house for 2026 today.
Two observations as I reflect on it:
1. Chain tasks together. Going one task to the next to the next is always easier than doing one task, stopping, and trying to start back up again. This is as true for cleaning as it is for productivity at work as it is for personal development.
2. Prepare your environment in a way that makes getting the things you gotta/wanna get done easier. Keep your workout area clean, have your workout clothes ready, write down your workout the night before, make sure the equipment you need is prepared and organized, and so on. Also: hide the bad foods in the kitchen, keep a fruit bowl out (and filled), meal plan, have healthy cravings alternatives for when you need something sweet/salty, etc.
Getting everything done that I got done today felt incredible.
If you haven’t prepped your environment like this in a while, it’d be an excellent thing to consider at the outset of 2026.
Yesterday I drove from Buffalo, NY to Philadelphia, PA.
The drive was supposed to take six hours. But, because of weather, it took close to eleven.
That’s not only a lot of time to be driving, but it’s a lot of time to be with yourself.
And what I kept telling myself is that it was as good of a time as any to enjoy just being… and that being in Philadelphia wasn’t a better place to be than wherever I was on the road.
So I kept the music on loud… held a steady presence focused on the elements on the road… and tried to relax into my mind.
Sometimes singing came up… sometimes it was dancing… and sometimes it was inner work type thoughts. I welcomed it all. I fought none of it. And I arrived right when I was supposed to.
Why are some of the most popular classes I teach the ones that I announce are going to be the hardest?
I’ll tell you why: it’s because deep down, underneath all of the noise of the mind, many of us want to do hard things so that we can become great.
On a day-to-day basis, however, it’s the noise of the mind that usually wins over our attention and subsequent actions—and we stay within the realm of what’s comfortable, usual, and easy.
But, of course, that leaves us feeling unchallenged, underwhelmed, and unfulfilled.
Lead too many of those days in a row and it becomes an aching feeling that swells.
…Until eventually it grows to the point where it’s too hard to ignore or muffle under the general noise of the mind—which is what usually works—and we start to hear the pulsing cries from within.
“There’s got to be more to life than this…”
“Is this really all that I’m here to do…?”
“What will people remember about me when I’m gone?”
…And we resolve to step it up a little bit. To push ourselves a little bit more. To uncover a little more of the potential we have inside.
And the best way to do that, our spirit whispers to us from deep within, is to voluntarily do hard things.
Today was one of the last days my martial arts students could test for their new belts/levels from the quarter four curriculum of 2025.
And one of the key moments that we create that usually happens at the end of every belt/level test is a hard series of physical challenges that are paired with the simple question: “Are you tired?”
Usually during their first ever test and during the occasional mid level test, they’ll say’ “Yes!”
And the response my staff and I always encourage them to say is, “No, ma’am/sir!”
During one test, I had a student say to me, “But, I am tired… and I don’t want to lie about it…”
To which I said, “And I appreciate that sentiment… but what I always want you to remember is that your mind is lying to you.”
Because what you feel like as being “tired” is really only a fraction of what you’re capable of doing. A micro-fraction in most cases.
…They just don’t know the true extent of their capabilities and potential limits.
Which is where my job comes in.
And the only way to get them there is to push the body… and the only way to do that is to strengthen their mind. Which happens one, “No ma’am/sir—I’m not tired” at a time.
If you’re anything like me, you get more incoming emails than you can typically process day-to-day. And while I’ve actively unsubscribed from much of the fluff and pushy marketing stuff, there’s still a ton of great stuff I receive that I don’t want to unsubscribe from or delete.
As I mentioned a weekish ago, when it comes time for me to open my inbox, rather than read a hodgepodge of different authors who use different tones and speak from various backgrounds and life experiences—and try to context switch email to email… I’ve been bulk reading one email author at a time.
And lately, what I’ve been asking myself when I open my inbox is, “Who do I most want/need to hear from right now?” And after a minute or two of closed eye inward reflection… I usually know who that person is. And let me tell you, it makes reading emails SO much more effective (as far as comprehension) and enjoyable (as far as it being about what you want/need vs getting your inbox number down to a certain count).
Who do YOU most want/need to hear from right now?
Is your inbox filled with voices that serve you or annoy you? Maybe see if some of your favorite people to hear from have an email/newsletter they send out regularly that you can subscribe to? Maybe try unsubscribing from people you no longer want to hear from…
…Maybe try it when opening your inbox today?