Skip to content

Category: Living Well

Literally Everything I Do Is Wrong

Published on July 30, 2026

…And it’s because nothing I do is ever perfect and so could be argued that it was wrong in some way.

Literally nothing.

My morning routine? Anybody could find a way I could do it better.

My exercise regiment? Would probably be laughed at by some of the gym bros.

My eating habits? I’m not microwaving nearly as much as I used to… so that’s a victory I guess.

And then there’s how I do things professionally…

Teaching martial arts? Sheesh. Always so much to remember and consider. The depth of information is oceanic and I feel like all I’m ever able to convey is a few drops at a time.

Teaching character development? Oh lord. Such a complex and ever-changing landscape. Not sure if there’s anything I’ve ever said that couldn’t be criticized in some way, shape, or form. What works for some absolutely doesn’t for others. And even just practicing what I/we preach is a monumental task in and of itself. So many things I say and do could be said and done better.

Training staff? Their mistakes always feel like my mistakes and it’s in both of our natures to make lots of them. Oh how challenging being in this position is.

…And yet.

…And yet.

I keep showing up every day.

I keep my mindset focused on tweaking and course correcting.

I try not to let the unrealistic expectation of perfect stop me from taking any action at all.

Because while nothing I ever do is perfect…

…Something in that direction is always lightyears ahead of nothing done at all.

What’s The Best Way To Have A Hard Conversation?

Published on July 30, 2026

…I’ll tell you what the worst way is: not having it at all.

Everything after having it, I’d say, is in the direction of better.

Awkwardness, yelling, and upset included.

…Better than what happens when it doesn’t happen at all.

Because if a hard conversation is necessary… and it’s not being had… the gap in misunderstanding only continues to widen as time passes which only makes the situation harder and harder.

Starting the conversation is precisely the thing that stops the widening.

…It’s what prevents the gap from opening any further.

It’s what stops the hard exactly where it is and allows the two sides an opportunity to either build a bridge or acknowledge the gap for what it is… and at the very least stop hoping for the gap and difficulty to solve and close itself.

…Which, either way, (finally) moves things in the direction of easier.

…Aka better.

The Propaganda Of Big Goop

Published on July 27, 2026

Driving home from an amusement park this past weekend, I looked at one of my friends and replayed a moment for him as the Spotify queue loaded up the next song.

“I meant what I said when we were on our way up to the top of that last roller coaster…”

“…Use that moment to never forget the weekend.”

And he looked at me, turned down the volume of the song that started playing and said, “I appreciate that man. But you know what? I don’t think that’s gonna be the moment that triggers the memory of the weekend for me…”

He said, “There’s this quote I love from the movie Up that goes, ‘That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most.’ And I think the same is true for me, too…”

“…What I’m going to remember are the ways we passed time while waiting for hours in lines for rides, the way we spent our time the night before we even got to the amusement park, the inside jokes that spontaneously arrived throughout.”

“…What I’m going to remember is The Propaganda Of Big Goop.”

And we both laughed wildly.

And the fact that you don’t know why is exactly what I think he’s talking about.

…It all happened in a boring moment outside of a bathroom when we were stopped for a food break on our roadtrip. And not when we were at one of the peak adrenaline moments of the whole weekend trip.

…And I suspect the same might be true for you, too, if you look a little closer at the cherished moments of your life.

Do You See Everything As Gift-Giving Or Obligation?

Published on July 24, 2026

Run through a normal day in your head.

  • Making food for others
  • Doing chores around the house
  • Doing the work you do
  • Creating and sharing content online
  • Expressing artistic endeavors
  • Having conversations
  • Planning events
  • Showing up to people’s events
  • Checking in on friends/family
  • Leaving tips
  • Helping dependents and those in need

Does your mind see, “obligation, obligation, obligation…etc.”

…Or does it see, “Chance to gift, chance to gift, chance to gift, etc.”

…Suddenly, you might start to realize why you’re feeling so run down and worn out or overwhelmed with gratitude and joy on the daily.

I Started Making Videos Again

Published on July 22, 2026

I haven’t published them anywhere online yet… but, the library is loading…

I stopped making videos years ago because I complicated the process.

I obsessed over every detail of each video and eventually burned out.

And what I realized from that process is that what I really cared about was the core content behind the production of each video—the written word; the message.

So for years, that’s all I’ve been focused on producing. Short, insightful, written messages to help busy people do inner work—myself included.

What’s been on my mind as of late, however, is how there’s another gap to bridge.

…Just because I “word wrestled” and clarified some thoughts and came up with a core message for a day… doesn’t mean that that message was internalized.

And that’s what creating videos again is helping me do—internalize my clarified thoughts.

I’ve simplified my process significantly. And for now, the goal is to publish to one platform, one message, that was recorded in one take.

I’m not reading the words I wrote verbatim and splicing together multiple takes. What I’m doing behind the scenes is internalizing the essence of the message and challenging myself to convey it authentically by recording that one take again, and again, and again… until I get that one, uninterrupted, concise, clearly communicated train of thought.

…You know, as it would be done in reality, in conversation, in practical every day use.

He Finally Played

Published on July 20, 2026

I have been trying to get a childhood friend of mine to play basketball with my crew and I for over 3 years.

Today… he finally played.

He was rusty, he said.

His shot was off, he said.

His conditioning wasn’t what it used to be, he said.

He couldn’t drive because his shoes were slippery, he said.

He was going to need to sub a lot during the game, he said.

…But you know what he said today that rang louder than anything else mentioned above?

Yes.

He said yes to playing.

He said yes to beginning to get the rust off.

He said yes to starting the process of recalibrating his shot.

He said yes to getting his conditioning back up and getting better shoes and getting to a point where he doesn’t need to sub as much during games.

…He said yes to getting back out of his comfort zone, meeting himself where he was—rust and all, and doing something that’ll help him grow.

Today was the hardest step to take.

It’s down hill from here.

More Rich

Published on July 13, 2026

Who’s more rich:

  • The person rich in friends or the person rich in money?
  • The person rich in travel or the person rich in money?
  • The person rich in joy or the person rich in money?
  • The person rich in wisdom or the person rich in money?
  • The person rich in love or the person rich in money?

Worth meditating on in your life: If becoming rich in money is at the expense of any of the former ideas—I’m not so sure the end result is more rich.