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Category: Living Well

Only “Just Enough” Planning

Published on May 13, 2026

While at a music show this past weekend, I was chatting with a guy about how incredible our spot was… we were literally leaning onto the stage a few feet away from the artists performing.

And he yelled back into my ear (it was really loud)—“It’s one of my mantras, man! Everything always works out more perfectly than I ever could’ve planned!”

And he proceeded to tell me how he embraces this mantra as much as he can in his daily life.

…Only just enough planning and leaning into the magic of the universe for the rest.

And I really liked that.

Because it’s almost a guarantee that things won’t go exactly according to plan—it might as well be a law of nature. And if you expected everything to—then your day will be ruined when it doesn’t.

…But if you planned just enough to cover the major bases, and leaned into serendipity and spontaneous opportunity for the rest, then if/when things go “wrong,” THAT will be what you were expecting anyway, and you’ll be too busy navigating your “perfect” night in real time to even care or notice.

On The Importance Of Defining “Your Best Life”

Published on May 11, 2026

In order for yesterday’s strategy to work, however, there needs to be some honest conversation and inner work done around “living my best life.”

Because if “living my best life” is used as an excuse to live your most comfortable, distracted, instant-gratification-style life… then not only do I think you won’t find the best relationship of your life… but I don’t think you’ll find your best life.

Living your best life should actually look much like the opposite of the above.

It should look a little scary—like skydiving, or signing up for a dance class, or going up and talking to the person you find attractive. It should look present—like dinner with friends minus the phones, or walks surrounded by nature, or time spent alone meditating or creating or reading. It should look like an ongoing investment into the future—like healthy eating, or mindful movement, or skill-building from a place of beginner’s mind.

When you lean into that zone of discomfort and can keep your nervous system calm and ego quiet enough to proceed forward from that space consistently…

…Then, yes.

…The rest, I imagine, will take care of itself.

The Dishes Will Never Be Done

Published on May 8, 2026

I do this thing where I’ll purposely leave a dish or two unwashed in the sink after washing the rest.

It reminds me that the dishes will never be done. And to be okay with that. And to just keep showing up to do them at the designated time each day.

No surprises. No frustrations. Just an expected chore.

Might sound stupid, but it works for me.

Life Is Coming From You, Not At You

Published on May 6, 2026

…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?

Who’s Going To Give Others What You Want Them To Have?

Published on May 5, 2026

It’s very hard to give what you don’t have.

This is obvious from a material standpoint, but maybe less so from an emotional one.

If I want my children to have money, but I don’t have any money to give them, the money I want them to get won’t be coming from me—and I have to figure out another way.

The same is true for joy. If I want the people around me to feel joyous, but I don’t have any joy to give them… the joy I want them to exhibit isn’t going to come from me… and I have to figure out another way.

And maybe “another way” is to ask someone else to give it to them… or teach them how to make/create it themself… or hire someone else to teach them how…

…Or, of course, you could figure out how to get joy / money yourself so that you can give it to them after all.

And instead of trying to use (whether consciously or unconsciously) broke to create money or misery to create joy or hate to create love… you can turn the focus of your attention around and back to the source. Back to the place you can control. Back to you, your life, and your own inner workings so that what you most want for others can (finally) start coming from you.

The Slightly Longer Route

Published on May 4, 2026

It’s easier than ever to eat food the instant you’re hungry. With drive-thrus, microwaves, and processing—taking short cuts to calories has become the modern day norm. But, this only leads to problems later on (typically) because much of the above is crap. And when you eat crap that has little to no nutritional value, you’ll end up paying in health what you tried to save in dollars and minutes. And the cost of health is worth far more than whatever you think you saved in dollars and minutes.

But, you probably already knew this.

…As did I.

And yet, I still took short cuts for years without any immediate remorse. I would eat microwaved food daily. Default almost immediately to highly processed pretzels and dips whenever hungry. And stock up on frozen meals for my “heartier” options. And it was all just crap, crap, crap.

…Eventually, I started feeling bad enough to actually do something about it.

And so I started cutting things like donuts, pop/soda, and dairy. I started intermittent fasting. I started making fruit and protein packed smoothies…

The part I’m focused on now is cutting the microwave meals. Because even though I buy stuff that’s got vegetables and good protein counts in it, it’s still mostly crap. So I joined a food delivery service that gives me 10ish-minute meal recipes and all the fresh ingredients needed. All ready to go.

My point is this: short-cuts are the modern day norm; but not all short-cuts are created equal.

The ROI of the slightly longer routes can yield a disproportionately large return.

…If you’re not ready to take the long route… At least take the slightly longer one.

Balanced + Mindful > Hard + Miserable and/or Easy + Distracted

Published on May 3, 2026

During a martial arts class I took this morning, the master teaching commented on how important it is to do the hard things in training.

He said, firstly, it keeps you humble. People who skip the hard parts and build skills via short cuts or lazy tactics become arrogant. Their technique never fully tested and not completely earned… leaving them prone to thinking things (I.e. real life application of techniques) are easier than they actually are; than they’ve ever experienced them to be.

And secondly, he said easy doesn’t train the person in full… it maybe only hits one aspect of the mind, body, spirit connection. The example he gave was running on a treadmill while watching TV… it works the body but completely disengages the development of the mind… and the spirit can only be developed when both the mind and body are being challenged together.

The goal, however, isn’t to make exercise and/or training as difficult as possible. This wouldn’t be a good strategy either. It’s simply a reminder to find the medium between these two extremes. Don’t opt for easy+distracted and don’t push to the other extreme of hard+miserable… aim for balanced+mindful.

Focus on the strategy of fully utilizing your mind… to activate your body in an appropriately challenged way… so that the two of them ignite with energy and vibrate the spirit to life and development as well.