Category: Living Well

“Read” Doesn’t Mean Done

Published on November 20, 2023

I’m currently reading Siddhartha.

And according to my Goodreads profile (that I’ve been using to track my read and want to read books since December 2010), I read this book in March of 2015.

Yet, here I am, about halfway through Siddhartha with approximately 0% recollection of anything from what I’ve read so far. Like, nothing is ringing any bells. Not the plot; not the characters; not even the fact that it’s a fiction is something that I remember about it.

…This is the first time I can remember this ever happening.

I always remember at least something about a book I’ve read.

Part of me has been wondering if I even read it the first time around… As in, could I have just marked it as a book I read without actually having read it?

But, then there’s this detailed account of me having read it with page numbers completed and everything:

Can’t see the above image? Click here.

So, either I read it, but didn’t really read it (i.e. speed read or selected the wrong book on Goodreads). Or, I genuinely forgot everything I read from 2015.

Either way, the lesson is simple: don’t assume “read” as insight gained.

While the words in Siddhartha have remained unchanged, the mind through which those words are being absorbed, interpreted, and applied is completely different.

…And so will it be in another 9 years from now.

…And 9 days from now for that matter.

Don’t let “read” dissuade you from revisiting a book that’s calling to you.

Sometimes that “calling” is a nudge from a deeper understanding that extends far beyond your conscious thinking… and you just need to trust it.

Playing Outside

Published on November 19, 2023

Today, I played pickup football with a group of 15 people, ranging in age from 11 to 55+.

As you might imagine, the ones closer to 55+ than 11 were making their fair share of comments about feeling old, rusty, out-of-shape, etc…

But, something interesting happens when you get 55+ year olds and those who think they’re close to it outside in the sun, playing an impromptu game, with a group of fun-loving people, calling plays and running routes, and doing it all how they used to as kids…

…You can almost see the years melt away, right off their bodies and faces, in real time.

Their outer shells soften. Their smiles come easier. Their physiology relaxes. The conversation lightens. Their bodies heats up and move more freely.

See, playing—in all of its forms—isn’t what makes us feel old… it’s what keeps us young.

And it isn’t until we decide that we’re “too old” to play that we truly start to age.

A Better Fill

Published on November 17, 2023

One of the reasons people fear death is they won’t be able to see what happens next.

…They won’t get to see their families grow up.

…They won’t get to see the impact of their work.

…They won’t get to see how technology develops and what the future will behold.

And yet… so many of us just turn on the TV and try and forget about it all, all of the time, anyway.

One of the beautiful things about being here right now… is we get to actively see what’s happening next.

…We get to witness the things our ancestors so deeply wished they’d be able to see.

…We get to see our families grow up.

…We get to see the impact of our work.

…We get to see the impact of technology on our ever developing world.

Maybe if we invested more time into really seeing... into noticing from a place of presence… into soaking it all in minus the distractions…

…Maybe we’d get a better fill of what we’ve been miraculously granted the ability to see… and have less fear about not seeing every single bit of it when it comes time for us to finally close our eyes.

P.s. Want to live a life with less regret? My guide will help.

Don’t Be Dull

Published on November 16, 2023

I’m the type who likes to obsesses over time efficiency.

Once I discover a way to do something in its most efficient manner, like take the most efficient, time-effective route to work, I lock in.

And I’ll do it the same way day-in and day-out until I find a better way.

Now, because of this, and because I’ve been maximizing the efficiency of my days for two-ish decades now, my days are pretty locked in.

My morning routine is on lock… my afternoon routine is on lock… and my evening routine is on lock…

Which has me leading very “locked in type days” that can start to feel awfully monotonous.

But, generally speaking, the efficiency side of me is more stubborn than the spontaneous, just-do-whatever-the-heck side of me is persuasive.

And it’s at times like this, when I’m feeling the monotonous grind, that I have to remind myself to book something that I can look forward to.

This has been the key for me for years.

If I have something in my calendar that’s going to strip me from the daily grind and immerse me in a new world with new experiences… then spontaneity comes completely naturally to me and I have zero problem doing whatever, whenever, however.

In fact, it’s my time to NOT be time efficient and I relish in the opportunity by going all in.

Being time efficient is a beautiful thing. It’s a sign that you’re effectively managing your life’s most precious resource.

But, as is the case with many things in life, too much of a good thing can make you… dull.

And today’s message is just that: don’t be dull, dear reader.

The Beauty Of The Streak

Published on November 15, 2023

The beautiful thing about doing something for long enough is that eventually your subconscious starts doing most of the work for you.

Today is my 1,415th day of consecutive daily posts.*

(*Minus the days I was at Burning Man, off the grid).

And the beauty of this streak is that the task has seeped its way into my subconscious.

Which means, rather than needing to remember that I have to send a post out, actively blocking out time in my calendar, doing time-intensive brainstorms for topics, and stressing out about the final product like it was being graded by a college professor… my subconscious takes care of most of that for me.

I don’t need to remember to write—it’s an automatic reflex in my day.

I don’t need to actively block out time in my day—it’s already accounted for before I do any conscious blocking.

I don’t need to do any time-intensive brainstorms for topics to write about—my brain bubbles up ideas all day long… because it knows the writing is coming.

And as far as the stressing out about the final product? Well, after you do anything for 1,415 days in a row… hitting the submit/publish/ship button becomes a helluva lot easier and increasingly less intimidating.

This is all to say: don’t make things harder than they need to be. Do less now… so that you can do more over a longer period of time.

Eventually, the daily habit will start to take care of itself and require a fraction of what it used to when you were yo-yo-ing.

P.s. I also published: How Do I Know If Meditation Is Working?

Show Up and Add A Little Value

Published on November 12, 2023

When I have nothing to write about, I challenge myself to write as little as possible while still adding value.

It’s a trick I use to get started.

But, it isn’t really a trick—it’s the goal.

And I oftentimes have to remind myself of it.

Because there have been plenty of days when I’ve spent hours crafting these 1-minute messages… days when I’ve gotten a ton of great feedback on a piece… days when I was feeling myself and wrote something that felt so good it surprised even me… that could each easily contribute to making that new day’s writing task feel that much harder.

…All caused, at its root, by comparison.

When I’m pressuring myself to create something that compares to some of my best pieces… that have garnered some of my best known results… of course the starting from scratch feels harder.

…But, when I drop the comparisons and remind myself what the goal is—to show up and add a little value (both to myself and others), starting suddenly feels a helluva lot easier.

Which is as true for exercising, reading, meditating, working, creating, etc.—as it is for writing.

My Reply To Thank You

Published on November 9, 2023

Hey Sonya,

It’s so great to hear from a fellow quote enthusiast. Love love love hearing that you have mountains of notebooks filled with quotes.

The act of reading quotes is definitely not the same as the act of writing quotes. The former brings the words in through the eyes which are quickly deposited into the brain, but the latter… the latter allows you to bring the words in through your body… through your fingers, up your arms, into your torso, and up your spinal cord and into your brain.

It’s the literal embodiment of the words.

So, while you may feel like there’s no sense or order to them all… just know that the process is not for nothing. You have embodied 10x more insight from this simple practice than your counterpart who merely read those same quotes and does nothing with them.

Cheers to quote collecting and embodying the insight that’ll guide us forward on our paths!

~ Matt

The reason I share this reply is twofold:

1) To remind you that reading insights is not the same as doing things with the insights. Whether that’s applying the ideas to your life (opting in to the expressed gratitude challenge); typing, tagging, ordering, and making them digestible and accessible (like I do at MoveMe Quotes); or simply writing them into notebooks (like Sonya)—it’s the application of insight that leads to better living—not the looking at it. And…

2) To challenge you to start doing things with insights, too!

…You’re not really just going to nod along and do nothing with these insights after reading them are you?!

Enough looking; time to start embodying.

…Your better life depends on it.