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Category: Living Well

Who Cares?

Published on May 1, 2022

Nobody should care more about your life than you.

Because nobody can ever fully understand your life—and all that it entails—more than you.

So what happens when you care more about what others think than what you think yourself?

  • It means you’ve outsourced the weight of your care to them.
  • It means you’ll prioritize how you act in ways that satisfies their cares over your own.
  • It means you think their care is more aligned with your wants, needs, desires than your own.

And one of the reasons we care so much about what other people think is because we want to fit in and gain their acceptance.

But, what we have to realize is that if we don’t act in ways that is optimally aligned with our deepest wants, needs, and desires—we become irritable, frustrated, and confused.

Because that’s how being out of alignment feels.

The ironic truth is that the path towards acceptance with others is the path that leads towards acceptance of self first.

Because when we are in alignment with our deepest wants, needs, and desires—we become joyful, unbothered, and confident. And THAT is what attracts the people of your tribe who bring with them fitting in and acceptance.

Fulfillment isn’t something that can ever be outsourced.

No matter how well intentioned and good-willed the other people in your life might be.

…It can only ever be sourced from within.

Flirting With Tickets

Published on April 30, 2022

The average pace of today’s world is fast.

Most of us are sprinting to and from and mostly because that’s what everybody else is doing.

It’s like when you’re on the highway and everybody is driving 69.5mph in a 55mph zone—you don’t want to be THAT guy (just me?).

The question is: are we running because we’re enjoying or because we’re trying to quickly get to a different place where the enjoying is supposed to happen?

Which makes me wonder: does enjoying ever sprint? Or does enjoying cruise so as to not miss a moment as life sprints by?

Protect Your Peace

Published on April 29, 2022

What if I told you that today, you will be exposed to messages that were deliberately designed to destroy your inner peace…

Would you approach your day differently?

Would you guard your mind more intently?

Would you more carefully choose your company?

…Because here’s the thing: you will be.

Be Water, My Friend

Published on April 28, 2022

Understand this: we are a vessel that carries either water or gas to and from each of our daily interactions—it’s rarely anything else.

With that in mind, our mission becomes quite clear.

We must take the time needed to fill ourselves up each day until we are overflowing with “water” rather than allowing our internal chemistry to unwillingly produce and start spewing “gas.”

Then, with every “fire” we cross, we have to let what comes from inside of us dilute the harsh flames rather than further enrage their fury.

After all, do we want to be contributors to even more uncontrollable chaos in the world? Or do we want to be the facilitators of fresh air?

And to my idealist friends out there: the key isn’t to let the number of fires in the world—or their size—intimidate you to inaction.

The most grandiose plan to extinguish all fires in the world pales in comparison to the fire that’s actually put out in your own backyard.

Today, as you embark on the path of your day—be water, my friend.

And focus on the actual flames that present themselves at each step along the way.

So Good

Published on April 23, 2022

Working on your weaknesses will make you average (at best).

Working on your strengths gives you the best chance at becoming above average—maybe even excellent.

Spend little to no time working on your strengths, however, and you’ll quickly become average (or below average) and struggle to contribute to the world in powerful ways.

The trick is to align strength-building with the largest block(s) of available time you can afford each day and double/triple down on developing them compared to your weaknesses.

Because remember: your weaknesses are somebody else’s strengths. Let them own that skillset.

You focus on owning yours.

That is how you become so good that you can’t be ignored.

And that is the best aim to have in today’s hyper-competitive, hyper-connected world.

Nobody is desperately seeking to add average to their team/company/lifestyles.

It’s Time To Rebel

Published on April 20, 2022

Modern day culture isn’t set up to make people feel good about themselves.

It’s postured towards comfort, speed, and clicks.

It’s important to point out that the byproduct of such a culture isn’t meaning, inner peace, and happiness.

The byproduct is pain, busyness, and distraction.

Which is why “going with the flow,” “fitting in,” and “keeping up with the whoevers” can be so detrimental (and is to countless people in our society).

Those who surrender to the flow of the culture quite often get carried away into the sewers which are composed of garbage thoughts, shitty feelings, and crap relationships.

This is all to say: being passive in today’s culture is a shitty option. Pun definitely intended.

And worth pointing out: this means that meaning, inner peace, and happiness are each (and need to be treated as) acts of rebellion.

You need to rebel against the call to comfort and confront positive pain.

You need to rebel against the aggressive demands for speed and deliberately create more space for stillness.

You need to rebel against the urge to constantly click, follow, like, swipe, and subscribe—and spend more time exploring, experimenting, adventuring, connecting, and building.

Don’t expect society to carry you along gracefully to the most fulfilled version of your life.

It won’t.

In today’s world, living the most fulfilled version of your life is straight up, an act of rebellion.

And it’s time to start treating it as such.

Don’t Skip Leg Day

Published on April 15, 2022

Today was heavy squat day at the gym.

Family travel, however, interrupted the normal routine.

So, after driving 6 hours and settling in to my destination location—I got creative.

I ran an elevated pace mile, did 100 jump squats, and 50 lunges.

This is a good example of what “firm in resolve; flexible in approach” looks like.

Life will happen.

Find other ways to make your top priority tasks happen when it does.