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Category: Living Well

A Hard To Grasp Truth About Fitness:

Published on August 29, 2021

What some people can do to stay fit isn’t what you might have to do to stay fit.

Remember this when others are:

  • Eating what you won’t
  • Skipping workouts when you can’t
  • Drinking what you shouldn’t
  • Choosing lethargy when you couldn’t

It’s easy to want to respond with resentment, envy, jealousy, even hatred.

This does nothing, however, for your fitness or mental health.

And that which doesn’t serve you, shouldn’t be served up by you.

Harder would be to respond with curiosity, strength, willpower, even love.

Love for the challenge; love for the insight; love for the connection; love for the growth.

Those who get it easy don’t get the depth that comes from overcoming the hard.

Crazy Horse—And The Power Of Vision

Published on August 28, 2021
Image by Author

The white statue is what the sculpture will look like when it’s done.

The mountain in the distance is the progress that has been made so far.

…Over the course of 73 years.

The original sculptor has passed.

But so has his dream of carving Crazy Horse into the side of this mountain.

Many are still working to finish this colossal, unfinished sculpture. And there is no estimated completion time.

But, the idea of working towards the completion of something bigger than yourself, that quite possibly won’t be done in your lifetime, that will dwarf all other sculptures in the world…

Is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Don’t be stubborn with your dreams.

Cultivate a vision that captures the imaginations of many. That way, even if you fall short or your time expires before you’re done, your dream can carry on.

Knowledge Ungrasped

Published on August 27, 2021

The best teacher in life is experience.

…Wrong.

The best teacher in life is, and can only ever be, you.

Experience is merely newly presented knowledge. Just like a simple Google search.

And having knowledge in front of you (or at your finger tips) has no impact on the mind.

Knowledge ungrasped is the same as knowledge unknown.

The best teacher is the curious mind—the undeniable force that actively grasps the surrounding knowledge and infuses it with the mind.

Without that force, the talents of the teacher are irrelevant; experiences are irrelevant; access to the internet is irrelevant.

Because having access to knowledge was never the issue in the connection age.

It’s the lack of curiosity that only ever holds us back.

7 Things You Can Learn From Flying

Published on August 21, 2021
  1. Cruising > Accelerating—Accelerating from 0-250mph feels more invigorating than cruising at 500mph. But cruising at 500mph will get you WAY further than constantly accelerating 0-250mph.
  2. Get The Design Right First—When the design is right, all that’s needed is forward momentum. With that and the right fuel source, planes glide. So can you. And gliding is better than having to constantly flap, flap, flap like a bird.
  3. Perspective Matters—Life can feel awfully small when you’re constantly zoomed in on your world. Zooming out reminds you that what can feel huge, really is quite small when the rest of the world comes into perspective.
  4. Direction Matters—Clouds won’t stop a flight. If you know the direction you need to head, but you temporarily lose sight, don’t let it stop you either. This is why knowing your direction is so important. Don’t take off until you do.
  5. Rise Above The Storms—What’s true for clouds is true for minor storms, too. If the day needs to be picture perfect for you to fly, you’ll rarely fly. If you can fly out and rise above the resistance that comes with minor storms; do that.
  6. Take Calculated Risks, Not Unnecessary Ones—When the weather gets bad, however, know when to stay grounded. Letting intense storms pass or settle is always a much better solution than taking unnecessary risks. Some storms simply shouldn’t be flown into.
  7. Ego Check—You’re not the only aircraft in the sky. In order for flying to work, there has to be cooperation and clear communication with the other planes. Don’t wait for them to talk to you, reach out to them! Organize, align, mobilize, and enjoy the open sky.

What Are You Going To Do About It?

Published on August 13, 2021

The real source of your problems doesn’t come from your circumstances.

The real source of your problems comes from the person looking back at you when you look in the mirror.

See that person?

Sure, they haven’t been given the best start in life. But, neither has countless others. It can’t be changed so might as well focus on what’s important: what you’re going to do about it.

See, here’s the thing: that person in the mirror didn’t choose their starting line, but here’s what they have chosen:

  • When to start running.
  • At what pace to run.
  • How often to run vs. not run.
  • Who to run next to.
  • How seriously to take their running.
  • Where they want their finish line to be.
  • What to do when the running isn’t going well.
  • What to do when the running is going really well.
  • How often to invest in becoming a better runner.
  • Who’s brains they pick and how they apply the insight they gather.

People who blame their circumstances don’t get ahead, not because they started behind, but because they stay behind while they continue to blame, yell, and shout at their starting line.

The people who get ahead are the ones who: rather than source problems to circumstances, focus energy on solutions; rather than blame what’s out of their control, change what’s within it; rather than compare where they started, just get started!

The Secret To Building Self-Discipline

Published on August 9, 2021

The reason people fail to discipline themselves is because their “why” isn’t strong enough.

Many people’s “whys” are actually quite superficial. They’re focused on weight, waist size, number of abs showing, number of “0s” in the account, brand names, follower count, verified badges, etc.

The solution is to go deeper. And motivation will increase in proportion to the depth of the “why.”

For example, is the goal: weight, waist size, number of abs showing or is it really self-confidence?

If the goal is self-confidence and it’s being measured with a superficial marker like a scale—of course motivation will be lost when the scale yo-yos or doesn’t change.

If you’re going to stay consistent through the yo-yos and plateaus, you need to go deeper.

And if you don’t feel confident in yourself now, you need to figure out why.

Are you comparing yourself to who you were yesterday or other people? Do you hate the way being overweight feels? Does being overweight conflict with your identity?

Dig deeper into the real reason why you want to lose weight, reduce your waist size, and increase your ab count (or whatever) and align your actions with that reason instead—not number games.

E.g. I’m working out because I hate the way being overweight feels and I know that the temporary pain of exercise is worth more than the lasting pain of being uncomfortable in my own skin—versus—I’m working out to lose weight.

Remember: when you align your tasks with a strong enough “why,” you’ll be able to bear almost any “how.”

How To Upgrade The Quality Of Your Life In 1 Hour

Published on August 5, 2021

You’re naïve if you think the media you consume doesn’t affect your mental health.

Just like you’re naïve if you think the food you consume doesn’t affect your physical health.

What do you think happens when you consume too much bite-sized, sugar-coated, empty-calorie content?

Probably the same thing that happens when you consume too much bite-sized, sugar-coated, empty-calorie food.

If you want your mind to be healthy and fit, you have to treat the media you consume the same way you’d treat the food you’d consume if you wanted to keep your body healthy and fit.

For food, you already know that if it’s in the kitchen, you’re probably going to eat it. Likewise, if the media is in your field of vision, you’re probably going to consume it.

Want to immediately upgrade the quality of your life in one hour?

Step 1: Unfollow, block, mute, and otherwise remove any and all sources of highly processed, click-baity, shallow content.

Step 2: Follow, subscribe, befriend, and otherwise immerse yourself in sources of nutrient dense, clean, trustworthy content.

You can do this for people, brands, and ads alike—for every media platform.

I know of no better way to disproportionately upgrade the quality of your life in as little time.

Big media isn’t going away. Vilifying big media for being sources of shallow content is lazy and irresponsible. About as helpful as vilifying grocery stores for carrying processed foods.

Those who take their media diet seriously will enjoy the same results as the person who takes their food diet seriously.

Ready to upgrade? I hope so. Take an hour and get to it.