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Category: Living Well

Complain Less. Paint More.

Published on December 17, 2021

Life is a piece of art that we slowly create over time.

We don’t get to choose the paint, but we get to choose what to paint.

Choosing not to paint, to complain about your paint, to curse your paint, to hate your paint, to compare and mope about your paint vs. other people’s paint—to expend energy doing anything that involves not painting your masterpiece—is a waste. Period.

Complain less about what colors you’ve been granted and focus more on how you’ll create a masterpiece with those very colors instead.

There aren’t any colors or color combinations that can’t be turned into masterpieces.

Never forget it.

Do Right By Your Past Self

Published on December 11, 2021

After 20+ yrs of training, today is the day I got to test for my 5th Degree Black Belt in ITF Tae Kwon-Do.

As I was prepping for this day, I thought about what 11 year old me—the one who started Martial Arts all those years ago—would think if he watched me perform.

I imagined that overweight, self-conscious, always-hard-on-himself kid and I thought about everything he wanted to become: fit, confident, disciplined, looked up to, able to perform under pressure—and able to do cool moves, of course.

And it was an overwhelmingly emotional moment for me when I finished the test and thought to myself: I think he would’ve been proud.

Be On Purpose

Published on December 3, 2021

What do all of the greats have in common?

They didn’t become great by accident—they became great on purpose.

From this point forward, don’t be accidental.

Be on purpose.

My 2-Step Formula For Getting Deep Work Done

Published on November 28, 2021

Step 1) Force the first 10-20 minutes—because starting almost never comes easily. This entails: silencing my phone, wearing noise-cancelling headphones, and resolving to sit and stare until I get bored (and frustrated) enough to start. No phone-checking, tab-opening, house wandering, etc. Just me, my thoughts, and the medium through which I need to do my work. It’s uncomfortable, my mind begs for distractions, and it’s definitely forced.

Step 2) Flow for the next 1-2 hours—because once I surrender to the work, the momentum tends to take care of itself. This happens for me when I read, write, teach, train, and even talk with people. Once I enter this state, time tends to fade away. It’s completely absorbed, unconscious, deliberate and pointed—work. And it’s where most good, deep work gets done. But, until you force that first 10-20 minutes, this flow state will essentially be unaccessible.

Discontent Is A Bad Guide

Published on November 26, 2021

The byproduct of desire is discontentment.

You cannot be discontent AND happy.

But, you CAN be content and focused on growth.

Don’t let discontent guide your life—it’s miserable.

Focus on what fills you up instead.

And let your curiosity, enthusiasm, and generosity lead the way.

Reverse Gratitude

Published on November 25, 2021

Gratitude is usually about appreciating all that we have.

What if, to take gratitude further, we appreciated all that we didn’t have, too?

Things like:

  • Sicknesses/diseases/disorders
  • Greed/envy/wrath
  • War/crime/hate

This exercise will at least 100x your gratitude list.

Not that it needed any extending in the first place.

The Ends And Beginnings Of Now

Published on November 15, 2021

We’re all given a finite number of moments to live.

The moment that you’ve currently made it to, also happens to be the precise moment when it all ended in another person’s story.

Now is a gift.

One that so many others would have done ANYTHING to have back.

Live like you mean it.