Matt Hogan's Blog

78 Years Young

Published on July 6, 2024

I took a martial arts seminar today from Bill “Superfoot” Wallace.

He’s 78 years old and is still teaching two hour long martial arts seminars.

…Not to mention he demonstrated every technique at a high level (quite literally kicking people in the head), speaks with a level of enthusiasm and humor that many folks half his age would envy, and… get this… opened up into a full center split as he was warming us up.

I have never been able to do a full center split in my entire life.

This… ladies and gents… is continued proof that age is just a number.

With the right mindset and habits… we can stretch our lives much further than society leads us to believe.

Don’t believe society.

Believe in good habits. Believe in mental health. Believe in focused, daily progress.

Believe in yourself.

Investing In The Best In Your World

Published on July 5, 2024

It’s hard to be around people who are the best in the world at what you do, and not feel wildly inspired.

I say you and not they in the above sentence intentionally.

Because you could be around people who are the best in the world at what they do, and think to yourself… “I don’t know how they do that…” “That’s absolutely insane…” “I couldn’t imagine ever doing that…”

But, when you’re around people who are the best in the world at what you do—your chosen field(s) of focus, your area(s) of interest, your favorite pastimes or lifestyle practices—it’s much more likely you’ll think to yourself… “I don’t know how they do that… yet.” “That’s absolutely insane… and I want to learn.” “I couldn’t imagine doing that today… but, next year…!“

Which is why we should always make it a point to invest our time and energy in both discovering and being around those types. It has very little to do with the few moments you might actually be with them and everything to do with the years you’ll spend nurturing the seeds they’ll likely plant in your mind.

The Art of Being Actually Helpful

Published on July 3, 2024

I have two baby trees growing in my front yard.

They planted themselves and all I did was not mow them dead while cutting the lawn. And it’s been about a year now.

The one is growing in solid. Upright and sturdy. Tons of branches and leaves. About 5 feet tall.

The other is… not so much. He’s having a hard time staying upright as of late. He’s about 4 feet tall and was toppled over almost in full, laying sadly on the lawn when I looked out the front window the other day.

So, I propped him up with a makeshift crutch and he was good again.

Until today, when I looked out and saw that he’s starting to lean the other way now.

I want to help as little as possible because I know it’s through this process that he’ll deepen his roots. Which, evidently is the main difference between the first tree and this one. Mr. 4 foot either reached a little too high, too fast with his branches and/or didn’t invest enough time on the deeper, wider reach of his roots.

Of course, I can’t deepen his roots for him and the more I add crutches, the less he’ll invest in root stability himself. On the other hand, I can’t just leave him toppled over… so there’s this delicate balance going on of letting him get knocked around by the elements and making sure he doesn’t topple over and die completely.

…An act I think about often as it relates to life.

There’s trying to help… and then there’s letting people help themselves.

The art of being actually helpful is in balancing these efforts mindfully.

Important Reminders For Jugglers

Published on July 2, 2024

Some reminders from my friend, Nat, to help you along your way:

“Your inner doom & gloom thoughts and feelings have no power over you unless you give it away.”
“It’s possible to make mistakes and still be accepted and valued for who you are.”
“It’s also possible to not be at your best and still make an impact.”

In the world of my career, there is no “done.”

There is always something else that either needs to be fixed, needs to be done, or needs to be done better. It’s a constant juggling act where there are many balls in the air… and the moment you start focusing too much on one, the other(s) start to drop. And when you shift your focus to the dropped ones, the ones you were focused on before start to drop. And so on.

…Maybe you can relate?

Nat’s reminders above are powerful ones and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

…Yes, keep improving your juggling techniques and awareness.

…Yes, take your work seriously.

…Yes, do the best you can.

But, also remember to give yourself some grace. Remember that you’re imperfect and are doing the best you can. Remember that you can make mistakes and still make a difference.

…Remember that your mental health is more important than your work. And the more you take care of yourself, the better you’ll be at juggling.

P.s. Nat also does resistance release sessions to facilitate healing self-sabotage tendencies. More on that here.

Hometown Exploration

Published on July 1, 2024

I’m going to a martial arts conference this weekend to learn from some of the best martial artists, martial arts school owners, and associated like-minded people in my industry.

A question I’ve been reflecting on to prepare is, “How can I optimize my time there?”

I’ve been thinking about how I can maximize the number of sessions I take… the number of people I might meet… the number of opportunities I might capitalize on and uncover…

And it got me thinking…

…Why don’t I (we) do this for our everyday life more often?

At least for me… I can’t think of the last time I sat down and asked myself, “How can I optimize my time here, in my hometown, this weekend?”

Granted, most of the time all I want to do is nothing (lol).

But, every now and again, I think it’d be well worth the effort to look at our own hometown with fresh eyes… as though we were only visiting for one weekend and wanted to soak up as much of the area as possible.

Inner Work Prompt: Imagine friends were coming to visit your hometown for one weekend and they asked if you would give them the optimized experience. What kind of itinerary would you prepare? Why not do that for yourself and your own family?

Getting Back Up

Published on June 30, 2024

My grandmother, 88 years old, fell down yesterday while pulling a big weed from her backyard.

It was one of those: yank, won’t budge… yank, won’t budge… yank, won’t budge… yank, pops out all at once… kind of weeds.

Being that she still lives on her own, falling down abruptly like that can lead to serious consequences… especially when falling straight onto her back and not having anything around to grab onto to help her get back up.

But, fortunately, there weren’t any serious consequences and she was able to get back up on her own.

And hearing her celebrate that victory today, of being able to get back up without anything around to grab onto, was a sobering reminder to not take that simple act for granted.

In fact, it is always a triumphant moment when we rise back up after having fallen onto our backs—be it in the morning as we rise from bed, during the day as we rise from having crashed on the couch, or in the situation where we fell or were knocked down or were depressed—finding the strength inside to get back up again is what living triumphant lives are made up of.

…May you continue to find that strength for many years to come.

P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

Not Me Justifying Not Doing Laundry

Published on June 30, 2024

Doing the laundry isn’t the issue for me… it’s the folding and putting everything back in the proper drawers that gets me. And so I’ll often procrastinate.

On the plus side, this forces me to take a closer look at the clothes that get left for me to pick from (definitely not me trying to justify my procrastination 🙃).

My new rule is this: if I’m not willing to wear it, or I put it on and immediately want to take it back off… it’s gone. I throw it into my Goodwill pile so I can donate it to somebody who will actually wear it.

There’s no reason to hold onto something that I’m not going to use. And the reality is, holding onto old clothes that you never wear, weighs you down. If you’re going to procrastinate on returning your clean clothes to your shelves, at least don’t procrastinate on lightening your load when the ideal time for removing what you evidently don’t wear presents itself.

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