Matt Hogan's Blog

Head vs. Heart? …Or Is There A Better Way?

Published on February 22, 2026

Life lived through the head leads to a more gray, tamed, calculated existence.

Life lived through the heart leads to a more saturated, wild, spontaneous existence.

By default, many of us live predominantly through one or the other.

The magic of inner work is that rather than living primarily through just one of those places… we can re-route that energy and filter it through the other center before acting on it in reality.

This gives our judgment the balance it needs to guide us forward in a more holistic and complete way.

If we let our head guide us through relationships, for example, the above words is the kind of relationship we’ll get: gray, tame, calculated.

If we let our heart guide us through work… we might spontaneously quit our job, commit to something wild, and live a life saturated with polarizing emotions—on the street.

But when we filter our head through the heart in relationships, we get something that’s not only sensical… but passionate.

And when we filter our heart through our head… we get something that’s not only exciting… but practical.

Without space and time for inner work, energy and insight shoot directly from our head or heart and is used to make raw decisions that often end up feeling incomplete, lopsided, or even regretful.

Slowing down and redirecting that energy through the filters of the other center gives us the balanced perspective we need to make complete decisions that often end up feeling more whole and rewarding as life unfolds.

You Never Went Viral… You Never Became A Star… You Never Connected With More Than A Handful Of People…

Published on February 22, 2026

Imagine this: you’re in the sunset stage of life… sitting in your rocking chair on your cozy porch with the light shining down warming your skin… and you reflect on your life:

Reflection A: You never created what was always stirring inside because of fear, imposter syndrome, distraction, procrastination, and/or doubt.

Reflection B: You never went viral, you never became a star, and you never connected with more than a handful of people… but, boy did you create. You have galleries worth of art, books worth of writing, and/or albums worth of music… and it’s all there surrounding you, like old friends, for you to revisit, re-explore, and maybe re-invent into more gifts for that handful of people.

It’s possible, too, that you have a Reflection C: you went viral, became a star, and everybody loved you and still can’t get enough of you. But, the point for me is simple… Reflection B isn’t as bad as so many make it out to be.

In other words, people weight how their creations are liked, commented on, and shared too heavily and quit too easily when the numbers don’t match their expectations. When really… it’s the creating in general that builds the true value, meaning, and fulfillment in the rocking chair at the end of life…

Forget about the day after stats. Stop obsessing over the pluses and minuses. Comparing yourself to lottery winners—in every sense of the phrase—isn’t going to help.

Focus on the quiet whispers of your soul. Lean into the pulls of your curiosity. Block out distractions, expectations, and that which fancies the ego.

Simply surrender to the ebbs and flows… and create.

Stop Thinking Yourself Into Limitations

Published on February 21, 2026

I looked into one of my instructor’s martial arts classes the other day during a jumping jack set and I saw:

An 85-year-old holocaust survivor two-stepping and arm raising as close to a jumping jack as she could.
A walker-bound stroke survivor, arched heavily as she stood, releasing her arms intermittently a few inches above her arm supports to mirror along.
A middle aged dad sitting in the lobby doing mental jumping jacks after having 1/3 of his colon removed via emergency surgery just a week earlier—there for the community, contribution, and vibes.

…What I didn’t notice as much were the twenty or so others doing picturesque jumping jacks, in rhythm, without so much as a squint.

Which is merely to say: never forget that, like a tree, your ability to inspire branches outward exponentially the deeper the roots of your troubles and adversities dig down.

People tell me all of the time how they’re “too old” or “too out of shape” or “too busy” to do martial arts classes.

When really, the only thing making them old, out of shape, and busy… is their mindset.

The Tree Method vs The Flowers Method

Published on February 19, 2026

Two ways to make change: (1) The Tree Method and (2) The Flowers Method.

The tree method is singularly focused. It demands most of your time, energy, and attention. It’s here to grow and here to stay long-term.

The flowers method is diverse in focus. It’s being generous with your time, energy, and attention. It’s planted relatively quickly and lasts maybe a season or two.

The tree method is parenting. The flowers method is teaching.

The tree method is marrying. The flowers method is dating.

The tree method is career building. The flowers method is side-hustling/ flipping.

And so on.

Nether is better than the other. It’ll always be a matter of perspective. But it’s useful to understand which you’re doing so you don’t try to grow a flower into a tree and don’t try to grow trees in your garden.

If you have kids, raise them into the strongest damn trees you can and focus less on the flowers.

If you’re married, invest more into the relationship than the total of what you invest outside of it.

If you’re employed, become a tree the organization can depend on instead of an unsure / hesitant plant.

And on the flip side, if you don’t have kids, give the energy you would normally invest into a family, into all of the flowers in your life.

If you’re not married, spread love to all of those who need it… be like the sun… unconditionally warm and bright.

If you’re not employed, explore! Build, create, experiment, and make sure you’re planting plenty of seeds of opportunity along the way.

…At least until one of the seeds turns out to be a tree instead.

For A Lighter, Further, Freer Life

Published on February 18, 2026

Traveling with a bunch of luggage is taxing.

Living with a bunch of baggage is taxing.

Creation… it seems to me…

Is a process through which the items in your metaphorical bags are unpacked… alchemized into some expressive medium… and left there once finished.

As writing an idea frees your mind from holding it any longer… creating frees your metaphorical bags from having to carry them any longer.

…For lighter, further, freer life travel.

Quality Of Life

Published on February 17, 2026

Learn to appreciate what’s well made.

Art, music, a meal…

Buried inside quality is spirit. And to appreciate quality is to appreciate another’s spirit.

And what is it that does the appreciating exactly? …That’s right: your spirit.

Appreciating is as good for our spirit as it is for others’. We cannot pour love from a cup that doesn’t already contain love. And appreciating is a means that both gives and generates love.

…It’s a process that ameliorates the quality of life for all involved.

Equally important: avoid what’s spiritless—both from others and in what you choose to make.

Life is too short. The benefits of doing the opposite are too large.

And after all… what could possibly prove to be more important than the nourishment and growth of our and others’ spirit?

…Spirit, I think you’ll realize, is the very essence of it all.

One Of The Most Powerful Tools During Nefarious Times

Published on February 16, 2026

I’m currently half-way through All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

It’s a literary fiction about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

The chapters are short—between 2-4(ish) pages each and the author alternates between the two perspectives per chapter. This way, the reader gets to live and experience each life for him/herself.

We get to experience the horror of living during a time of invasion, occupation, and death—from both the side of the occupied and occupiers. And how each gets into the positions they do… what they’re lead to believe… and how morals and values gray during nefarious times.

…And I say “get to” with intention.

Because it’s a privilege to be able to step into the life of another and experience the brutal harshness of their experience from the warmth and comfort of our couch or bed.

And it is through this privileged opportunity that we are able to develop one of our most powerful tools for combating the nefarious forces of any time: empathy.

See sympathy is widespread and mostly useless… it’s feeling bad for others and returning to the good of life.

Empathy, however, is understanding and doing… it’s having lived the bad (actually or fictionally), imagining what you wished others would do, and becoming that person for them.

And when I look on Goodreads and see 1,989,000 ratings… I feel hope. Hope that there are empathetic people out there. People who know what it’s like and what’s worth their fight.

Because fight is what we need more of our empaths to do.

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