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Matt Hogan's Blog Posts

Smarts And Systems

Published on November 16, 2021

The people who work at Lexus aren’t more tired at the end of the day than those who work at Ford.

And neither are the people who work at Rolex versus the people who work at Fossil.

Creating a higher quality product isn’t about effort.

It’s the people who learn how to work smarter, not harder, that find ways to get ahead.

It’s the people who learn how to create the right systems, not try to do things with no system, that are able to facilitate faster growth.

Focusing merely on effort (of yourself and your team) is almost guaranteed to ensure that your quality problem will persist.

Focus on smarts and systems instead.

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.

Love Hiding

Published on November 14, 2021 
You never know
who would love
the person you hide.
And you'll never find out
so long as you stay
in hiding.

For hiding isn't selective.

Hiding hides you
from everybody's sight.
And if the person
you were meant to love
sees the person
you're only pretending to be—

would they recognize you?

A Good Life

Published on November 13, 2021

Your hearing is as good as your ears. Hearing aids can help with that.

Your sight is as good as your eyes. Glasses and contacts can help with that.

Your life is as good as your mindset. Art, music, books, videos, nature, mantra, writing, therapy, mentors, exercise, relaxing, initiative, laughter, kindness, presence, podcasts, gratitude, journaling, having fun, meditation, forgiveness, compassion, speaking up, aiming higher, slowing down, self-discipline, healthy eating, curating media, embracing flaws, working harder, working smarter, helping friends, helping strangers, doing what’s hard, making things easier, athletic endeavors, community service, taking more breaks, building new habits, getting better sleep, minimizing resistance, embracing spontaneity, establishing boundaries, accepting responsibility, eliminating expectations, befriending better people, redefining what you desire, cutting back on obligations, venturing into the unknown, reprioritizing your priorities, saying “No” when you want to, saying “Yes” when you’re scared to, eliminating all comparison to others, letting go of what’s outside of your control, focusing more energy on what’s inside your control, immersing yourself in wisdom—

—can help with that.

Maybe not all at once, of course. But a few at a time? Undoubtedly.

Order doesn’t matter. Making mindset a priority is what matters. If you don’t, it’s like expecting ears to get better without aids or eyes to get better without glasses.

Movement ≠ Work

Published on November 12, 2021

The more we associate movement to work the less likely we are to do it.

When you look at kids, movement is natural.

They run, skip, and jump without any mental resistance or worries at all—all while being told that they need to calm down and “stop,” by adults.

How ironic, that when we get old, we are told we aren’t moving enough and that we need to start running, skipping, and jumping more.

…And then end up paying huge sums of money for boot camp trainers, fitness guides, and programs that’ll hopefully, somehow, maybe retrain our brains to overcome the mental resistance and worries that were once non-existent.

Maybe, we could learn a thing or two from kids.

Maybe, if we stopped looking at exercise as an obligation and looked at it as an expression of bodily freedom, we’d more joyfully move our way to health without so many daily, mental battles and wars.

Quality Sleep > Early Rising

Published on November 11, 2021

Rather than trying desperately to wake up earlier, focus on going to bed earlier.

There’s so much advice focused around “30 minutes earlier,” “5am club,” “rising before the sun,” and while I’m not arguing that it isn’t great if you can do that—what’s not great is subtracting sleep time from already sleep-deprived souls.

Prioritize getting a full night of sleep before you try prioritizing early rising.

Bridges

Published on November 10, 2021 
The people who burn bridges
to light their way

are the same people
who complain

that they don’t have enough
bridges to cross.