Matt Hogan's Blog

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!

Don’t Ignore Pain

Published on August 12, 2021

Pain is a signal.

From your body? It’s a signal that should lead to rest, rehab, reflection, recovery, TLC, behavior change, and/or the seeking of professional help.

From your emotions? It’s a signal that should lead to, well, rest, rehab, reflection, recovery, TLC, behavior change, and/or the seeking of professional help.

Pain is not a signal to speed up—it’s a signal to slow down or stop altogether.

Don’t ignore signals.

On Talking To Someone Who Turns To A Screen

Published on August 11, 2021

If we’re talking and you turn to a screen, I’m going to completely stop talking until you turn back.

Point blank.

Here’s why:

A) Something popped into your mind that you felt was more important than our conversation, so I’m not going to distract you while you handle whatever it was that couldn’t wait. And I’m either going to postpone our conversation until you’re done or standby awkwardly until you’re ready to continue.

B) You decided the conversation wasn’t worth your undivided attention and so you divided it to keep yourself maximally stimulated. Now, since 1) multi-tasking is a myth, 2) most communication happens visually, 3) I’m not interested in repeating myself and/or having a throttled conversation—I’m going to do us both a favor and stop communicating altogether.

Because you know what’s worse than not communicating at all?

Fragmented communication that gets misconstrued. I’ve learned this the hard way.

So, go ahead: check your screen—I’ll wait. Or maybe I won’t.

But, I’m definitely not going to keep talking to a fragmented piece of your attention.

When ‘Being Difficult’ Is Required

Published on August 10, 2021

I’m not one to be difficult but I’ll fight like hell to protect my mental space.

Some things are worth being difficult over and it’s important to recognize that.

When I’m reading/ writing/ or otherwise doing deep work, for example, my phone is on silent, my internet tabs are closed, and my headphones are playing white noise on full volume.

It’s incredibly difficult to get a hold of me once I’ve entered this space.

Why do I do this?

Because I can’t do deep work with constant interruptions. And if I’m going to maximize my time in a deep work state, then I need to fight the resistance that comes with these efforts to protect that space.

And fight I will.

And when it comes to your mental space—so should you.

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.”

The Circumstances Of The Greats

Published on August 7, 2021

Let us not forget that today we are:

Feeling the same sun
Breathing the same air
Seeing the same sky

And are:

Confronting the same types of pains
Confined to the same 24 hours
And facing the same mortality

…As the greats that came before.

There is no reason why we too, cannot be great.

You Are Important

Published on August 6, 2021

You are important.

Don’t do unimportant stuff.

When you do unimportant stuff, you are subconsciously affirming that you are unimportant.

Because only unimportant people do unimportant stuff.

Treat yourself better than that.

Step up the importance of your tasks.

Do more of the things you think are important to do.

And do less of the things you know aren’t.

Start reaffirming to yourself that you are, indeed, important and worthy of completing important tasks.

Because you are.

Matt Hogan's Blog Posts