Skip to content

Matt Hogan's Blog Posts

The Modern Day Solution

A tip from a friend on what to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed:

“The best advice I ever got from my 5th grade teacher stuck with me until this day. If you have a list of 10 things to do, don’t look at them all at once. Pick one and go from there. We’re only one person and if we train our minds to slow down when we have a meticulous or time consuming project, I find it relaxes the anxiety of feeling like I’ll never get it done. Hope this helps.”

I particularly like this idea of not looking at them all at once.

…Sure, make your list and get yourself organized on what all needs to get done. And sure, prioritize so you can distinguish between what needs to get done, what you want to get done, what doesn’t really need to get done, what can be delegated, and what can be deleted. And sure, take a quick look at it all.

But after that… stop.

Enough looking at the list.

The longer you look at the list, the more likely the list will paralyze you to inaction (and lead you to a modern day distraction).

Just pick something.

Go from there.

Train your mind to slow down.

Having a lot to get done is the modern day dilemma.

Getting one thing done at a time with a calm, clear intention is the modern day solution.

Long Days

Sometimes the best way to go into a long day… is completely relaxed and accepting.

What makes a long day long is the relentless desire for it to be finished.

The next time you have a long day ahead… try to shift your perspective.

Instead of meeting it with dread, anxiety, and stress… try calming your nervous system and surrendering to the path ahead as it has laid itself out for you.

Meet each moment with a relaxed, calm, clear energy that’ll carry you smoothly forward to the next.

And maybe, just maybe, you’ll discover that your long days suddenly don’t feel so long anymore.

Relentless Counter-Messaging

Never forget the power you have in this moment.

As much as you might think you’re “stuck”—you’re really only a few decisions away from unstuck.

As much as you might think you’re “lost”—you’re really only a few decisions away from picking a destination and/or direction.

As much as you might think it’s “too late”—you’re really only a few decisions away from “better late than never.”

A lot of what you think and how you perceive your current situation is a result of consistent, relentless messaging—from family, school, media, work, friends, etc.

When you hear something over and over again enough—you start to believe it.

And once you start to believe it, and you hear yourself say it to you over and over again enough—you start to internalize it and take it for reality.

Today, I want you to challenge those beliefs, mute the messaging that’s reaffirming those limitations, and start telling yourself something different.

The way to undo the effects of relentless messaging is to be relentless in your counter-messaging.

P.s. My guides can help give you a powerful jump start in the counter-messaging of your life.

The Friends Who Just Don’t Know It Yet

“…So, I’m trying to learn how to do this traditional Lebanese dance. It’s called Dabke.”

She said as she started stomping, shuffle stepping, and pistol squatting all while trying to get me to join in. I told her I attended a Lebanese wedding before and had heard of it, but didn’t know how to actually do it.

…This didn’t phase her.

She kept bouncing, twisting, grabbing my hand, and egging me on as though we had known each other forever. When in reality, this was the first time I was ever meeting this person.

…The best part? This was all going down in the middle of a regional martial arts tournament.

We never figured it out, but from that Dabke moment on, whenever we crossed paths at other tournaments or events, we’d pick right back up where we left off as friends that had seemingly known each other for years (until we actually did).

And that ability, to be friends with people before they even know it, is one of the most impressive things I had ever come to learn from her.

…This person was Master Elizabeth Lindsey.

And this past weekend, she got into a devastating motorcycle accident. One that has her in the ICU, in an induced coma, with a long and uncertain road to recovery. In the blink of an eye, her entire life was turned upside down.

And as you continue to blink your eyes today I want you to remember: be grateful for every moment—because each is an unfathomable gift.

And if you have a second (and the means), please consider donating to her GoFundMe.

Relatively Scary

One of the less acknowledged benefits of being bold and doing things that are scary to you… is that it can forever change your perception of what “scary” is.

As a martial artist, you don’t often remember the “comfort zone” fights, when you’ve sparred or worked against people who were easy for you to compete against. But, you definitely remember the biggest, baddest, toughest opponents you ever had to face down.

As a recreational basketball player, I can’t tell you much about the recreational games I play week to week with the other recreational ball players. But, I can definitely tell you about the competitive games I’ve been playing against dudes who hoop at a seemingly D1 level.

As an occasional long distance runner, I can tell you that 8k used to feel like a lot. That is, until I ran a half marathon. Which felt long until I ran a marathon. Which still feels really damn long… but, definitely more doable after I did a 50k.

See, “scary” is defined in relation to your other worldly experiences that you’ve found to be scary.

But, when you lean into the scary, do something relatively bold, or just take a leap way outside of your comfort zone altogether… sure, some of the consequences might be to panic, get rejected, or to fall…

But, another key consequence—that shouldn’t be ignored—is that your definition of what’s “scary” might be forever rewritten.

Tasks Minus Intention

One of my daily goals is to upload 2-3 quotes from books/emails and 2-3 picture quotes to MoveMe Quotes each day.

It can take me anywhere from 15 – 45 minutes to do this.

Lately, I’ve been questioning whether this is a good time investment or not as I could very well invest that time into other priority tasks like more writing/meditation/productivity/etc.

What I’ve decided is this: it all comes down to the intention I bring to the tasks.

There are days when I’m rushing and I’m just trying to cross each item off my list—and on these days, it isn’t worth the investment.

And there are days when I’m more calm and present and I’m genuinely trying to absorb the message each quote is trying to convey—and on these days, it’s undoubtedly worth it.

I can remember assignments I was given in school that I absolutely didn’t want to do or majorly rushed, and guess what? I got very little, if anything, out of them.

And on the flip side, there are things I became curious about while I was a student, that I wasn’t assigned to learn about at all, that I learned so much about because I wanted to. Things that I still remember vividly today.

It’s good practice to question the tasks built into your daily routine. Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this thing?” “Am I just trying to cross this off my list or am I actually invested?” “What’s the level of intention behind this task?”

…And if the intention isn’t there… maybe the task shouldn’t be either.

Reading By Not Reading

In conversation with a few parents the other day, one mom felt that audiobooks didn’t count as reading.

She wanted her son to read book-in-hand, one-word-at-a-time, undistracted, in reality.

…But, why do we read?

Is it so we can exercise our eyes? So we can practice decoding and understanding text? So we can practice being still and concentrating our attention?

Maybe…

But, most importantly I’d say it’s to expand our mind by infecting it with the stories and ideas shared within.

And I’d say there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing that via audiobook… or via graphic novel… or via kindle… or via classic paper text… or even via listening to someone else read it to you in person.

The problem isn’t the kid not wanting to read IRL books.

The problem is trying to force the kid to obtain the life expanding, mentally nourishing, spiritually evolving ideas buried in books via a medium that doesn’t align with them.

It’s too easy to just go back onto TikTok and scroll your life away instead.

Show them where the real depth of life lies… show them where the worlds of the imaginations can truly go… show them how much better a 20 hour time spent book is vs 20 hours spent watching 5-60 second nonsense videos.

Align; don’t force.

P.s. You can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.