Matt Hogan's Blog

Interrupting Vibe Killing Thoughts

Published on February 12, 2024

Today Amazon delivered a package of mine to the wrong house.

Not only that… but, it was a house that was 20 minutes away from mine.

And the picture of the package proved it.

Once I realized this, I felt a wave of annoyance arise pretty quickly.

Feeling it continue to bubble up, and knowing if I didn’t do anything I would feel waves of annoyance for the indefinite near future, I decided to control what was in my control and just drive to the house—with as little hesitation as possible. I didn’t want there to be any wasted time or energy in annoyance if I could avoid it.

So I went.

Once I got there, the package was no longer on the porch.

So, I rang the doorbell and a gentleman answered. I explained the situation, and he told me that Amazon took the package back and was going to re-route it to me.

…And before I let another wave of annoyance arise from feeling like I just wasted a bunch more time and energy driving to this person’s house to find out the package wasn’t even there—I quickly interrupted the thought with another.

I told myself that the situation had been handled and that I saved myself hours and even days worth of annoyance and vibe killing emotions.

…And that a little car ride with loud music and droning thoughts was long overdue anyway.

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

The Most Surprising Realization I’ve Had From 1,500 Days Of Daily Writing

Published on February 11, 2024

One of the most surprising realizations I’ve had from 1,500 days of daily writing is that daily writing makes me better… at everything.

It makes me better at:

Speaking
Listening
Coaching
Reading
Relating
Being (Present)
Strategizing
Healing
Helping
Meditating
Sleeping
Exercising
Taking Risks
Taking Ownership
Taking Aim
Building
Breaking Things Down
Solving Problems
Prioritizing
Relaxing
Simplifying
Optimizing
Living… My best life…

And these were just the things that came to the top of my mind in a matter of minutes…

…I simply can’t think of a single area of my life that hasn’t been improved from daily writing.

And maybe… if improving every aspect of your life sounds like a good thing… you could try it, too?

P.s. Hat tip to Craig for inspiring this post. Thanks for all of your support.

Day 1,500

Published on February 9, 2024

Today marks day 1,500 of daily writing…!

And in honor of this huge milestone, here are some pivotal moments that shaped this journey:

January 1, 2020: Day 1. The day I overcame imposter syndrome. The day I took a quote, wrote a few paragraphs, numbered the bottom: (1/365), and posted it to FB. The post that eventually became this article.

January 3, 2020: Knowing I didn’t want these posts to be owned by FB, I created “Beyond the Quote” where they could be housed for peace of mind. Here’s Day 3’s post. This carried on through Day 414.

December 10, 2020: Throughout year 1, I felt like I had something to prove… and the length of my posts showed it. Here’s an example of the length I was trying to crank out each day… it was mentally exhausting.

December 24, 2020: I took a road trip that completely changed my perspective. It helped me realize I had nothing to prove and marks the day I started writing drastically shorter posts.

January 1, 2021: Day 365/365…! Mission complete! …And my thoughts.

February 3, 2021: Created a FB group so that readers could get notifications. Posted there from Day 400 – Day 1,092.

February 18, 2021: (Day 414) Created https://matthogan.blog. Felt like the words I was sharing deserved their own house and audience outside of MoveMe Quotes.

November 2021-ish: Gave myself a formal constraint: No more than 280 words allowed.

January 1, 2022: 2 Year mark… and my biggest takeaway.

October 30, 2022: Day 1,000… and the 25 biggest lessons I learned up until that point.

February 9, 2024: Day 1,500… systems in place… pace established… and no signs of fatigue in sight.

“What’s Wrong With Me?!”

Published on February 8, 2024

…A student of mine exclaimed frustratingly while trying to coordinate her body to do some martial arts moves that she kept confusing.

To which I replied with something along the lines of: “Nothing is wrong with you. You’re learning. Slow down and stop thinking that anything is wrong with you. You’re on precisely the right path. It’s the rushing—your desire to get it correct now—that’s causing the confusion. Calm your mind and take it slow; patience is required for growth.”

So many times in life, what’s wrong with us is the fact that we think something is wrong with us.

And it’s precisely those beliefs that become the self-fulfilling prophecies that (continue to) make things go wrong.

What if—now stay with me here on this—nothing was wrong with you?

What if you were precisely where you were meant to be, as you are?

What if all of the people and things that were telling you that something was wrong with you were in fact… the ones and things that were wrong?

…What if you lived your life thinking you were… just right?

P.s. 48 Brianna Wiest Quotes from The Mountain Is You on Self-Sabotage and Healing

Mechanic #1 vs Mechanic #2

Published on February 7, 2024

I asked two mechanics the same question today: “My check engine light came on for no apparent reason… everything seems to be working fine… could you do a diagnostic check to see what’s causing it?”

Mechanic #1 quickly said, “For $135 an hour I can. And it’s not as simple as just plugging in a diagnostic device—it could take one to four hours.”

Mechanic #2 said, “Sure. Can you bring it in Friday? It should only take us a few minutes to figure out what’s causing the light to turn on and we can decide how to proceed from there.”

…Guess which mechanic I’m choosing?

Not just for this time around… but for all my future time arounds?

And I bet if I wiped all of Mechanic #1’s car knowledge and he was in the same boat I was in… he’d choose Mechanic #2, too.

When you’re in business… you’re there to do business—I get it.

But, when you treat customers like numbers and not people who would like to be treated just like you would if you were in the same situation… I suspect it won’t be long until there won’t be too many “numbers” left for you to do business with.

Before The Fact

Published on February 6, 2024

Below a screenshot of my cell phone’s home screen (here’s the link if it doesn’t show):

…See that big ol’ Screen Time block at the bottom?

That’s an intentional effort of mine to increase my screen time awareness so that I can deliberately work to decrease my screen time usage.

Before, I would get one push notification each week summarizing my screen time averages—but it was after the fact... after the usage was done and all I could hope to do was be more aware the next week so as to reduce it before the next push notification was sent out.

And, as you might expect, this strategy didn’t really change much week to week.

But, ever since I added that big ‘ol Screen Time block to the bottom of my home screen, my screen time has dropped remarkably.

…And it’s all because I’m getting reminders before the fact.

Seth Godin once said that the best way to make any long term change is with enough short term feedback.

Most of what we do every day is already programmed into our lifestyle as habits. If we want to change that unconscious programming… we need to deliberately and proactively and creatively find ways to consciously remind ourselves to do those new things that go against our current unconscious programming.

Otherwise, the programming will prevail and we’ll keep looking back—after the fact—wondering why the heck nothing is changing.

P.s. Need help programming new habits into your life? My 30 day guide will help. Details here.

What Feels Alive For Me Now?

Published on February 5, 2024

…This is a question that guides my friend Nat’s life.

Whenever he’s presented with an opportunity or comes to a fork in the road or simply notices a rise in unpleasant emotion—he sits with this question.

Because what felt alive yesterday, isn’t necessarily what’s going to feel alive today.

And what felt alive for a decade, isn’t necessarily what’s going to feel alive for the coming one.

And this is an important realization to have.

For something to feel alive, it has to feel the way it feels to look into the eyes of a baby—your baby.

Because following the natural flow of what feels alive isn’t about being flaky; it’s not just about doing things when you feel like it. It’s about honoring the evolving nature of your baby and helping your baby realize it’s full, complete potential.

…Because your baby isn’t just one task, one person, one job, one career, one dream, etc… your baby is the living embodiment of all of those things wrapped into one.

Just as your child will have ever evolving aptitudes, interests, curiosities, skills, and talents… so, too, will your life be an ever evolving portfolio of aptitudes explored, interests investigated, curiosities followed, skills built, and talents developed.

But, if you ignore the call to what feels alive… if you suppress the feelings that are telling you that something feels dead… if you keep pushing forward while refusing to check your internal compass…

Don’t be surprised when you end up somewhere that’s filled with regret.

P.s. My 30 day guide can help ensure you don’t live a life that ends with regret. Details here.

Matt Hogan's Blog Posts