Matt Hogan's Blog

Holiday Hangover

Published on January 1, 2024

I have holiday hangover.

Mostly from eating more than usual and working out less than usual.

And it has me feeling self-conscious and crappy.

At a previous time in my life, I would channel all that energy into one mega intense workout to try and make up for the holiday dip.

But now, I try to do the opposite. I try not to run from it… I try to *really* feel that crappy feeling… And I try to convert it into a more sustainable source of energy. A source of energy that carries me through a month’s worth of workouts rather than one or two really intense ones.

Just like you can’t eat one healthy meal to make up for a week’s worth of crap, you can’t do one mega workout to make up for a week’s worth of inactivity.

In fact, from my experience, it tends to work proportionally in the opposite direction. One week of inactivity is made up with one month of consistent workouts. One month of crappy eating is made up with one quarter (of a year) of healthy eating.

Dont let this disappoint you.

To feel disappointment would mean you expect health and fitness to yo-yo… one week off, one week on; one month off, one month on; one year off, one year on… which would be a mistake. The goal should be 95% on and 5% off—ish. As in, 2-4 weeks per year of being off and the rest in routine, building healthy habits, and riding the wave of your momentum.

In short: Let the holiday hangover fuel you—not just for tomorrow—but for a chunk of this new year.

Four Years Of Daily Writing

Published on January 1, 2024

On this day, four years ago, I wrote a Facebook post that had one quote, a few paragraphs of personal insight and a label at the end that simply said “(1/365).”

It was an idea I had from the day before, on that New Year’s Eve, that it was time to start sharing with people what I thought—enough sharing only the words of other people via quotes.

So I took a quote that resonated with me, did exactly that, and posted it publicly for accountability with that little countdown tag at the end.

I didn’t really know what I was doing at first. I didn’t have a crystal clear long term vision… I didn’t have a specific action plan… I just had an idea, kept it simple, and ran with it.

…And here I am, STILL running with it four years later.

Since then, my writing process has evolved, my delivery process has upgraded, and my systems have been refined.

…As is to be expected with anything you start and work on day-in and day-out.

And so this post is a reminder that, while it’s tempting to want to get everything perfectly prepared and ready, none of it will get you more prepared and ready than simply starting.

Yes, I’m looking at you my perfectionist friends. It’s go time.

Happy New Year, all :)

My 2024 Goals

Published on December 30, 2023

I wrote the other day about five things I’m seriously considering pursuing in 2024.

As I mentioned at the end of that post, I know it’s not a good idea to try and accomplish all five. It’d be better to focus on one and give it 100%. And after careful reflection, here’s where I landed:

1. My number one goal for 2024 is to publish one long-form post every week. The reason is because I want to be able to share my writing with more people without having to do the social media dance. There’s no doubt that it’s an invaluable tool, but I’ve decided to take an alternate route. One that’s focused on (1) Article SEO—so people can find me via search engines and (2) Submitting pieces to magazine-like brands who have readers interested in the things I might write about. In short, the goal is to grow my audience with minimal social.

2. My second major goal is to complete my next two digital guides. They’re already mapped out, I just need to get them done. This will complete my first series of lessons on how people can come into alignment with their life—one of the main focuses of my coaching, teaching, and writing.

3. Once those are complete, my final big goal for 2024 (that I’ll only start after the two guides are done) is to create a self-paced video course that uses those guides as the syllabus. It’ll be an incredibly powerful tool that’ll bring all of the written lessons to life and provide added context, community interaction, and more.

…Let’s do this.

P.s. What are your goals for 2024? Shoot me a reply :)

7 Big Lessons From 2023

Published on December 30, 2023

Today, I published 50 of the Most Impactful Lessons I Learned From 2023. Below are seven of my favorites—my 1-minute version if you will. Enjoy :)

1. Making your future goals actionable today is how you prove to yourself that you’re serious about them. Not doing anything about them in the present means they’re still fantasies.

2. There is no easy-only option… only hard now and compounded hard later. Remember this when you’re on the fence about exercising, meditating, writing, being honest, doing inner work, etc.

3. Thumb taps and mouse clicks drastically change lives. Be ruthless in how you curate the media that you allow to reach your eyes and ears. Do NOT underestimate your role in this.

4. Pay yourself in time/energy/attention FIRST. Then, when full, give extra or what you have left over to others. You will never be able to give others enough of your time/energy/attention — they’ll always gladly demand and accept more.

5. What gets measured, gets managed. And what gets managed gets your time. And what gets your time… gets your life. Measure the moments that make you feel alive; time spent with loved ones; the depth of your self-understanding… Measure what really matters.

6. Solitude is a necessary ingredient for great work. And if you’re serious about wanting to produce great work, then get serious about prioritizing solitude into your days.

7. The inner work we choose to avoid becomes the outer suffering we can’t seem to escape. As hard as it might seem upfront, it’s the easiest it’ll ever be to confront right then and there. The things we carry with us only get heavier the longer we carry them.

…Read the rest here.

Tearing Down Isn’t A Good Building Up Strategy

Published on December 28, 2023

Before you plunge into the New Year with your list of everything you want to do and improve… take a minute to lay a foundation of good that came from this previous year.

Usually when resolutions come to mind, we think about everything we didn’t do, everything we failed at, everything we woulda/coulda/shoulda done but excused ourselves from for one reason or another… and we enter the year from a place of lack and a mindset focused on shortcomings.

Instead, try replaying the year in your mind and highlighting the things you did do, the things you succeeded at, and everything you didn’t excuse yourself from that you did even when you didn’t want to.

Even if not many things come to mind… bring to light what you can.

…And remember, there’s always something that can be brought to light.

Now ask yourself what went right for you to get those things done; how you approached those tasks differently; how you got those things to stick where other things slipped…

And from there… build.

We don’t construct the life of our dreams by constantly tearing ourselves down. We build up to that life one brick—one success brought to light—at a time.

P.s. Tomorrow I’m publishing an article featuring the most impactful lessons I learned from 2023… I’m curious… what was one (or a few) of yours?

Who Can Love You If Nobody Knows You?

Published on December 27, 2023

What follows is a quote from Sheldon B. Kopp from his book, If You Meet Buddha On The Road, Kill Him! In it, I found there to be some pretty profound ideas worth sharing and elaborating on. Let’s dive in:

“If I am transparent enough to myself, then I can become less afraid of those hidden selves that my transparency may reveal to others…” How true is it that we hide what’s within, not because we want to hide… but because we’re afraid of what we might find—it’s something we haven’t fully explored yet ourselves. And until we explore it—via writing, reflecting, meditating, etc—we’ll likely continue to struggle with transparency.

“…If I reveal myself without worrying about how others will respond, then some will care, though others may not.” We’ve all met a few of them in life. The rare ones who are who they are and don’t give one care what anybody thinks about it. And their authenticity makes them attractive—to some… and a repellant to others. The key is that it’s attractive to some—the ones who vibe at a similar frequency and want to join your tribe. The others don’t matter.

“…But who can love me, if no one knows me?” …And if you don’t know yourself, how can you expect anyone else to?

“…I must risk it, or live alone. It is enough that I must die alone. I am determined to let down, whatever the risks, if it means that I may have whatever is there for me.” …Even if what’s there is pain, suffering, and loss. Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.

Coming In 2024…

Published on December 26, 2023

There are five things that I’m seriously considering pursuing in 2024.

A Poster Store. I have the words. I’ve been having a great time generating AI Art. I want to combine and share them in inspiring ways.
A Podcast. I’ve been toying with the idea for years. I have my questions and I know who I’d ask… it’s only a matter of doing it.
Video Courses. My digital guides are the syllabus’. Next I would turn them into self-paced courses that would provide significantly more guidance than a simple .pdf file.
Live Workshops. My vision is to keep them small. Five to ten people max. Everybody participates and works together to answer challenging, hard-to-face alone, inner work related questions.
More Digital Products. I have shipped two. I have ten more outlined that I want to produce for The Art of Forward Series. And I have a slew of other digital products that I want to create outside of that series. Including Kaizen templates to help guide daily action, the Ultimate Kindness/ Pay-It-Forward Party, and Poetry books.

I’m sharing this because I’m sure you, too, have a bunch that you want to do in 2024. My recommendation is don’t make it your goal to do it all. Start by writing and feeling them all out—yes.

But then, pick one thing to focus 100% of your energy on. None of it ever works out to be as easy as it seems in your mind. Try to do too much and you’ll fail at it all. Get an A+ in one and you’ll be well on your way to properly conquering them all.

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