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Tag: Analogies

Optimization Happens Last

Published on February 14, 2022

Optimization is the last step of any process.

Be it building a house, starting a business, creating a new habit etc.—the fine tuning should never happen first.

  • When it comes to building a house, who cares about auto-timed lighting as a means to optimizing the house’s energy efficiency—if there are no walls.
  • When it comes to starting a business, who cares about the color of the checkout button as a means to optimizing clicks—if there is no marketing plan in place to drive visitors to the business’ website.
  • When it comes to creating a new exercising habit, who cares about the exact rest time allowed in-between sets as a means to optimizing workout pace—if you don’t even have the habit of showing up to the gym.

In today’s world, optimization is an obsession.

Many of us are constantly on the hunt for (and are being bombarded with) optimization “hacks,” fine-tuning tricks, and hot trends that can produce any kind of measurable result.

But, without the foundation set—without the “big” things already in place—it’s ultimately just wasted time.

It’s like trying to optimize a lump of coal. You can try to clean, cut, and polish it all you want—it’ll still end up mostly as it started—coal.

If, however, you subjected that lump of coal to enough time under pressure, it’ll eventually transform into a diamond.

And diamond is what gets optimized.

Ego vs. Self

Published on February 12, 2022

Underneath all of the loud, invasive, and pushy mental chatter is a voice that’s quiet, subtle, and powerful beyond measure.

That quiet voice is our authentic, “capital S” Self.

The loud, obnoxious voice is our Ego.

The Ego is hyper-comparative, is easily manipulated by outside influences, and desperately seeks control over the mind.

The Self is comparison-resistant, requires a deep impression for change from an outside source, and (fundamentally speaking) is the mind underneath all of the noise from the Ego.

It is as though the Self is the news of the world and the Ego is the news network that reports primarily for ratings.

Let the Ego take control and you get never ending BREAKING NEWS cycles, short-lived (and quickly irrelevant) urgent stories, and “if it bleeds it leads.”

Let the Self guide you and you get deeply insightful stories, long-lived “evergreen” type content, and “the truth will set you free.”

The interplay between these two forces is ever-present and plays a significant role in how we experience daily life.

The Ego, when left unattended, will operate exclusively for ratings. And all ratings without a depth of content makes for a very superficial, flaky news network.

The Self, without the presence of an Ego, will operate exclusively for depth and truth. Which has its own drawbacks. Because all depth and no ratings (appeal to an audience) makes for a very small time news network.

The ideal is a type of harmonious relationship between the two.

We start by building a solid foundation of truth, identity, and understanding of the Self and then use the Ego (without letting it use us) to serve those truths in powerful, appealing ways.

Chugging Books

Published on February 1, 2022

Unpopular opinion: Read slower.

Forget 2x/3x-ing your speed.

Blasting through someone’s deep work is like dumping a gallon of water into your mouth all at once.

Drink deeply from the words that were carefully chosen for each page of any given book.

Finish each drop.

Passing On Pain

Published on January 11, 2022

Healing doesn’t come from passing on pain.

At first glance, the idea of taking pain, packaging it up, and giving it away sounds sensible.

In the same way that taking garbage that’s overflowing, packaging it up, and sending it out to the curb might relieve your nose of the pain it’s stench thrusts upon you when you near it.

But, pain isn’t garbage that you can just dump off at the curb for another person to carry.

In fact, pain isn’t something that’s removable at all.

Pain is the crack in your house’s foundation. It’s the constant flooding of your basement. It’s the leaky roof, the broken plumbing, or the rotting wood.

It’s structural.

And there’s no moving out of this house. This body, this mind, this spirit—is the only real house you’ll ever have.

The only way this house heals, is if you do what’s required to get it fixed.

The information for healing is out there—for houses and for humans. It has never been more accessible.

It’s the solving—the doing of the work—that’s hard. And if you’re not up to the task of fixing something structural with your house alone—just admit it!

…And then get someone who can help.

Ideally, someone who knows how to fix structural problems and is a professional in their field.

You wouldn’t hire “just anybody” to fix a crack in your house’s foundation, right? So, why would you ever consider doing that for your most sacred home?

Ignoring structural problems and spewing the pain of it all on others—is no solution at all.

And only adds more wear to the houses of those in your own neighborhood.

This post became the introduction for: 28 Poetic Quotes from Inward by Yung Pueblo on Healing, Pain, and Love

Traveling Light Into 2022

Published on December 26, 2021

Everything you’re carrying… you’ve picked up.

Maybe put some of that down before the New Year, eh?

Achieving goals—moving forward—becomes a heck of a lot easier when you’re traveling light.

Living Your Dream Life

Published on December 21, 2021

Living your dream life won’t happen accidentally, just like becoming a black belt won’t happen accidentally.

It won’t happen just because you want it to.

It won’t happen even if you beg it to.

Living a life of your dreams—becoming a black belt—only happens on purpose.

And not just after being on purpose for one day, one month, or even one year.

Trying to balance the entire weight of your lifetime on such a small foundation of purposeful action isn’t realistic. Solid foundations take time.

And unless there’s a solid foundation, a quickly-realized-life-of-your-dreams will quickly collapse.

So, rather than trying to hack your way to a six-figure passive income—commit to the long-term game you’re playing and learn how to love playing the game.

Because what you’ll eventually realize is that loving the game is more closely related to living the life of your dreams than “winning” the game ever will be.

Complain Less. Paint More.

Published on December 17, 2021

Life is a piece of art that we slowly create over time.

We don’t get to choose the paint, but we get to choose what to paint.

Choosing not to paint, to complain about your paint, to curse your paint, to hate your paint, to compare and mope about your paint vs. other people’s paint—to expend energy doing anything that involves not painting your masterpiece—is a waste. Period.

Complain less about what colors you’ve been granted and focus more on how you’ll create a masterpiece with those very colors instead.

There aren’t any colors or color combinations that can’t be turned into masterpieces.

Never forget it.