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Tag: Analogies

Planning “Nothing” Into Your Days

Published on November 3, 2021

When you stop the intake of information you give your mind the space it needs to process the information it has already taken in.

Never stopping the influx of information is like continuing to open new tabs on new tabs on new tabs in your browser.

Soon, the clutter overwhelms the machine and everything gets throttled. And, resultantly, you get frustrated, angry, and/or upset.

Rather than getting emotional at your computer—try closing yourself off to all inputs.

Stop opening new tabs. Stop watching videos. Stop having conversations. Stop reading books and articles. Stop listening to podcasts. Just, stop it all.

At least for a period of time. And at least once a day.

Just, let it all—settle.

In more cases than not, what your mind needs isn’t more information; what it needs is more space to process the excessive information it has already consumed.

In short, what you need is to plan more nothing into your days.

The Color Of Actions

Published on November 2, 2021

Life isn’t only a byproduct of what you do—it’s a byproduct of how you do what you do.

Take writing as an example. A book isn’t only a byproduct of the words that are used.

It’s a byproduct of how those words are arranged; how they are grammatically formatted; and how well they work together to communicate ideas.

If you took all of the words within War And Peace, for example, and rearranged them, changed the grammar, and disregarded the context—one of the all-time greats will be completely lost.

Same exact words. Completely different byproduct.

And so it is with life, too. What you do matters—yes. Just like what words you pick when writing a book matters. But, you can’t ignore the how.

How are you doing what you’re doing? Are you present or elsewhere? Do you care or are you only pretending to care? Are you pacing yourself or sprinting? Are you being true to who you are or are you putting up a front? Are your priorities really straight or are they actually backwards? Are you acting selfishly or selflessly?

The bottom line? Actions matter. But, don’t forget that intent colors actions with signals that are easily perceived by those whom the actions affect.

Nowhere In Particular

Published on October 21, 2021

If this person/ place/ thing doesn’t serve your higher purpose why are you investing time/ energy/ effort into it/ them?

Built into this question is the assumption that you know what your higher purpose is.

If you don’t, all actions become arbitrary; all uses of time become fungible.

If you want to arrive at a certain type of destination, you need to point the GPS of your actions towards it.

And you need to know well enough not to get off every exit of the highway while you’re on your way.

Random wandering—random uses of time—can only get you, by definition, nowhere in particular.

Pull vs. Push

Published on October 14, 2021

When you follow your curiosities, learning takes care of itself.

When you’re forced to be curious, learning needs to be taken care of.

When you believe strongly enough in a project or cause, working takes care of itself.

When you disbelieve in a project or cause, working needs to be taken care of.

When you give yourself a vision for the future, the days take care of themselves.

When you live without a vision for the future, the days need to be taken care of.

When you follow what naturally pulls you, you won’t have to push yourself all the damn time.

Regular Updates Required

Published on October 11, 2021

When was the last time you gave your mindset a software update?

Like your smartphone, regular updates are essential for optimal functionality of your mind.

Many people, however, haven’t updated their mindset in years.

They’re using the latest model iPhone with 2008 software installed. It’s ridiculous.

So, before you go bastardizing your mind for driving you nuts—as extremely old software might—invest in its upgrade!

You can download mind updates via books, podcasts, seminars, conversations, classrooms, etc. And in most cases, you can do so for free.

Here’s the thing: your mindset isn’t bad, it’s not broken, it’s not wrong—it’s just, in many cases, outdated.

Thinking Better Thoughts Doesn’t Just Happen

Published on October 6, 2021

Thoughts are as much outside of your control as they are inside of your control.

It works very much the same as breathing.

When you’re conscious of your mind or breath, you can actively control them.

But, when you’re no longer conscious of them, they carry on without you.

This is why you can’t just demand your mind to start producing better thoughts.

That would be like demanding your lungs to start delivering oxygen better.

You have to improve the thought-producing machine as you would the oxygen-delivering machine(s).

Which doesn’t happen after one exercise session (for either).

It happens after many.

Pace Your Brain

Published on October 3, 2021

Most people never talk about pace when it comes to learning.

Most of what I hear is about consuming as much as possible in the shortest amount of time possible (e.g. 2x speed while watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts).

Pace matters just as much in learning as it does in running a marathon.

Move too quickly through the information and you’ll burnout and resent the process.

Move too slowly and you’ll bore yourself to death (and resent the process).

Find your sweet spot and you’ll become a learner for life.