Category: Identity

Lead with your heart and utilize the power of your mind to figure out the rest.

Leading with your mind and trying to utilize the power of the heart doesn’t work out so well.

Why? Because the heart isn’t one to be utilized.

The heart is who you are; the mind is composed of all the tools that you could ever need to utilize and shape that identity.

Force your mind to build an identity that is in conflict with your heart and the heart will inevitably rebel. Many of us get pigeon-holed into this trap because our minds are so damn loud and constantly connected to the damn loud minds of others.

That is why we must quiet our mind; why we must turn down the noise of what’s “practical” “lucrative” and “respectable;” why we must return to stillness.

Because it’s only there… where we’re quiet and thinking as ourselves—not as others would have us think—that we’re able to truly hear what our heart has to say.

So that from there… we can begin to truly lead.

• Wise
• Loyal
• Humble
• Generous
• Admirable
• Respectful
• Dependable

…Aren’t character traits you can give yourself.

They can only ever be gifted to you by others—regardless of how much you believe it, say it, or fight for it (them).

Some things can only ever be proven through action.

Side note: there is an argument to be made for the situation when you’re surrounded by people who simply don’t give gifts of any kind. People who are so consumed in their own worlds that they don’t have the capacity or capability to gift these rare character titles to others. And if that’s the case, remember, getting the rare character titles gifted to you isn’t the point. The point is to embody the rare character traits because of the innate goodness that doing so provides in value for you and your life. Getting the title should never be the expectation; only the rare, unexpected (and greatly appreciated) gift.

…If you want to get the rare character title of appreciative, that is.

P.s. January 26th was the anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death. I wrote a piece honoring his legacy here.

You become what you study; study what you want to become.

You become who you speak with; speak with who you want to become.

You become what you think carefully about; think carefully about what (and who) you want to become.*

*Thinking carefully implies deliberate conscious effort, not what happens unconsciously throughout the day. We’re talking about the kind of thinking that happens when you ask and mentally sweat over tough questions. Questions that challenge your limiting beliefs, comfort zones, life path, ingrained habits, close relationships, identity, vision, beliefs, and so on. Yes, this is the kind of thinking that shapes who you will ultimately become.

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

If you lack confidence, it’s not something you can just pull from thin air or positive thinking.

Confidence is something that is built tangibly—in reality.

It’s something that requires a stacking of little successes that slowly… slowly… build a track record we can start to believe in.

If we have never done a thing successfully—ever—even in a small way, of course we’ll have a crippling lack of confidence.

Confidence comes when we get out of our head and get focused on doing more in the world—one small, aligned success at a time.

P.s. I asked: What gets you to do the thing you know you need to do when you REALLY DON’T want to do it? I hope the replies help. :)

We don’t start acting like our highest self once we become them… at some distant and arbitrary point in the future.

We visualize, channel, and call upon the thoughts/ beliefs/ actions of our highest self NOW and slowly, slowly…

After having acted like them for long enough… embody and become them in a not-so-distant and deliberate point in the upcoming present.