Skip to content

Category: Thinking Clearly

“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.

What You See Is What You Look For

Published on February 4, 2024

Walking into Target today, I had a thought that I’d try to commit as many random acts of kindness as I could.

…Boy did that change the shopping experience from what it could’ve been/usually is.

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

Binge Reel Watching

Published on February 3, 2024

I kind of beat myself up today after spending an hour and a half watching reels after a long work week.

Then I remembered how I’ve essentially eliminated binge-reel-watching altogether for every other day of my week—for over a month now.

And I reminded myself that, like with food, it’s okay to have a cheat day. The goal isn’t perfection… it’s healthy.

And one cheat day doesn’t offset six healthy days. In fact, it helps keep the mind balanced… sane… satiated.

And so, like with cheat days, maybe you can try aiming for a six-to-one ratio with mindless media.

…It’s the daily cheats that turn into habits that turn into huge time sucks and mind melting that really cause the big problems.

But, one cheat per week keeps time in your pocket, discipline built, and mental resources available for higher level priorities.

…Without sucking the joy and pleasure that comes from the occasional binge.

Making vs Copy-Pasting

Published on February 2, 2024

Being the manager of a business, a big part of what I do is sales.

Fortunately for me, I’m wholeheartedly in love with what I sell.

Also fortunately for me, I’ve been able to learn from great salesmen who are also wholeheartedly in love with what they sell.

Many years ago, however, when I was first moving into sales from a teaching role, I made the mistake of thinking salesmen had to look a certain way, talk a certain way, and had to have a certain personality flair about them that was… in my mind… largely innate.

And in my mind, if my identity didn’t match that identity type… I couldn’t do it. After all, they were great, they looked the part, they were able to walk that innate walk… Who was I in comparison? …And it was that self-limiting belief that made me lack major confidence.

But, after enough training, trial-and-error, and growth… I slowly started to settle into my own style. I took what I liked from the greats, discarded what I didn’t, added my own unique takes, mixed in thoughts from other greats, and eventually landed on a style that I’m super comfortable and confident with.

This is the learning curve when it comes to developing any new skill.

As I reflect on this, the big takeaway for me is to avoid at all costs trying to copy and paste exactly what you see in another. This will only drain precious life energy that you could otherwise be using to invest in the real game-changing task: making the thing your own.

Lighten Your Load

Published on January 31, 2024

We spend so much of our time collecting, gathering, purchasing… hoarding.

It’s no wonder life feels heavy at times.

…What might life look like if we spent more of our time donating, gifting, selling… detaching?

Lighter is a highly underrated, not talked about enough strategy for living.

What most of us are doing is rucking through life, exhausting ourselves, and rather than looking for ways to lighten our loads—we counterproductively and somewhat obsessively look for ways we can add more weight to what we’re already carrying.

…Often disguised as luxury goods, status upgrades, hyper convenience, even more comfortable, and retail therapy.

I’m convinced there’s a direct connection between the amount of stuff we have / are responsible for and the weight we feel on our shoulders.

Maybe if we shifted our focus from what we can add that’ll make our load feel lighter… to what we might remove from what we’re already carrying… we might actually get to ruck… lighter.

P.s. 12 Minimalist Quotes from Everything That Remains by The Minimalists

Your Life’s Light

Published on January 30, 2024

I found myself feeling really inspired by this apparent journal entry that I stumbled upon on Pinterest this morning:

…And not even because of anything written (although the “note to self” piece is pretty damn good)—but, because of the effort and aesthetic and how… human it is.

And the thought that immediately popped to mind when I saw it was… imagine journaling like this every day of your life…

Imagine the memories you’d have lifetime access to…

Imagine the feelings you’d be able to not only process faster, but get to revisit and reflect on…

Imagine the legacy of life you’d get to leave behind for those who come after…

The reality is… eventually… all of our memories will fade to black.

And only the ripples of our actions will survive.

A journal not only helps us understand our ripples by helping us understand ourselves (so we can deliberately create better or more aligned ripples)… but it leaves behind a small light for other people to find…

…A light into the mind, memories, and inner workings of a fellow life traveler.

…Where there otherwise would’ve only been black.

P.s. If you like picture quotes, I curate and publish fresh finds each day on MoveMe Quotes here and Pinterest here.