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Category: Thinking Clearly

W. W. J. D.

Published on October 17, 2025

…Stands for, What Would Jesus Do—and is a powerful framework for decision making that is/was practiced by millions… maybe even billions.

The idea is simple: when thrusted into a situation that makes you angry, upset, frustrated, etc., you pause for a moment and ask yourself, “What would Jesus do in this situation?” …And then you use that framework to guide your decisions forward.

It’s very helpful to use people as points of reference when we’re in need because while they might not have ever commented on how to handle each and every specific situation that comes up in your life… what they offer instead are embodied values and principles that, maybe we’re still working to embody, but can borrow from.

And it’s through this process of borrowing embodied values and principles that we embody them ourselves. It’s simply a matter of casting enough character and identity votes so as to tip the overall ballot into our default and ongoing behavior.

My challenge for you today is this: pick someone who can be this guiding light for you. Or maybe even better, do a deep visualization of who you are at your highest version and use that as your guiding light.

…Because trying to figure out specific answers to very specific problems can oftentimes only exacerbate the problem.

…But visualizing what Jesus, or Gandhi, or Mother Teresa, or Nelson Mandella, or your highest version would do—can oftentimes give you a clarity in a heartbeat that you might feel you so desperately need.

Meeting Pains And Delays With Inner Work

Published on October 14, 2025

I asked one of my martial arts students after she tested yesterday, what she felt good about from the last three months… and she said her patience in her ability to not push herself too hard or too quickly when healing from an injury.

Couple this with my morning workout when I was doing heavy squats and felt my back twinge in a way I knew it wasn’t supposed to. I pivoted exercises so quickly that somebody watching might’ve thought it was all according to plan.

Both this student and I have been in situations where we’ve been impatient. And we pushed ourselves too hard or too quickly and it resulted in even more pain and delays. When you meet these pains and delays with denial… it’ll only ever lead to more and more of the same.

When you meet the pains and delays with inner work… and reflect more carefully on how you got there… and better understand the warning signs and bodily communication… you solidify your understanding of the situation so that moving forward, you get less and less of the same.

…Until eventually, you can feel the pain just barely start to come on and you can pivot like it was all a part of the plan anyway.

…Because after all, in the grand scheme of things, who’s to say it isn’t or wasn’t?

Using Inconvenience As A Guide

Published on October 13, 2025

Remember that when it’s inconvenient to do something… it may be in that exact situation that you prove another thing’s (or person’s) priority.

…Is it inconvenient to go out of your way to do an errand for someone else? Does it also prove that person’s priority?

…Is it inconvenient to cook a full meal vs microwave something frozen? Does it also prove your health’s priority?

…Is it inconvenient to wake up early before your dependents so you can have some “You Time”? Does it also prove how you prioritize self-care?

We are wired to take the path of least resistance. But sometimes, the long-term path that results in the least overall resistance is the higher resistance path now.

Add “Letting Go” Time To Your Day(s)

Published on October 10, 2025

When I meditate, I tend to remember or think of things I don’t want to forget.

…It’s one of the beautiful things about meditation—it settles the mind and gives you a chance to fully process and bring to light the things that have been buried under the mudded-ness.

But, trying to remember things during meditation is counterproductive to the meditation—the point being to let go… not hold on.

And so when this happens, I write down a word or two that’ll trigger the thought/memory later—using old fashioned pen and paper—and get back to the letting go.

It’s important to use a non-stimulating medium when transferring these thoughts from your mind so as to not trigger any new, mind-mudding thoughts.

Opening your phone, seeing new notifications, reading messages, taking a peek at the pings—all while trying to record a thought on the Notes App not only flings you back to square one… but might even catapult you back further than you were—from a mind-mudding perspective—when you started.

Keep it simple.

Cushion. Butt in cushion. Pen and paper close by. Phone on silent and face down. Eyes closed.

Then, simply breathe… notice your thoughts… let them go… write down what you want to hold onto… get back to the letting go… and repeat for as long as your schedule allows.

I promise… doing this inside your day will make most any day—better.

Who I Would Take Martial Arts Classes From… And Who I Wouldn’t

Published on October 6, 2025

After spending a weekend with martial arts school owners from all across the United States… so that we could talk about how we might improve our schools as a collective… without actually training martial arts with the vast majority of them… I can tell you whose school I would attend and whose school I wouldn’t.

…Just from brief and basic interactions I had with them.

Because when it comes to investing in my educational future, I’m investing in the teacher as much—if not more—than the actual content of the classes. In fact, throughout my entire educational carrer, my favorite subjects weren’t always the same… they tended to be the ones that had my favorite teachers teaching them.

It’s a powerful reminder that my school’s success is directly tied to my personal success. The more I invest in myself, the more I invest in my school. Many people think working in the business is how you improve the business… and that might be true… but only ever to a certain extent. Working on yourself and improving the overall quality of what you can bring to the table… will always extend that “extent” out further and further.

Take The When Comparisons Out Of The Picture

Published on October 3, 2025

What’s the difference between a workout done at 6am and the same workout done at 10pm?

…Besides the time? …Nothing.

Don’t let the 6am club-ers, early-bird-gets-the-worm-ers, finish-before-the-sun-comes-up-ers make you think otherwise.

What matters isn’t what time… what matters is that (you get it in).

And if 10pm aligns better with your lifestyle, then get it in at 10pm without even an ounce of hesitation or shame.

But on the same note, what’s the difference between a workout done at 6am and a workout skipped at 10pm?

…Everything.

The point is to do things at the time that’s most aligned for you… so that you get the most (important) things done.

Take the when comparisons out of the picture.

Take Control Of The Message

Published on September 29, 2025

A few days ago I wrote about Meditating On Death.

Here’s a response I got from a reader, “This is interesting because it reminds me of this audiobook I was listening to a while ago, A Guide to the Good Life where it talks about Negative Visualization… picturing what’s the worse that can happen. I was chuckling because I realized I do this a lot to myself but always assumed I was just making myself feel anxiety or worry because that’s what was familiar/comfortable, but understood the value of it after listening to that chapter, so I began doing so with more intention, like you talk about. I guess I’ll add my own death to my list of things to visualize [lol].”

And this insight is crucial to understand.

Because when it comes to visualization, the intuitive understanding is that we should fill our minds with best possible outcomes, life-expanding goals being realized, our potential being unleashed in full, and so on. To do negative visualization sounds so counterintuitive and like it’d have precisely that effect on our life. But, the key here is, “…with more intention” as the reader states above.

See instead of letting negative visualizations lead to anxiety and worry and lesser desired emotional states... we take control of the message and intend for it to result in gratitude and appreciation and an urgency to do great things while we still have the chance.

It’s within our power to do this.

And what an incredibly impressive power this is!

…Anxiety traded for gratitude?! Worry traded for appreciation?! Lesser desired emotional states for higher ones and an urgency to live fully?!

I hope you’ll try this today.