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Category: Thinking Clearly

Flight Delayed

Published on July 21, 2025

Yesterday, my flight got delayed.

The first announcement was that the plane had been sitting in the sun all day and the A/C wasn’t able to cool off the inside of the plane enough to allow people to board. So they told us they were going to keep trying and keep us posted.

The second announcement was that they attached a separate A/C unit onto the plane that should help expedite the cooling process.

The third announcement was that the previously mentioned A/C unit wasn’t working and was only blowing more hot outside air into the plane.

The fourth announcement was that they were going to have us fly out on a completely different plane that was still 40 minutes away from landing at the airport.

And finally, after around three hours of delays, we finally were able to board the freshly landed plane.

You can imagine the irritation and frustration experienced by the people waiting at that gate.

The people I was with, however, ended up having a great time.

We had some great conversations. We joked and laughed. We shared ideas, pictures, and videos. And, in retrospect, it ended up not being a three hour inconvenience, but a three hour opportunity to connect more deeply with the people I happened to be delayed with.

When you stop letting things outside of your control ruin your state… suddenly… your state isn’t ruined nearly as often. Because, generally speaking, your state is always something that’s within your control. Get it?

It’s as John Wooden so famously once said, “Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

The “Green Monkey” Strategy

Published on July 16, 2025

An 8 year old martial arts student of mine was having a breakdown in the lobby today.

When he finally opened up to me, he said he was having a “really bad day” and his mom was forcing him to take the class in spite of it.

After thinking about it for a minute I asked him, “Do you know why mom is trying to force you to take class today?”

And after a few moments of contemplative silence I told him, “It’s because of green monkey.”

You can imagine the facial expressions that followed—which was partially my goal.

But, it lead to a very important point.

I told him that our minds are awful at negating thoughts. Meaning, if we tell ourselves not to think about our “really bad day”—all we’re going to think about is our really bad day. Just like if I told you not to think about a pink elephant—you can’t help but think of one.

What I suggested was mom wasn’t trying to make him miserable… mom was simply trying to give him a “green monkey” for his mind to focus on for a while—so that he didn’t have to dwell on his really bad day any longer.

By attending martial arts class and moving his body, pointing his mind at specific techniques, and connecting with other students and instructors—he would undoubtedly feel better. Certainly more so than continued dwelling would make him feel.

And guess what…?

He said it made sense… went to class… and left class jump kicking with a smile on his face.

Never underestimate the power of the “green monkey” strategy in your life.

No Turn On Red

Published on July 13, 2025

If you have to turn right on red at a light where you’re not allowed to turn right on red… and you know that but you choose to risk it anyway… You’re too busy.

…And not even in schedule. I’m talking about in mind.

P.s. Yesterday I sent out the final post (for now) of my Bosnia reflection series. You can read all 12 reflections here.

Jumping From Bridges For Money

Published on July 11, 2025

That’s right… there’s a guy at the highest point of this bridge (in Mostar, Bosnia), standing over the guard rail, with one foot hanging over the side. [Image link if not shown above.]

And yes… there are people walking casually past him.

This is apparently a regular occurrence. A tourist attraction of sorts, where, once the guy collects enough money, he will jump into the water some 67 feet below.

But, after speaking to a born and raised Bosnian who knew a lot about the young men of that age… it runs deeper than just being a cash-grab or adrenaline seeking sport…

A lot of the young men in the region grew up in a war torn world. A world that was devastated with ruin. A world where thousands were brutally killed—many of whom where members of these young men’s families.

And yes, the Bosnian war ended when they were relatively young… but, their world certainly didn’t just go back to normal after that. For many of these young men, there were no schools… there was no family support… there was no community structure at all.

And because of all this… and the unimaginable amount of grief and challenge… they do today all they know how: bartending… boat tours… and yes, jumping from bridges.

A lot of times you’ll hear people in modern society complain about the job market or fuss over trivial matters in relation to their job. But, can you imagine living in a world where all you have is a third grade education? …Maybe there is more opportunity for us than we might be giving ourselves credit for.

Money Or Happiness?

Published on June 28, 2025

What do you think is more important in life: money or happiness?

Of course, the two don’t need to be mutually exclusive, but think about this:

Most of us block 40ish hours of our week, every week, to money.

…How many hours do we (you) block for happiness?

On Making *Tangible* Progress

Published on June 25, 2025

A very talented young teenager spoke to me about her struggles with continued martial arts training last night.

She felt like she wasn’t seeing tangible results from taking classes and didn’t feel very motivated to continue because of it.

She’s fit. She’s very flexible. And she’s well coordinated.

…Class-to-class, she wasn’t seeing any noticeable differences in these area—and with no tangible changes, why work so damn hard?

What I spent a solid 20 minutes talking to her about were intangible changes that come with work ethic and dedicated commitment. The obscure—only noticeable to the trained inner eye—changes that happen within.

We talked about further developing the ability to perform under pressure (and how that relates to the high pressure careers she’s aiming for)… her confidence in being able to defend against bigger, stronger, faster assailants… about having a creative outlet for self-expression (something she admitted she didn’t have outside of martial arts)… about having a safe space for mental health breaks/resets… And finally, we talked about legacy and if she was 70 years old looking back on this stage of her life, if she would regret not pushing herself further to see what she was truly capable of… she said she would.

When we don’t try very hard it’s easy to get lost in appearances.

…To judge progress solely on tangibles. To judge a book by its cover. To determine worth based on social media metrics.

But, if we try a little harder… if we look a little closer… we’ll see there’s a whole (inner) world of data to be processed and developed.

…Which might turn out to be the most tangible indicators of progress of all.

Interrupt Annoying Thinking

Published on June 20, 2025

Sitting down to write today, I stared at my screen for around thirty minutes.

…Not a single word typed.

My mind wandered… thinking of people, chores, tasks… and seemed to keep coming back to a task I was dreading that I’d have to do later in the day.

Thirty minutes of thinking about it was enough.

So I reminded myself that, if I wanted to have different, higher quality outputs (in thinking), I needed to interrupt that pattern with new, fresh inputs.

So I read through a few pages of a few books and finished a few thought provoking emails…

And no sooner than when I read those last few words, the idea for this post popped to mind.

Sick of an output? Change the inputs.