Category: Thinking Clearly

The Cost Of Old Thinking

Published on November 26, 2023

When I first started building MoveMeQuotes.com in 2010, I was all about fancy and cool.

…Until speed came onto my radar as being a vital component of a search engine friendly website.

When I first started speed testing my (fancy/cool) website… I was pulling 15+ second load times.

…Which was/is AWFUL.

Thus starting me on the journey of simplification, optimization, and code cleaning… which eventually lead me to AMP.

AMP is a protocol that essentially strips your website of all complex code and boils it down to its most essential/clean version.

The problem is it often strips your website of so much code that it often breaks the site—like buttons, forms, comment section—nothing works breaks… like, bad.

But… if you stick with it and diligently fix the code, rework your layout, download the right plugins and get clever about how you do things… the benefit is lightning speed.

I opted in, spent hundreds of hours getting it to function properly as an AMP-based website, and eventually got it loading sub-second.

The problem was the ongoing work never got easier. Everything kept taking 5x more work than it otherwise should’ve/would’ve and simple things like allowing comments were ongoing issues.

But, I always kept my head down, put in the 5x more work, and told myself the speed was worth it.

This weekend, however, I finally decided to challenge that belief and reverted back to an updated (faster) version of an old website-theme I used to use.

And lo-and-behold… sub-second load times.

The lesson today is this: challenge old beliefs from time-to-time. 5x more work might not be the current reality our old thinking is making it out to be.

A Reminder From The Universe

Published on November 18, 2023

Driving home the other night, I got stuck behind a car that had its hazard lights on.

There wasn’t anything evidently wrong with the car, the driver probably just parked it on the side of the road to run inside their (or someone else’s) house, do something quickly, and put the hazards on so they didn’t get a ticket.

…Understandable enough and something I’ve certainly done before.

It didn’t, however, stop me from feeling a quick rush of frustration as I waited for several cars to pass in the opposing lane… delaying my journey home by an appalling 10-ish seconds.

…Here’s the crazy part though.

Just as I was passing the car, about 10-ish seconds down the road in front of me, a cat BOLTED across the street.

Like, unhesitatingly from behind a car, completely unseeable from the road until it was already in the road, full blown sprint… kind of bolted across the street.

And it was an instant reminder from the universe that sometimes… things happen for a reason.

And sometimes… you just need to chill the heck out and trust it.

Channeling Your Inner Golden Retriever

Published on November 13, 2023

The group I’ve been playing basketball with on weekends has grown as of late.

And a lot of the additions to the group are much better than me.

If I’m not careful, this could make me want to stop playing.

But, if I’m mindful, this will continue to have zero impact on my playing long-term.

Because what I have to remember is that I’m not there to be the best basketball player (I gave up that dream when I got cut from my middle school basketball tryouts decades ago). I’m there for the killer plyometric workout and connection.

And so I use the presence of increased talent and experience as motivation to practice and learn… and do my best to channel my inner golden retriever the rest of the time and run around, jump up and down, and just be happy to be there.

…An excellent strategy, I must say, when learning anything new while in the midst of talented and experienced practitioners.

Room To Breathe

Published on November 12, 2023

With each reflected upon experience, we learn something about ourselves.

…Something goes well and we make a mental note to try and repeat that experience.

…Something goes wrong and we make a mental note to try and not repeat that experience.

The more we do this, the more self-aware we become. Until eventually, we get to a point where we feel like we know ourselves pretty damn well.

…We know what boosts us up and we know what brings us down. We know what makes us cheery and helpful—and we know what makes us irritable and withdrawn. We know what keeps us calm and we know what ticks us off.

And while there’s no doubt that this type of insight is invaluable to a person… it can also slowly become a crutch.

Oscar Wilde once said, “To define is to limit”—and this is precisely what we do to ourselves the more we “define” ourselves. The more sure we are that we’re “not a morning person”—the more we limit our ability to experience joy in the morning. The more sure we are that we “can’t function without food at a certain time”—the more we limit our ability to perform if we ever aren’t able to eat at that certain time. The more sure we are that we “aren’t the person who does that—whatever “that” is—the more we limit ourselves from ever trying.

Self-awareness is a superpower—don’t get me wrong.

But, try not to be so self-aware that you leave yourself no room to breathe into any new/fresh identities or take on any new/fresh experiences.

One Of Those DAYS

Published on November 10, 2023

I had myself A DAY today.

You know, one of those days where nothing seems to go right.

Like when you try and print stacks of really important papers… and they come out on 11×17 paper instead of 8.5 x 11 paper.

Or when you try and print a different stack of really important papers… and they come out on 8.5 x 11 paper instead of 11 x 17 paper—even though you triple checked the settings.

Or when you try to hurry past barriers set up in an open room by unhooking, swinging, and limboing under the poles… and you cause the entire barrier wall to tip like dominoes leaving each pole and draped cloth spanning over 100 feet collapsed on the ground.

(…All true stories from today).

Yeah. One of THOSE kinds of days. Ever have one of them? Well, here’s something I did that helped turn it around…

When I caught myself mentally complaining (it’s a rare moment that that actually happens)… I decided to consciously try to reframe my perspective with the question: what can I find that’s going right…?

Because, as is the case 99% of the time in life, there’s PLENTY going right.

…My health was in tact. I didn’t have a toothache. My friends and family were well. I wasn’t throwing up sick. It wasn’t snowing and icy. I woke up on time. Heck, I woke up. My tire wasn’t flat. And so on…

Remembering to count your blessings each and every time you catch yourself complaining about your problems is the secret to creating more blessings than problems in your life.

And the best part is: the former ALWAYS outweigh the latter.

Don’t Be Ignorant

Published on November 7, 2023

Create space in your life for careful reflection.

Without it, you’re choosing ignorance to some of your life’s wisest council.

Which, doesn’t come from more YouTube videos, self-help books, deep dive podcasts, informational websites, or conversations with experts—per se.

It comes from your innermost wisdom that whispers advice pulled from EVERYTHING you’ve experienced/ learned/ consumed (informationally) throughout the course of your entire life.

Your innermost wisdom taps into the ocean of information that’s stored in your unconscious that’s just waiting to be explored and utilized. Another video, book, podcast, website, conversation is merely another drop or two into that ocean.

…Which isn’t to downplay the importance of consuming high-quality content.

It’s merely to emphasize the importance of turning off all of the inputs that are constantly pouring more content in, digesting the content you’ve already consumed, and giving your innermost wisdom a platform to finally communicate (which, worth mentioning, doesn’t always come in words… some of it comes in the form of symbols, metaphors, and stories that need interpreting… more on that here).

What does space for careful reflection look like?

Journaling
Walking
Hiking
Showering
Driving
Meditating
Sitting and thinking

…Whatever you want it to look like, honestly. So long as it’s (1) undisrupted by any additional incoming information and (2) deliberately focused on reflection.

With those two elements in tact—consider yourself back in contact with your life’s wisest council.

All you need to consider now is how much time can you devote to its insight?

Because zero time daily is you choosing to be ignorant.

…And nobody is so busy that ignorance is their only choice.

Easy Swaps For Exponential Gains

Published on November 5, 2023

Imagine this: you take the most wasteful 20/30/60 minutes of your day and made them into some of your most productive 20/30/60 minutes instead.

By wasteful, I mean adding no value to your current or future state.

And by productive, I mean the opposite.

Which, isn’t to stress you out with the idea of needing to work / focus / do more.

It’s a strategy to help you do the opposite.

So, instead of 20/30/60 minutes of media scrolling… what if you swapped that for an easy 20/30/60 minutes of meditative reflecting?

Instead of 20/30/60 minutes of trying to refocus after preventable distractions… what if you swapped that for an easy 20/30/60 minutes of Do Not Disturb mode, over the ear headphones, and undisturbed work?

Instead of snoozing your morning alarm for 20/30/60 minutes each morning… what if you forced yourself up right away and went to bed 20/30/60 minutes earlier instead?

Heck, what if you swapped the 20/30/60 minutes of most unproductive work-time of your day and simply sat there in silence and meditated instead?

Small changes like this are what lead to exponential long-term results. Don’t get all grandiose and try to get all of the productivity squeezed from your days right now and all up front.

Be patient. Make small meaningful changes. And keep collecting dividends on that investment for years to come.

P.s. My guide on building self-improvement habits into your life—for life (minus the hustle)—can definitely help with this.