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Category: Thinking Clearly

Awesome Alternate Paths

Published on January 9, 2025

I made space today to take an in-person martial arts class.

I got ready, prepped my gear, and drove to the school…

…Only to find out that it was closed.

So, what did I do?

I turned the car ride into a concert of sorts.

And when I got home, I logged into my YouTube “Academy” and studied content related to what I was going to train in that martial arts class for the rest of my allocated time block.

I turned what could’ve easily been a super annoying inconvenience into an awesome alternate path.

When you live with this kind of mental flexibility… how could you ever lose?

90% – 95% Of Our Daily Thoughts Are… Repetitive?!

Published on January 5, 2025

The other day I heard mention that on average people have between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day—of which, 90% to 95% are repetitive.

I did a little research and didn’t see much by way of concrete evidence (how does one even obtain anything concrete on such a subjective and fluid topic?), but something inside me definitely resonated.

My own experience tells me that thoughts are repeated until the open loop is closed (i.e. “I can’t forget to do this later…” or “What am I going to do about this problem…” or “I wonder what people think of me?” etc).

And my own experience tells me that learning how to close open loops is absolutely key to better mental health (because how is living in the same thoughts every day not maddening?)…

The good news is that closing open loops is actually quite simple:

1. Write things down. If your brain knows the thought is saved somewhere, it’ll let it go. If it thinks it has to remember it, it’ll repeat the thought indefinitely.

2. Work problems out. Busy is the modern day disease that contributes to more mental health issues than most people want to admit. Why? Because busy prevents you from doing the inner work and creating the space that’s necessary to close open loops.

3. Practice doing nothing. What’s crazy is that most of us have zero awareness of our thoughts. We’re simply lost in the mix. Doing nothing allows you to practice watching your thoughts… so you can notice what’s happening upstairs… so you can identify what loops even need closing.

The other news is that is it simple… yes. Easy? Maybe not. Worth it? Undoubtedly.

Optimize Your Signal For 2025

Published on January 1, 2025

There are messages all around us.

More being broadcasted, pinged, and pushed than ever before.

Like a radio, we need to tune into the signal we most want to hear and quiet the rest of the noise.

Don’t get it twisted, the messages shouldn’t be what’s in question…

How you’re building and programming your radio should be.

Inner Work Prompt: What signal(s) are you tuned into on your social media accounts? What about via TV shows? What about via conversation? …And how can you upgrade these signals you’re tuned into?

Maybe Finish Lines Aren’t Helping…

Published on December 31, 2024

When you think about goals as finish lines… you line up on a start line and prepare to race.

…Because that’s what we’re wired to do when there are finish lines involved.

But when you think about your goals as the construction of masterpieces… suddenly racing gets removed from the equation altogether.

…Because taking our time, pouring from our soul, and demanding from its construction our best is what we’re wired to do when “masterpiece” is involved.

P.s. Just lay the next brick.

A Holiday Reflection

Published on December 26, 2024

If the holidays wasn’t everything you hoped it would be… rather than place blame on those who didn’t deliver on your expectations… ask yourself: how can I take more of a role in making it into what I’d love it to be?

Maybe that involves doing the hosting yourself? Or introducing fun games to encourage more spontaneous connection? Or coming up with fresh and creative traditions that’ll get everybody talking… like wearing matching pajamas, or playing a game of spoons, or gifting an incredibly random gag gift…

The point is to take control over what you can control. And if you’re not willing to do that… then maybe don’t place blame on those who are willing and are trying… maybe it’s worth meditating on how you can drop expectations all together and uncover new ways within yourself to have a good time regardless of the setting…

Your Holidays Your Way

Published on December 21, 2024

Some counter culture gift ideas for the holiday season.

  • A friend and his girlfriend decided they were going to skip town during the holidays altogether and have themselves an experiential weekend in a city they’ve never visited before capped off with an NBA game as the cherry on top.
  • Another friend was telling me about a new tradition he and his wife started with Gold Belly. Apparently, you can live in Alaska and have Chicago style deep dish pizza for dinner—without ever leaving your home. Or Philly Cheesesteaks from Philadelphia or lobster from Maine for that matter… Each year, it’s a new dinner dish from somewhere different across the USA and Canada. And it’s a gift that’s totally unique, authentic, and shared.
  • And yet another friend was telling me how he and his wife have given up gift giving altogether and decided to write each other a love letter each year instead.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the commercial brainwashing of the holiday season that we forget we have control over how we want our holiday to actually unfold.

Ask yourself what your ideal holiday schedule would look like… what experiences you truly want to put on a pedestal (getting an expensive gift?)… and then start reverse engineering your way towards that vision.

As is the case with most things in life… this holiday season is what you make it.

…Not what it’s been made out to be.

Fight For Alignment

Published on December 18, 2024

It’s one thing to use your willpower to get a task done. It’s another thing to use your willpower to get the same task done at the most aligned time.

It’s one thing to plan a night out with friends. It’s another thing to plan a night out with friends who are completely aligned with your energy going into that night out.

It’s one thing to go to work and do your job. It’s another thing to fight for alignment with the place you work and the job you’re doing and the people you’re with.

Alignment is what allows you to get the same—if not more—done with less effort and/or in less time.

Alignment is what unlocks a feeling of fulfillment, a sense of purpose, and/or a level of vibrancy/joy from something that otherwise might feel like an obligation, task, or chore.

Alignment is the good fight worth fighting because being mis-aligned is the completely counterproductive act of fighting against yourself.

Enough of that, dear reader.

It’s time to point your time, energy, and effort towards bigger and better things… more efficient and productive things… more meaningful and memorable things…

…And a great place to start is with what you’re going to do after you finish reading this short article.