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Category: Thinking Clearly

Life Balance From A DJ

Published on April 22, 2023

When you watch a really great DJ play a live set, you see a beautiful balance worth emulating.

They’ll put their headphones on and focus intensely on the next track—keenly preparing for what’s to come and how to transition most brilliantly.

And then—and this is where most of us miss—when the transition is about to happen, they take their headphones off, grab the audience by the hand, and jump, pump, and JAM OUT as they celebrate the byproduct of their work.

Focus on preparing the whole time and you miss moments worth celebrating. Jump, pump, and jam the whole time and you won’t be DJing at all—you’ll be playing someone else’s track.

Get this balance right… of putting your life energy into your work and then celebrating key moments along the way… and you’ll unlock a level of life fulfillment that’s worth raving about.

P.s. I was on vacation this past weekend which is why I haven’t published my daily writings—but that doesn’t mean I didn’t write. This was my reflection from Saturday, April 22, 2023.

Language Dreams

Published on April 21, 2023

As I took my seat on a flight today, I couldn’t help but notice my neighbor using sign language over FaceTime. He was presumably speaking to a friend who was signing back over the tiny screen that was propped up in the back of his airplane seat.

I watched in wonder as the two of them fired back and forth hand manipulations and body gestures that contained the depth and precision of the entire Merriam-Webster dictionary.

A few hours later, long after the FaceTime call ended, I saw this gentlemen signing again. But, there wasn’t anyone around who had been signing with him the whole trip so I took a closer look and realized… he was dozing off. In the midst of falling asleep, he was signing… his dreams and/or thoughts.

I have no idea what they were, but boy did this light me up.

It reminded me of a time when I studied extra hard for an oral Spanish final and dreamed in Spanish the night it was over. It didn’t last very long, but it blew my mind the morning after.

We dream in the language we know. And not just that—we dream within the confines of the words (gestures) we know inside the language. If you want to dream more deeply, more vividly, more precisely—not just while you sleep, but while you’re awake—explore the depths of your language.

What Gets Measured…

Published on April 13, 2023
  • Don’t measure your weight; measure the weight of your self-love.
  • Don’t measure your influence; measure the care inside your actions.
  • Don’t measure your money; measure the wealth of life inside your days.

…Because what gets measured, gets managed. And what gets managed gets your time. And what gets your time… gets your life.

Sponging Experience

Published on April 10, 2023

Spend a little time thinking about—and writing about—what happened each day.

This one, small habit will help you absorb exponentially more life experience than only ever thinking about what’s going to (might) happen next.

…Because those who are only ever future focused do little to no absorbing at all.

Absorbing happens when you stop, look back at the mess you made (or what you cleaned) and move the sponge of your mind over it a few times so it’s cleaner/ clearer and more ready for—now—whatever’s coming next.

I can’t tell you how many experiences I’ve had that seemed clear in the moment, but were actually quite foggy and temporary until I spent a little time thinking—and writing—about them.

Sponges work best, not against some future mess, but in response to what’s already there.

A Lotta Perspective

Published on April 7, 2023

Today, while driving down a narrow, backcountry road, I pulled over as an ambulance (lights flashing) came driving towards me.

To my surprise, this was met with a long BEEEEEEEEP from a driver behind me.

The driver was inaudibly yelling and waving his hands around in a dramatic, flamboyant manner that was obviously trying to communicate a level of upset that simply baffled me.

Like, I literally pulled over for approximately 5 seconds, to let an emergency vehicle more easily pass…?

None-the-less, I continued driving casually only to arrive at the scene of a pretty intense accident not long thereafter—complete with ambulances, police cars, and tow trucks.

The scene took up the entire space of the road that my GPS had me routed to drive through and so what did I do? Signaled, pulled over to the side of the road, and contemplated the scene until I knew what I could safely do.

Not even 1 minute later, what does the guy behind me do? Slam on the gas, screech his bald tires around me, and drift his way into a right turn ahead, while again… inaudibly trying to communicate some infuriated message to me.

Today’s message is a simple one and it comes from what my mom said in response to this driver… what could be so important that you don’t have time (seconds) to pull over for an emergency vehicle or need to floor it around our pulled over car when evidently… somebody right in front of us (or passing us) was quite possibly having the worst day of their life?

Life is hard—I get it. But, sometimes a little compassion can give a lotta perspective.

The Un-Lose-Able Day

Published on April 4, 2023

It’s good to keep a snapshot of the “un-lose-able” day at the forefront of your mind—as something to aim for; plan for; strive for.

Mine looks something like this:

  • Full night of sleep
  • Solid session of exercise
  • Creative challenges for my mind
  • Space to let settle the content of my mind
  • Life-giving foods
  • 16-20 Hour windows of no food
  • Less unintentional screen time
  • More deliberate, undistracted deep work time
  • Words read from books with fresh ideas
  • Words written from brain to explore ideas
  • Time spent in spaces that are free of toxicity
  • Time spent interacting with people who exude authenticity
  • A few moments spent in gratitude and awe
  • A few moments spent in comfort and pleasure

It’s not often I nail this list.

But, when I do…

How could the day possibly be lost?

Inner Work Prompt: What does your “Un-Lose-able” Day look like? What can you do today that’ll get you one step closer to that?

60 to 0

Published on April 1, 2023

Just as a car that accelerates faster from 0 to 60 needs to be proportionally better at braking back down from 60 to 0…

So, too, do we need to be better at slowing ourselves down in proportion to the speed at which our world insists we increase our pace to.

Going fast(er) without the ability to come back down is as dangerous in humans as it is in cars.