Skip to content

Category: Thinking Clearly

As Reliable As Cement

Published on March 8, 2026

This life is tough. Ground yourself into something stable.

Something you can push against; something you can count on to be there; something strong enough to help you bear the weight life puts on your shoulders.

Bearing a heavy load is tough enough… add in an unstable floor? A ground that constantly shifts? An energy that’s unpredictable?

And you’ll constantly be topsy turvy tipping and stumbling whatever it is you’re trying to hold.

The weight will fall and make your ground even more unstable… it will crash into other people’s grounds… it might even leave you injured and unable to bear any load until healed.

Before you bear the weight life tries to put on your shoulders… yes, ground yourself into something stable.

If work is unstable, ground yourself in your home life.

If your home life is unstable, ground yourself in your work.

If both are unstable, ground yourself in yourself. And build a sacred practice of meditation, movement, and connection into your day/week that you can count on.

But one thing is for sure: Don’t try to take on more weight if you’re already off balance. Find proper footing on a ground as reliable as cement. Take on life from there.

How Will You Paint Your Day?

Published on March 7, 2026

Words are the colors you use to paint the picture(s) of your mind.

And as much as you might want to step into a Caribbean color palette with sky blues, lush greens, and warm yellows…

Choosing words that paint dark browns, deep reds, and harsh blacks will elicit a much different kind of picture.

Hate is not a path towards love. Love is a path towards love. And the colors of love are the words you should choose to paint with.

Resentment is not a path towards peace. Peace is a path towards peace. And the colors of peace are the words you should choose to paint with.

Anger is not a path towards happiness. Happiness is a path towards happiness. And the colors of happiness are the words you should choose to paint with.

And each day is a blank canvas. Your mind has access to an entire array of colors. Which will you choose to paint your day?

The Not Talked About Enough Benefit Of Small Changes

Published on March 1, 2026

Yes, small changes done over an extended period of time add up to big change.

But, more importantly, small promises made and kept to ourself—which is what small changes done over an extended period of time is—adds up to big self-trust change.

Added up enough and suddenly our word isn’t as flimsy as sand… it’s solid as rock.

We do what we say we’re going to do because we’ve made THAT the habit. More powerful than any giant, one-off change we try to make that’s followed by countless promises made and broken.

Living Just A Little More Balanced

Published on February 28, 2026

Routine is good for building habits. For aligning with momentum. For compounding growth.

Change is good for building richness. For exploring new paths. For resiliency training.

Sure, go to work. But have you ever tried to build a side-hustle?

Sure, workout every morning. But have you ever tried a martial arts class?

Sure, have family dinners. But have you ever tried ordering food from a different city (yes, you can do that)?

Sure, have date night. But have you ever made a random night into a date?

Sure, have travel plans. But have you ever just called a friend and taken them on a spontaneous hike?

If your life is feeling too monotonous or boring… it’s because it probably is! Add in some spice and give yourself something to look forward to, ponder over, or get challenged with.

And if your life is feeling too crazy or unhinged… it’s because it probably is! Ground yourself into ritualistic practices that you can look forward to every day, without fail, that can be done even on your busiest days.

Life is best lived in balance. And getting this even just a little more right can make things feel a lotta bit more better.

Head vs. Heart? …Or Is There A Better Way?

Published on February 22, 2026

Life lived through the head leads to a more gray, tamed, calculated existence.

Life lived through the heart leads to a more saturated, wild, spontaneous existence.

By default, many of us live predominantly through one or the other.

The magic of inner work is that rather than living primarily through just one of those places… we can re-route that energy and filter it through the other center before acting on it in reality.

This gives our judgment the balance it needs to guide us forward in a more holistic and complete way.

If we let our head guide us through relationships, for example, the above words is the kind of relationship we’ll get: gray, tame, calculated.

If we let our heart guide us through work… we might spontaneously quit our job, commit to something wild, and live a life saturated with polarizing emotions—on the street.

But when we filter our head through the heart in relationships, we get something that’s not only sensical… but passionate.

And when we filter our heart through our head… we get something that’s not only exciting… but practical.

Without space and time for inner work, energy and insight shoot directly from our head or heart and is used to make raw decisions that often end up feeling incomplete, lopsided, or even regretful.

Slowing down and redirecting that energy through the filters of the other center gives us the balanced perspective we need to make complete decisions that often end up feeling more whole and rewarding as life unfolds.

You Never Went Viral… You Never Became A Star… You Never Connected With More Than A Handful Of People…

Published on February 22, 2026

Imagine this: you’re in the sunset stage of life… sitting in your rocking chair on your cozy porch with the light shining down warming your skin… and you reflect on your life:

  • Reflection A: You never created what was always stirring inside because of fear, imposter syndrome, distraction, procrastination, and/or doubt.
  • Reflection B: You never went viral, you never became a star, and you never connected with more than a handful of people… but, boy did you create. You have galleries worth of art, books worth of writing, and/or albums worth of music… and it’s all there surrounding you, like old friends, for you to revisit, re-explore, and maybe re-invent into more gifts for that handful of people.

It’s possible, too, that you have a Reflection C: you went viral, became a star, and everybody loved you and still can’t get enough of you. But, the point for me is simple… Reflection B isn’t as bad as so many make it out to be.

In other words, people weight how their creations are liked, commented on, and shared too heavily and quit too easily when the numbers don’t match their expectations. When really… it’s the creating in general that builds the true value, meaning, and fulfillment in the rocking chair at the end of life…

Forget about the day after stats. Stop obsessing over the pluses and minuses. Comparing yourself to lottery winners—in every sense of the phrase—isn’t going to help.

Focus on the quiet whispers of your soul. Lean into the pulls of your curiosity. Block out distractions, expectations, and that which fancies the ego.

Simply surrender to the ebbs and flows… and create.

Stop Thinking Yourself Into Limitations

Published on February 21, 2026

I looked into one of my instructor’s martial arts classes the other day during a jumping jack set and I saw:

  • An 85-year-old holocaust survivor two-stepping and arm raising as close to a jumping jack as she could.
  • A walker-bound stroke survivor, arched heavily as she stood, releasing her arms intermittently a few inches above her arm supports to mirror along.
  • A middle aged dad sitting in the lobby doing mental jumping jacks after having 1/3 of his colon removed via emergency surgery just a week earlier—there for the community, contribution, and vibes.

…What I didn’t notice as much were the twenty or so others doing picturesque jumping jacks, in rhythm, without so much as a squint.

Which is merely to say: never forget that, like a tree, your ability to inspire branches outward exponentially the deeper the roots of your troubles and adversities dig down.

People tell me all of the time how they’re “too old” or “too out of shape” or “too busy” to do martial arts classes.

When really, the only thing making them old, out of shape, and busy… is their mindset.