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Category: Thinking Clearly

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.

Schedule, Eliminate, Delegate

Published on March 28, 2023

Dear busy person,

It’s best to stop worrying over everything you have to get done… and just start getting something done. If you can manage it, block out distractions and get going on the most important thing, first. This will give you the “it’s all downhill from here” feeling that’ll carry you through the rest of the day. If starting feels cripplingly hard, do the easiest task first and snowball some momentum from there. Either way, get some momentum. And do everything you can to maintain that momentum one task to the next. It’s the easiest way to get it all done. Remember, it’s the starting that’s hard. And it’s the worrying over everything you have to get done that makes starting feel cripplingly hard. Play “start; stop; start; stop” all day and you’ll only add unnecessary resistance to your task load. Less think; more do. And at the end of the day, do your future self a favor and schedule, eliminate, and delegate every possible task you can before the start of the next day. Pick apart a giant snowball enough and it eventually collapses back into snow. Same is true when you have a giant snowball of tasks weighing on your shoulders at the start of a day. Pick it apart enough (by scheduling, eliminating, and delegating) and suddenly, there’s no giant snowball to focus on anymore. Only a day blanketed with snow that you can manage one shovel full at a time.

Sincerely,

Your inner work person

P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

The 3 Crucial Mind Tools For Clarity

Published on March 27, 2023

1. We meditate to settle the sediments of our mind.

By removing outside stimulation, we allow all of the swishing, swirling, and convoluted thoughts to relax into a kind of order: the crap moves to the bottom and the important rises to the top. Through meditation, our mental priorities become more clear.

2. We journal to filtrate.

We begin by scooping a spoonful of thoughts and pour them down onto paper or screen. Then, through a careful and focused effort, we update and revise what’s poured out so as to make those thoughts more clear, concise, and aligned. What results becomes the new, filtered spoonful that gets poured back in.

3. We speak with professionals of the mind to utilize their high-end filtration systems.

Therapy allows us to, essentially, pour our thoughts through the highly filtered mind(s) of somebody else so that we’re able to get a level of clarity we’re unable to provide for ourselves. Also, when something dangerous, toxic, or overly complex comes up through the filtration process—they can swiftly help us minimize or neutralize the threat. This can be extremely beneficial for the particularly dark and/or murky mind—especially in the initial stages of filtration.

The bottom line is this: our mind is either our greatest asset or greatest liability in life.

The use or disregard of these three tools can largely determine which category our mind falls into. All three aren’t required—any one of these tools alone can lead us all the way to the “asset” category. Applying two or all three, however, is a particularly effective strategy. One that I’d say, if you haven’t already, you at least consider.

Time Blocking Made Easy

Published on March 25, 2023

Macro: 8 hours sleep / 8 hours work / 8 hours life.

Which means: 50/50 split either daily or weekly between work tasks (things we do for survival) and life tasks (things we do for fulfillment).

Pro tip: Take life tasks as seriously as work tasks. Make formal blocks for family / friends / nature / adventure / reading / writing / hobbies / doing nothing / etc.

Bottom line: Those who master how they manage their time… become masters over the fate of their lives.

P.s. Do you struggle over the thought of your life’s fate? My guide The Art of Forward will help.

Lead With Your Heart

Published on March 16, 2023

Lead with your heart and utilize the power of your mind to figure out the rest.

Leading with your mind and trying to utilize the power of the heart doesn’t work out so well.

Why? Because the heart isn’t one to be utilized.

The heart is who you are; the mind is composed of all the tools that you could ever need to utilize and shape that identity.

Force your mind to build an identity that is in conflict with your heart and the heart will inevitably rebel. Many of us get pigeon-holed into this trap because our minds are so damn loud and constantly connected to the damn loud minds of others.

That is why we must quiet our mind; why we must turn down the noise of what’s “practical” “lucrative” and “respectable;” why we must return to stillness.

Because it’s only there… where we’re quiet and thinking as ourselves—not as others would have us think—that we’re able to truly hear what our heart has to say.

So that from there… we can begin to truly lead.