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Category: Thinking Clearly

Hold Less; Have More

Published on June 10, 2022

The brain is for having ideas—not holding ideas.

Find an app or a paper to do the holding.

And allow your brain to keep firing.

Getting Ahead

Published on June 8, 2022

One of the greatest time and energy killers is in-the-moment self-negotiation.

  • I shouldn’t eat the donut. Buttt, I have been pretty good lately…
  • I should workout. Buttt, I do have a ton to do today…
  • I should read. Buttt, that new TV series though…

Those who plan their day ahead—get ahead.

Not necessarily because of what they plan (we all have a pretty good grasp on what we should be doing daily) but because of the fact that they planned and there will be less time/ energy wasted on figuring things out as they go.

As trivial as this might sound—even one good decision and a couple of minutes saved every day adds up! …I’ll take 365 minutes of my time back per year thank you very much.

Never leave your important decision making to the moment—it’s an awful time and energy sucking guide.

Do your figuring out ahead of time and focus all of your time/ energy on executing what’s ahead.

…And get ahead.

Paid In Full [Poem]

Published on June 5, 2022 
What we pay for in attention
We purchase in identity

What we consume by choice
We create from inevitably

The person we see today
Is a byproduct of yesterday

And who we'll be tomorrow
Is paid in full each day—invariably

Ugh vs. Ahh

Published on June 3, 2022

There’s plenty to complain about.

There’s also plenty to *not* complain about.

Which list is bigger?

…Whichever list we make bigger.

The Ultimate Life Compass

Published on May 31, 2022

Wisdom is knowledge and experience internalized.

…It is the ultimate life compass.

When you think about each of the regretful decisions and cringe-worthy mistakes you’ve made in your life, at their root, they were made because of a lack of wisdom.

With that in mind, it’s important to point out that the less you seek to develop wisdom in your life, the less calibrated your compass will be.

And if there’s one area you should always make time for in your life, it’s the calibrating of your life’s compass.

How to do that? Through careful and deliberate reflection, exploratory writing, and open conversation.

And saying you don’t have time is the same as the lumberjack saying he doesn’t have time to sharpen his ax. When you make time for wisdom, wisdom will make time for you.

The rewards are exponential. Both in time saved and better decisions enjoyed.

For When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed:

Published on May 24, 2022
  1. Breathe.
  2. Brain dump—write out why. Don’t worry about being neat, orderly, or proper. Just write. This will help you gain clarity. Include lingering thoughts that seem to keep reoccurring. Do this even if you think you already inherently know why. Most of the time, there’s a lot more to it than you think.
  3. Breathe again.
  4. Prioritize—mental health comes first. In all cases, you must take care of yourself before you can properly get anything else done that’s on your list. Once you feel solid, sort tasks so you know what’s top priority and what’s not.
  5. Breathe more.
  6. Make moves—don’t focus on the whole list. Focus on the first top task. Block out distractions. Get started. Don’t overthink this step—just make your inertia-breaking move.
  7. Keep breathing deeply.
  8. Use momentum—to help you get the next task done. Doing is easier once you’ve started. Maintain your momentum from one task to the next for as long as you can sustain it.
  9. Finish this stretch of work with some, you guessed it, deep breathing.
  10. Relish in the feeling of having gotten tasks done. Give yourself some credit. Remind yourself that your work will never be done. And let grace fill you up so you can mentally check-out and enjoy the next part of your day overwhelm and stress-free. After all, life is short and there’s PLENTY to be grateful for.
  11. BONUS: More breathing.

Note: Don’t just gloss over breathing like it’s a non-step. Breathing is fundamental to managing our physiology. And if we can take some quality time to breathe deeply and consciously, it will help us calm our state which, in turn, will only help us perform better.