Skip to content

Category: Thinking Clearly

Sculpting Legacies

Published on March 13, 2022

The problems of our lives are the very material with which we get to sculpt our legacies.

The harder the problems, the harder the material.

And the harder the material, the longer our legacies have the potential to last.

When you only have to face “soft” problems and you don’t put much effort into shaping them—your life legacy is a wad of Play-Doh.

At the other end of the spectrum, if you opt to face “harder” problems and you work hard to shape them into something remarkable—your life legacy results in something more along the lines of a chiseled statue from marble.

Worth noting: this is not a call to make life as “hard” as possible.

Because without the proper tools, a huge block of marble is unsculptable—and that’s not a legacy worth aiming for either.

The goal is to stop complaining about the material we’ve been given and to start finding ways we can sculpt what we have into something we’re proud of.

Unfortunately, we can’t always change the material we’ve been given: life is wildly unfair in that sense.

Fortunately (especially if you’re reading this), we do have the ability to upgrade our tools and materials to make even harder, more exquisitely detailed sculptures.

Wisdom is the ultimate means for upgrading those tools and materials.

And your life’s legacy is worth an investment into the finest.

The “Right” Places

Published on March 12, 2022

The answers to your problems are out there.

  • Your health problems
  • Your happiness problems
  • Your money problems

You just haven’t looked in the right places.

Looking in the same places and expecting different answers is the strategy of the insane.

One I certainly would not recommend.

Here’s what I’ve learned: looking in the “right” places looks a lot like learning.

  • Opening new books
  • Listening to new thinkers
  • Experimenting with new ideas

Most people open up the same apps, talk with the same people, and buy into the same strategies (that are merely packaged differently) over and over again and expect things to suddenly start going “right.”

The reality is, if what you’re investing your time/ energy/ and attention into isn’t leading you to grow: how can you outgrow your current set of problems?

For what is solving the problems of our lives, but the act of growing?

Be It Then Become It

Published on March 11, 2022

You don’t start acting like a black belt when you get a black belt.

It’s only after you’ve acted like a black belt long enough that you finally receive one.

The same is true for any other identity you want to embody in life.

You become it by acting like it long enough.

The “becoming” doesn’t happen first.

Wait… What?

Published on March 10, 2022

Too busy for kindness?

Too rushed for manners?

Too inactive for exercise?

Too distracted for deep work?

Too preoccupied for listening?

Too stimulated for meditating?

Too overwhelmed for self-care?

Wait… what are our priorities again?

When “Regressing” Is Actually Improving

Published on March 8, 2022

When exercising: dropping weight to improve form isn’t regressing.

When dieting: eating more calories to improve nutrition isn’t regressing.

When learning: slowing reading speed to improve comprehension isn’t regressing.

In a world that’s hyper focused on vanity metrics (e.g. 1RMs, calorie counting, reading x books / year)—doing something in the opposite direction might feel like backsliding.

When in reality, it’s being hyper focused on vanity metrics that’s causing us to backslide.

Don’t get it twisted.

Urgent Victims

Published on March 7, 2022

There’s ALWAYS something that could be placed more urgently above the important tasks of the day.

Which means you could easily NEVER get to the important work.

In fact, this is precisely the case for far too many.

Don’t be a victim of urgent.

Simple (Powerful) Ideas

Published on March 6, 2022

Some simple ideas:

  • Write in a journal each morning.
  • Take a 1-mile walk on your lunch breaks.
  • Read 20 pages from a book every night.

Simple ideas become complicated when we ceaselessly collect and pivot to other (simple) ideas.

What makes simple ideas powerful is our relentless commitment to them.

Even when other shiny, new ideas come into view.

Take a simple idea and take it *seriously.*