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Category: Thinking Clearly

Optimization Happens Last

Published on February 14, 2022

Optimization is the last step of any process.

Be it building a house, starting a business, creating a new habit etc.—the fine tuning should never happen first.

  • When it comes to building a house, who cares about auto-timed lighting as a means to optimizing the house’s energy efficiency—if there are no walls.
  • When it comes to starting a business, who cares about the color of the checkout button as a means to optimizing clicks—if there is no marketing plan in place to drive visitors to the business’ website.
  • When it comes to creating a new exercising habit, who cares about the exact rest time allowed in-between sets as a means to optimizing workout pace—if you don’t even have the habit of showing up to the gym.

In today’s world, optimization is an obsession.

Many of us are constantly on the hunt for (and are being bombarded with) optimization “hacks,” fine-tuning tricks, and hot trends that can produce any kind of measurable result.

But, without the foundation set—without the “big” things already in place—it’s ultimately just wasted time.

It’s like trying to optimize a lump of coal. You can try to clean, cut, and polish it all you want—it’ll still end up mostly as it started—coal.

If, however, you subjected that lump of coal to enough time under pressure, it’ll eventually transform into a diamond.

And diamond is what gets optimized.

Wants And Shoulds

Published on February 13, 2022

Sometimes you have to sacrifice doing what you want so you can do what you should.

Not making that sacrifice means prioritizing wants over shoulds.

If that’s you, don’t be surprised when the people who do make that sacrifice get ahead.

You can’t have it both ways.

Ego vs. Self

Published on February 12, 2022

Underneath all of the loud, invasive, and pushy mental chatter is a voice that’s quiet, subtle, and powerful beyond measure.

That quiet voice is our authentic, “capital S” Self.

The loud, obnoxious voice is our Ego.

The Ego is hyper-comparative, is easily manipulated by outside influences, and desperately seeks control over the mind.

The Self is comparison-resistant, requires a deep impression for change from an outside source, and (fundamentally speaking) is the mind underneath all of the noise from the Ego.

It is as though the Self is the news of the world and the Ego is the news network that reports primarily for ratings.

Let the Ego take control and you get never ending BREAKING NEWS cycles, short-lived (and quickly irrelevant) urgent stories, and “if it bleeds it leads.”

Let the Self guide you and you get deeply insightful stories, long-lived “evergreen” type content, and “the truth will set you free.”

The interplay between these two forces is ever-present and plays a significant role in how we experience daily life.

The Ego, when left unattended, will operate exclusively for ratings. And all ratings without a depth of content makes for a very superficial, flaky news network.

The Self, without the presence of an Ego, will operate exclusively for depth and truth. Which has its own drawbacks. Because all depth and no ratings (appeal to an audience) makes for a very small time news network.

The ideal is a type of harmonious relationship between the two.

We start by building a solid foundation of truth, identity, and understanding of the Self and then use the Ego (without letting it use us) to serve those truths in powerful, appealing ways.

Planting Dreams [Poem]

Published on February 9, 2022 
The day you plant the seed
Is not the day the seed grows

The month after you plant the seed
Is not the day the fruit shows

It isn't until many years later
That seed turns to tree
And tree bears its fruit

Which will never happen of course
If you fail to help that seed
Firmly take root

Water, soil, sun
Energy, attention, love
This is the way to fruition

Any attempt to manipulate
Nature's already perfect pace
Is to misunderstand the mission

Forcing fruit from seed
Removing essentials for growth
Is to put Mother herself, arrogantly underneath

Bring yourself down
To the level of your seeds
And commit to the process of helping them breathe

Otherwise why go through the trouble
Of rushing, yelling, planning
And doing the extreme

When all of that rash action
Forces holes into gravesites
Rather than the foundation of dreams.

Skills Pretending To Be Attitudes

Published on February 7, 2022
  • Creative / Un-creative
  • Courageous / Shy
  • Disciplined / Undisciplined
  • Trustworthy / Deceitful
  • Open-minded / Closed-minded
  • Vulnerable / Invulnerable

Don’t get it twisted.

What most people think of as innate attitudes are very much so learned skills.

Big Battles

Published on February 5, 2022 
Fight the big battles on the inside
And the big battles on the outside
Suddenly won’t feel so big anymore

Lifetime Xed

Published on January 31, 2022

How many time commitments do you have that you don’t even realize you have?

  • The lines you’re forced to wait in
  • The long commutes
  • The time it takes to get ready

How might you creatively reclaim some of that time?

  • Do you have to wait in those lines? Or is there a way you can skip them altogether? i.e. Rather than buying coffee each morning, can you start making it from home?
  • Assuming you can’t opt out of the long commutes, is there a way you can improve how you spend that time? i.e. Long commutes are a perfect time to soak in audiobooks—which are great because they don’t always have to be nonfiction/ productive. They can be leisurely and entertainment oriented, too. Much better than yelling at stupid drivers.
  • Is there any way you can shorten the time it takes for you to get ready? i.e. Can you set clothes out the night before or get one step ahead of breakfast some how? Smooth starts are usually a byproduct of end-of-the-day preemptive thinking.

It might take you 10-15 minutes to thoroughly think through these ideas.

The benefit, of course, is that even if you can only manage to find a way to save 10-15 minutes throughout your entire day… you just LIFETIME Xed your investment.

In other words, if you hold true to this idea for 100 days—you just 100xed your invested time. If you hold true for 365 days—you just 365xed your invested time. And if you can keep it going for the rest of your life…?

That’s right—a lifetime xed investment.

Unbelievably worth it.