Skip to content

Category: Thinking Clearly

Everything In A Moment [Poem]

Published on November 14, 2022 
A bird born
Taught to sit
From sitting birds before
Will sit

For what it sees
What it hears
What it believes
Is that birds sit

Until one day
The sitting bird
Sees the soaring bird
And everything in a moment
Shatters and rebuilds

For even a lifetime of sitting
Can't stand up
To the glorious expanse
Of wings no different

Seen soaring
Touching heaven above
A whole new life realized
In but a happenstance glance

Take the leap
Something beyond fear
Whispers courageously
Sitting isn't what wings
Were gifted for

P.s. Here are some of the other poems I sometimes happen to write.

Mental Matters

Published on November 13, 2022

You know what a great formula is for peace of mind?

…Minding your own business.

And I mean this with all due respect.

Mind your own mental matters until you’re in a solid position where you can start aiding in the mental matters of others, too.

But aiding in the mental matters of others before you have your own mental matters in order… is a little disordered—wouldn’t you say?

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

Free Time

Published on November 12, 2022

If the goal is more free time (freedom)…

Stop equating all of your free time to available time.

They are NOT the same thing.

Available time gets filled with tasks.

Free time gets filled with life.

Work Freedom

Published on November 11, 2022

Freedom isn’t only an experience reserved for when you’re done with work.

In fact, it can very well be an experience that you have WHILE you work.

And since we all need to engage in work in some way, shape, or form (out of obligation or for fulfillment)—finding work that aligns with your soul and allows you the freedom to be… is one of the ultimate forms of freedom there is.

P.s. I asked, “Besides sleep and coffee… what gives you energy for your day?” I hope the answers help you find ways to keep your energy high throughout your days :)

Don’t Fight Yourself

Published on November 7, 2022

Not every awake moment is created equal.

  • In some we’re more focused, in others we’re more playful.
  • In some we’re more creative, in others we’re more bland.
  • In some we’re more gritty, in others we’re more lax.

The trick, is aligning the ideal tasks with the matching naturally occurring state. Some examples:

  • Plan your workouts when you’re feeling gritty/focused. For me, this is usually first thing in the morning at around 7-9am.
  • Plan your deep work when you’re most focused/creative. For me, this is usually 1-3pm each day.
  • Plan social interaction/family time when you’re most playful. For me, this is 4-7pm each day.
  • Plan mindless, low barrier tasks when you’re most bland/lax like dog walking or reading a book. For me, this is at the end of the day 9pm – 11pm.

If I tried to do my social interaction in the morning and my workouts at night—there would be an extra layer of resistance in both.

Flipping them works significantly better for me—which means not only am I in a better state for both, but I’m much more likely to continue doing them because the resistance is significantly less.

The opposite might be true for you. Self-awareness is required and that’s not something I can give you.

The bottom line is this: don’t fight yourself. Align with your natural rhythms and reduce resistance in every way you can.

P.s. I asked: What’s one small thing you’ve done that has had a big impact on your mental health? I received a ton of great answers. I hope they inspire you to start doing something small for yourself.

The A/B Game

Published on November 5, 2022

There’s a game I play in martial arts classes called the A/B Game.

It’s simple.

When I say “A,” students fire off a given technique as fast as they can.

When I say “B,” they stay frozen.

My goal is to mess them up by getting them to fire off the technique on “B.”

Their goal is to have such great focus that they don’t even so much as flinch on “B.”

In the early stages of the game, getting flinchers is relatively easy—some because they’re just unfocused; some because they’re too focused on being fast; and some because they need to mess up before they actually understand the game.

As the game progresses, there’s usually a handful who are hard to mess up—so, I’ll pull out one of my tricks from my bag.

Right before I call “A” or “B,” I’ll nonchalantly say… “Okay, now I want you to beat the person next to you. Don’t let them beat you…okay? Ready…”

And then quickly yell “B!” …And get a huge chunk of students to flinch. It works almost every time.

…Why?

Because instead of focusing on themselves, I got them to focus on the others. Instead of focusing on doing their best, they were distracted on being THE best and lost connection with their focused mind.

See… When we focus on beating everybody else; on racing the person next to us; on trying to be the best—we lose sight of the most important thing… focus on ourself.

P.s. I also published 46 Impactful Bruce Lee Quotes from Striking Thoughts today.

Prove Yourself

Published on November 4, 2022
  • Some people prove themselves in school.
  • Some people prove themselves in conflict.
  • Some people prove themselves in business.

…And some people realize that they have nothing to prove to anyone except themselves.

….And so they build. Not to have something bigger than anybody else—but, to have something built that serves a purpose; that fulfills a vision; that realizes a dream.

A purpose, vision, and/or dream that comes from within, that’s built with the tools within, that helps nourish feelings that can only ever be influenced from within.

Because those who try to get feelings from letter grades, fist fights, or number games end up taking a long detour that winds up, down, and over an incredible terrain—only to leave them back where they started… looking at the only person who had the ability to give them the feelings they so desperately sought out the whole time…

…The same one who was there with them right from the beginning.

…Themself.