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Category: Thinking Clearly

The Expert Line-Cutter

Published on April 8, 2022

The Urgent is an expert line-cutter.

Each day, as The Important graciously lines itself up to be prioritized, The Urgent cuts right in front and boots it to the back of the line.

It does this over and over again, day-in and day-out.

Don’t allow this type of behavior in your house.

For what you have to realize about The Important is that it’s patient—it thinks there will always be time. It assumes that if The Urgent needs to go through all of that trouble to plot, plan, fuss, and meander its way to the front of the line, it might as well get the priority.

But, the reality is, there won’t always be time. And The Urgent will always think it’s more important than The Important. That’s its nature.

As the authority of your life, it’s your responsibility to recognize this and put clear boundaries up around prioritization.

Sometimes an urgent cut in line may be justified. But, there should rarely ever be a day when you don’t—in some way, shape, or form—work on what’s important.

Cap Your News

Published on April 4, 2022

We could easily consume news from the second we wake up until the second we go to bed and STILL not be completely filled in.

What’s worse is that most of that info we consume will be outdated by the very next day.

That’s why I consume less than 10 minutes of news per day and focus the rest of my time on building/ bettering myself and the world around me.

If you don’t put a cap on your news, the influx of information will slowly drown out every precious minute of your day it can.

Give your minutes space to breathe. Air them out from the influx. Put up some damns and focus more of your time on doing work that’s important to you.

Heck—create your own damn news.

Realize This

Published on April 2, 2022

Something you should know about fear:

The bigger it is, the more ignorant it is to your strength.

Fear subsides in proportion to the size of your *known* inner strength.

Something you should know about inner strength:

You have way more of it than you realize.

The Imposter Syndrome Antidote

Published on March 27, 2022

Imposter syndrome is the byproduct of being hyper comparative.

For you can only feel like an imposter if you have other non-imposters to compare yourself against.

The antidote then is to become non-comparative and hyper focused on building up the skills within the identity you want to not feel like an imposter in.

So, rather than compare yourself to the most skilled in your field, focus exclusively on developing the skills of the craft.

Because the cure for what feels like a lack of identity is the accumulation of more actions of someone who would hold that identity. Until eventually, you do it so much that you (finally) become a non-imposter.

This is all to say, if you want to embody the identity of a writer (and not feel like an imposter when you write) just freaking write more—and stop comparing your writing to the greats.

Early Rising

Published on March 26, 2022

How important is it to wake up early in the morning?

…Not that important.

What time you wake up is arbitrary.

What matters is what you do during your waking hours and how you prioritize your time.

Some get to bed by 9pm—others can’t go to bed until 12am.

Expecting both to wake up at 5am is silly.

Some people work better and are more efficient at night. Others in the morning. And others still, midday.

What’s important isn’t a specific time (because a successful person said that’s what they do).

What’s important is self-awareness.

Forced Clarity

Published on March 24, 2022

You can’t force clarity.

Clarity is something that needs to be surrendered to.

Like when you’re in the middle of a big life decision—stuffing more “solutions” into your mind will probably only further confuse the matter. When what’s really needed, in most cases, is less stuff altogether so that the quiet, unmistakable voice that speaks from deep within can offer its solution based on the depth of knowledge that’s already there.

Try to force the mudded pond to settle and you’ll mud it more.

Surrender to the settling process and the pond floor suddenly starts to come into view.

Creation Renewed

Published on March 23, 2022

Creating is self-expression in its rawest form.

We take already expressed things from the world, mix and mash them up with our ideas, and end up with a never before expressed thing that we get to share.

Which is why, the ultimate win from a creation is a renewed desire to create.

Because self-expression isn’t something that’s ever done—it’s as living and as breathing as we are. And the more we create—the more we express ourselves—the better we get to know ourselves.

It’s also our creations that act as the very foundation of our legacies—what better way to be remembered than by referencing what we uniquely expressed?

With that in mind, here are some gentle reminders for you to keep in your back pocket as you continue to create:

  • Treat “success” cautiously—it leads to contentment and distractions.
  • Treat “failure” cautiously—it leads to frustration and disappointment.
  • Both success and failure can improve the creating process, but they often lead us astray.
  • With each experience, the ultimate goal should be to quickly discard what isn’t useful, carefully apply what is, and return to the work humbly and with a deeper understanding (of ourselves and our work) than before.
  • If the byproduct of what you’re creating is leading you further and further from creating—something is probably wrong.

Remember, the ultimate loss from a creation is an extinguished desire to create.