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Category: Thinking Clearly

The New Successful

Published on November 29, 2021

The new successful isn’t busy, it’s unbusy.

Being the “busy executive” has been seen by too many as the epitome of success and it’s leading people to live wildly unbalanced lives.

There are 168 hours in the week. Minus 8 hours / night for sleeping = 112 hours. Minus 2 hours / day for eating and food prepping = 98 hours. Minus 1 hour / day for exercise and wellbeing = 105 hours.

Which leaves 15 hours / day for work, relationships, personal growth, and fun.

15 hours / day.

How is it that we’re too busy for family? For friends? For reading? For writing? For learning? For fun? How is it that we manage to fill so much of our days with busy-ness?

15 hours / day should be plenty.

Even on the days when you work 8 hours, that’s still 7 hours left for your other priorities!

It’s as if the equation for success is: busy = important = successful. And so if busy goes up, important goes up. And if important goes up, successful goes up. But, does it really?

If time is our most valuable asset—then how can we be rich if we’re time-poor?

If it’s true that time is our most valuable resource, then shouldn’t time-rich be the ultimate rich?

A “Boring” Life

Published on November 27, 2021

A “boring” life isn’t a byproduct of doing the same tasks every day.

A “boring” life is a byproduct of thinking the same thoughts every day.

Boring is a state of mind—not a state of tasks.

Sure, adventurous lifestyles might beget an “exciting” life—but, that’s only because it forces new, “exciting” thoughts. It’s important to remember that this is not the only path to an “exciting” life.

If we can learn how to excite our state of mind, we can learn how to excite our lives—period.

And the prerequisite for this is not financial freedom, plane tickets across the globe, and #vanlife.

The path to an exciting mind (and life) is only limited by our curiosities and resourcefulness. Are we willing to invest the time required to identify our curiosities? How about explore those curiosities? How about write about/ talk about/ create stuff about those curiosities?

Don’t make an “exciting” life into something more than it is.

The “exciting” life is available to each of us, right where we are—now.

Self-Awareness

Published on November 24, 2021

Without it, we could go years thinking we’re on track, only to realize we spend all that time moving in the wrong direction.

How to build self-awareness?

Well, let’s not complicate this—you simply have to spend time turning your awareness onto your self.

A good way to guide this practice is to work your way through some tough, meaningful questions. Some of which might include:

  • What are my most important priorities? Is how I’m spending my time reflective of what’s most/least important to me? Where am I spending too much/not enough time?
  • Am I enjoying the work that I’m doing? Or am I using work as a means to get to an end? How can I focus more on the means and less on the ends?
  • How can I simplify my life? How can I add more meaning to my life? How can I accelerate my personal growth? How can I remove desire and add presence?

A few minutes per day sure beats losing a few years in the wrong direction.

You Aren’t Doing Negative Self-Talk Right.

Published on November 22, 2021

Game changer: add “up until now…” to any and all negative self-talk.

  • [Up until now] I’m lazy and gross.
  • [Up until now] My self-control sucks.
  • [Up until now] I have no idea what I’m doing with my life.

Because now, that version of you is in the past.

Negative self-talk might come from a seemingly inevitable negative reality, but the only thing inevitable is your continued negative reality if you don’t change how you talk to yourself.

You will never outperform your self-image.

Now is as good of a time as any to change it.

The Crux Of Growth

Published on November 22, 2021

Everybody wants what they don’t have.

Don’t be everybody.

When you want what you already have, you close the loop.

You can finally focus on enjoying rather than having to constantly bear the feeling of lacking.

When you choose contentment, the byproduct is happiness.

When you choose discontentment, the byproduct is unhappiness.

Let growth come from your happiness, don’t let unhappiness become the crux of your growth.

On To The Next

Published on November 19, 2021

When you’re done with an application on your computer, you close it.

If you keep that program open as you open other ones, you’ll slowly start seeing a progressive lag in performance.

Especially if you leave a big program like Photoshop open.

The same is true for your mind.

Close applications before you move on to the next.

Can’t Sleep?

Published on November 17, 2021

Wondering why your mind starts running wild right before bed?

Maybe it’s because you’re not confronting the problems your mind gets wild about while you’re awake.

Maybe you’re so distracted during the day—from the pings, beeps, bells, busyness, and notifications—that your mind conveniently forgets.

Until, finally, you turn the screens off, put your phone down, stop all conversation, and close your eyes to all of the incoming information of the world.

…Of course that’s when your mind all-of-a-sudden gets wild—it remembers. And it can finally start working its way through some of those damn open-ended problems.

Mental confrontation exhausts the mind—so sleep comes easier.

Mental avoidance simply delays the mental confrontation until it can no longer be avoided.

Which is, usually (and inconveniently), right before you sleep.