Category: Priorities

1. A little bit daily. I don’t think many of us have a lot of time daily to do creative/inner work. And that’s okay. Deliberately carving out a little bit of time every day can have an “a lot of time” effect. Plus, the consistency and ritual of doing the same thing every day can make it easier and easier to actually do the thing the longer you do it—and your mind will start to anticipate your sessions and get into productive work states quicker and quicker. Aligning this with your morning or evening ritual can be an excellent place to start.

2. A respectable chunk weekly. If your daily grind is too crazy, (a) try to change that, but (b) until you can… reserving an hour or two within a week can be an excellent alternative. For example, maybe on Sunday you have a slow morning followed by a deliberate weekly reflection. The distinct benefit with this medium-length time is that you don’t have to spend extra time getting focused—whereas within the “little bit daily” sessions, some time will undoubtedly be spent getting into the right headspace.

3. A whole itinerary monthly or quarterly. This could be good for the person who rarely can find time for themself. Look at the month or quarter ahead and find the one or two days when you have the least going on. Block that whole time and create a creative/inner-work/self-care itinerary. Take this seriously and don’t waste it on social media timelines. Do not disturb mode; blank canvas; boredom; deep thinking; careful creation.

You’re not too busy to get creative/inner work done. You’re just not taking it seriously enough.

Daylight Savings Time—the day in the United States when, each spring, we lose one hour in our day because we turn the clocks one hour ahead to make better use of the longer daylight in our days.

…It’s also the day when everybody whines and complains and kicks up a storm about only have 23 hours in their day.

Which is understandable, of course. It’s hard enough to get everything done we need to get done in 24 hours let alone 23…

But, what about the hours we lose on the daily from time… wasted? Why don’t we whine, complain, and kick up a storm about those hours? Why aren’t we more upset about the hours we willfully flush down the drain… or maybe better said… the hours we’re manipulated into flushing? The hours algorithms are designed to consume and swallow from our lives… never to be returned.

Maybe if we took as much offense to the hours we get robbed of on the daily as we did during Daylight Savings Time… we’d start making more changes in our lives and lifestyles that left us with an actual 24… and not 23, 22, 20, or… gulp… less.

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P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.

There are messages all around us.

More being broadcasted, pinged, and pushed than ever before.

Like a radio, we need to tune into the signal we most want to hear and quiet the rest of the noise.

Don’t get it twisted, the messages shouldn’t be what’s in question…

How you’re building and programming your radio should be.

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Inner Work Prompt: What signal(s) are you tuned into on your social media accounts? What about via TV shows? What about via conversation? …And how can you upgrade these signals you’re tuned into?

I have four sticky notes posted on the bottom of my computer screen.

One that has my 2024 goals.

Two that each have a question on them.

And one that has a short list of six things I wanted to remind myself to keep doing.

…I put them there to remind me daily of my direction and to help me stay on track.

And while reflecting on them today, I realized I’ve outgrown each of them.

My goals have changed, the reminder list has become irrelevant, and the questions don’t serve me how they used to.

…It’s time to update the sticky notes.

And for everything you have posted as a reminder for you in your life, take some time to reflect on each and ask yourself the same question: is this still serving me?

Because if it isn’t, it’s time to refresh it with something that will.

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P.s. I also published 9 Brian Tracy Quotes from No Excuses! and How To Lead A More Self-Disciplined Life today.

When I was hanging out with my sister the other day, I asked her if there was anything she needed from Target.

Without missing a beat she replied, “Matthew… I could always go to Target—Target tells me what I need.”

And after a good laugh, we went. And I was the one who ended up getting more than I needed and my sister was the one who ended up getting distracted by an intimate phone call and left without a single purchase.

This felt like a timely story to share because behind every joke there is some truth.

And during the Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Holiday Sale Sale SALE Season—remember: every place you go and wherever it is you choose to spend your time… you’re going to get told what you need.

Over and over and over again and in the most convincing of fashions.

And so you have a couple of thoughts to consider:

• Do you really want to go looking for things you don’t need? Or might you be better off brainstorming from afar?
• Are there alternate gifts you could consider giving that maybe aren’t purchased from major retail stores?
• If you do end up getting dragged somewhere you know you’re probably going to spend more than you should—is there an intimate phone call you could take instead (I’m only half joking about this idea) or something distractionary you could do when you’re most vulnerable?

…Is it true that, as the expression goes, family [should be prioritized] over everything?

No—if you’re talking about prioritizing family over yourself. Yes—if you’re talking about what priority comes first after you. You wouldn’t be doing anybody a service by ignoring your own needs, trying to service others from a state of misery, and—as the proverbial expression goes—fill family members’ cups from your empty one. There’s a bit of a caveat when considering high-need dependents. And even then, the priority of the dependents and the needs of the self should be intricately intertwined and considered with equal priority… looked at as almost one unit instead of two.

No—if your definition of family is limited to blood relatives. Yes—if your definition of family is inclusive of those who have proven to be the most important to you in your life. Proven is the key word. Being a blood relative who can’t be trusted… who has a history of manipulation or abuse… who takes advantage or always seems to have an agenda… shouldn’t be prioritized over someone who has proven themselves—over an extended period of time—to be the exact opposite of that. Family should be defined beyond blood.

Two fundamental keys to feeling fulfilled in life are growth and contribution. Point #1 above speaks to growth. Point #2 speaks to who you should contribute to first and foremostly. Do these two things really well and the rest—everything else—I’d say will fall into place.

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Inner Work Prompt: I was asked, “Who is a person you met only once that had an impact on your life?” I answered: The Almonds Guy. What about you?

One of my daily goals is to upload 2-3 quotes from books/emails and 2-3 picture quotes to MoveMe Quotes each day.

It can take me anywhere from 15 – 45 minutes to do this.

Lately, I’ve been questioning whether this is a good time investment or not as I could very well invest that time into other priority tasks like more writing/meditation/productivity/etc.

What I’ve decided is this: it all comes down to the intention I bring to the tasks.

There are days when I’m rushing and I’m just trying to cross each item off my list—and on these days, it isn’t worth the investment.

And there are days when I’m more calm and present and I’m genuinely trying to absorb the message each quote is trying to convey—and on these days, it’s undoubtedly worth it.

I can remember assignments I was given in school that I absolutely didn’t want to do or majorly rushed, and guess what? I got very little, if anything, out of them.

And on the flip side, there are things I became curious about while I was a student, that I wasn’t assigned to learn about at all, that I learned so much about because I wanted to. Things that I still remember vividly today.

It’s good practice to question the tasks built into your daily routine. Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this thing?” “Am I just trying to cross this off my list or am I actually invested?” “What’s the level of intention behind this task?”

…And if the intention isn’t there… maybe the task shouldn’t be either.