Category: Priorities

Routine is good for building habits. For aligning with momentum. For compounding growth.

Change is good for building richness. For exploring new paths. For resiliency training.

Sure, go to work. But have you ever tried to build a side-hustle?

Sure, workout every morning. But have you ever tried a martial arts class?

Sure, have family dinners. But have you ever tried ordering food from a different city (yes, you can do that)?

Sure, have date night. But have you ever made a random night into a date?

Sure, have travel plans. But have you ever just called a friend and taken them on a spontaneous hike?

If your life is feeling too monotonous or boring… it’s because it probably is! Add in some spice and give yourself something to look forward to, ponder over, or get challenged with.

And if your life is feeling too crazy or unhinged… it’s because it probably is! Ground yourself into ritualistic practices that you can look forward to every day, without fail, that can be done even on your busiest days.

Life is best lived in balance. And getting this even just a little more right can make things feel a lotta bit more better.

There was a time when I was very much podcasts > music. The thought being, if you have the time to listen to something, why not make it something “productive” that can help you gain valuable insight and possibly help you improve your life?

But then I hit a point of saturation where too much of a good thing was flooding my mind. And I realized that what I needed wasn’t more time devoted to productive self-improvement (which is a large part of how I spend my time professionally)… what I needed was more time to let my mind… breathe.

And I am now very much in my music > podcast era.

Because what I learned is that space is just as important as what fills it. Too much stuff in your house, for example, and no space to move isn’t a good thing—more space would be… Nor would too much exercise and not enough rest be—rest is when the body rebuilds and recovers itself… Or when you think about how awful too much work and not enough play feels… the beauty is in the balance.

There’s nothing wrong with podcasts.

It’s simply to say: give your mind/body space to breathe from whatever is heavily saturating it/them.

Maybe even something to cheers to for 2026?

Before sitting down to eat brunch this morning, the waitress asked me if I could get the wedge off the picture frame.

I had no idea what she was asking me at first but I soon realized she was using it to level the tables my friends and I were sitting at, which, she explained to me, she had hidden all over the restaurant…

…It took a total of 30 seconds to get it right and it saved us probably 30 minutes of irritation and complaint about having wobbly tables.

When you’re in the service industry, details matter. But you know what? Details matter just about everywhere else, too.

One of my martial arts students apologized to me the other day because she had a schedule change and wasn’t going to be able to make it to every available adult class anymore.

…And instead of training five times per week, she would only be able to train four times.

Two times per week is a complete and healthy training schedule—for those who don’t know. And so, of course, I told her not to apologize and that it was totally and completely okay.

A few minutes after the interaction, I happened to have a flashback moment to the time when I was originally pitching the program to her (after she had signed up her son) and remembered her saying that she was very busy and unsure about whether she’d be able to fit training into her schedule.

And I smiled and felt good about the idea that martial arts became a priority that transcended the excuse of busy.

Because it’s never that we’re too busy… is it?

…It’s that we have other things we’d rather be doing or are—consciously or unconsciously—prioritizing. For better or for worse.

One of my instructors was telling me how drama was ruining some of her recent tournament experiences.

And after listening to all that was going on, what I told her was simple: don’t let something small like drama ruin something so great like legacy performances.

She’s in her national martial arts tournament era—and the experiences she’s having competing at that level are undoubtedly becoming memories that she’ll cherish forever.

…The last thing you want to do is let something petty, juvenile, or ridiculous steer you from that incredible path.

Five years from now, you won’t remember the drama in the least.

But five years from now you’ll definitely be proud of all that you pushed yourself to accomplish… And watching the videos of you putting your entire life force into a single performance is what legacy is built on.

Steer clear of the drama. Don’t let drama steer you.

An employee of mine got the lead role in a local theater play—and today I got to see her perform.

When she first told me about this opportunity and how she got casted as the lead, it meant she was going to be much less available for work—because she was going to have to devote much more of her available time to preparing for the play.

As a boss, it’d be easy for me to get upset about this because of how it affected my ability to staff the school.

But, I was as supportive as I could be and looked for opportunities in her absence.

And after seeing her perform today, I’m so glad I did.

Seeing her perform was the most I’ve ever seen her express herself… it’s the most confident I’ve ever seen her… it’s the most alive I’ve ever seen her.

If both her and I were too zoomed in on the short term… she might not have gone through with the play. Maybe she would’ve chosen the short-term money from working her hours and/or maybe an overreaction from me would’ve made her choose differently or feel badly or at the very least not invite me to see her perform.

…And what a shame that would’ve been.

The long term focus, zoomed out perspective is almost always the way to go.

Because what it implies is a short term sacrifice for a later, larger gain.

…Much better than the long term sacrifice for the shorter, smaller gain.

• I use Claude to answer my random curiosities / summarize large or complex problems/questions. For example, I asked Claude recently to summarize who and what will be on my voting card on Election Day. This was quite helpful, even though it was a pretty small election year. I’ve also asked it about the government shutdown, international conflicts, news rumors, and so much more and it always delivers.

• I use Koupon to find all of the best deals online—even the hidden coupon code ones—so I don’t have to waste time, energy, or money. It’s like shopping on an app where only discounted items show… my kind of shopping for sure.

• I use Jerry to quickly shop and compare car insurance coverage options for me. It lists all of their competing prices and what the coverage includes. So. Much. Easier. Than calling every single company every year to keep my coverage price competitive. It also has an option to track how you drive and reward you for safe driving.

• I don’t use AI for Writing. This is a personal choice. I like the struggle… the fight… the challenge of figuring it out for myself: What do I think? How can I best share these thoughts? What personal stories/experiences/anecdotes can I incorporate? This isn’t to say using AI to help brainstorm ideas, create rough drafts, and edit like a college professor aren’t extremely useful tools. It’s simply to say: doing the inner work and building the skill(s) are higher priorities for me.

My question(s) for you are (1) how have you been using AI? and (2) what are you prioritizing in the age of AI? Send me a reply :)