Category: Priorities

So much to do and so little time.

…It’s the modern day dilemma.

Yet, so much of what we do consumes far more time than it should / needs to.

This is the real modern day dilemma.

How much time do you spend scrolling aimlessly through timelines hoping for entertainment / dopamine hits?

How much time do you spend trying to refocus after completely preventable distractions?

How much time do you spend simply trying to wake up in the morning?

The modern day dilemma isn’t one of having too much to do… it’s one of having too much that we can do and a lack of focus / discipline to get done what needs to get done based on a clear priority.

So, before you go complaining about needing more hours in your day… aim to make the hours you do have more efficient.

Don’t ask for more if you’re not already fully utilizing / being wasteful with what you already have.

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Inner work prompt: before you say “so much to do and so little time” ask yourself what you’re doing that you don’t have to do. Ask yourself what tasks you can trade back in for the time they take instead. Ask yourself how you can change the phrase to “just enough to do with plenty of time.”

One of my associates made a comment that if you wake up two hours earlier every day for 12 years, you’ll get back an entire year of your life.

And while on the surface this sounds great—it completely disregards the state of mind you’ll be in with two less hours of sleep every day for 12 years.

I mean, how many people in today’s world already aren’t getting enough sleep as is? I’d be willing to bet that more aren’t than are. Subtract two more hours from their already insufficient sleep totals and you have a recipe for complete misery.

This is not the direction our sleep conversations should be heading.

Enough already.

What we need to discuss aren’t ways we can subtract sleep to add mere quantity to our total lifespan… what we need to discuss are ways we can add sleep—to at least, you know, maybe hit bare minimums—so that we can add quality to our lifespan.

Being awake ≠ feeling alive.

Feeling alive comes from quality consciousness… from a quality awareness… from a quality presence. Not from barely conscious… highly caffeinated awareness… and a miserable state of presence.

…Which by the way, isn’t even to make mention of the fact that insufficient sleep will very likely shorten lifespan. And how unfortunate would it be if what was subtracted was more than the year you were trying to gain—in misery nonetheless—and it was all for nothing?

Don’t get it twisted; don’t be mislead by the hustle homies; don’t miss the forest for the trees…

Quality is the name of this game we call life.

Every now and again it’s useful to meditate on Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong—as it pertains to various aspects of your life, and use what you see as fuel to better prepare for what’s to come.

Some examples:

• Business / Work: If you lost your job tomorrow, what alternative paths could you follow? What kind of time will you have before running out of savings? What side hustles coud you turn full time?
• Relationships: If your best friend(s) suddenly moved out of state, could you cope? Could you start connecting more with other people in your life? If your loved ones stopped showing you the love they once did—could you still find ways to show love to them and yourself?
• Personal safety: If somebody attacked you on the street, what training/ tools will you have at your disposal? What if somebody broke into your home? What if somebody targeted a family member—what training/ tools will they have?

None of this is meant to scare you or jinx anything you have that’s going great in your life. It’s merely to say, it’s useful to be prepared.

Because if there’s anything I’ve learned over the course of my life, it’s that life has other plans.

…And many a time, it felt like it was going all wrong in comparison to the plans I made.

Shoving your head in the sand and hoping nothing goes wrong isn’t a good strategy.

Assuming things will go wrong, however, and coming up with a plan for if/when it does… is.

…Period.

• When it comes to family? …There is no substitute for quality time.
• When it comes to friends? …There is no substitute for quality time.
• When it comes to personal growth? …There is no substitute for quality time.
• When it comes to creative work? …There is no substitute for quality time.
• When it comes to business growth? …There is no substitute for quality time.

The repetition of this message is important.

Because in a world featuring A.I. advancements, virtual reality, virtual assistants, done-for-you growth packages, algorithmic connection, and so on… the opposite message is being sent infinitely more times than what’s listed above.

It’s more important now than ever before to remind yourself…

…There is no substitute for quality time.

P.s. The Art of Forward (Part 2): Consistency > Intensity is DONE. The big drop happens THIS weekend. Sneak peak here and here. Stay tuned…! You’re going to see it here first :)

Rather than asking yourself: “What else do I need to do today?” or “What else can I get done today?”

Try asking yourself: “What don’t I need to do today?” or “What can be crossed off my list?”

The modern day default is to add, add, add. More tasks done equals a more productive day. A more productive day equals a greater return. A greater return is what hustle culture deems as being the worthwhile reward.

…But, a greater return equals… what exactly?

This is where a lot of people get their formulas confused. Do greater returns equal more happiness or more material purchases? Do greater returns equal more quality time or more quality brands? Do greater returns equal more freedom or more responsibilities?

Maybe it’s worth considering an approach of less, less, less.

Maybe less tasks done equals a more productive day—not just because it was more focused on higher priority tasks, but because it was more appropriately balanced with all of your life’s priorities—instead of just work. And a more balanced day equals a greater return in each of your life’s domains. And maybe a greater return from each of life’s domains is what actually leads to more happiness, quality time, and freedom?

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P.s. 23 Greg McKeown Quotes from Essentialism and How To Live Better Via Less

Overstimulating pixels vs uncomfortable quietness is THE modern day dilemma.

So many of the negative symptoms people experience in our modern world have to do with this boiled down and plainly stated challenge.

And as is true with any negatively experienced symptoms or illnesses in life, we can’t work to fight what we can’t name or don’t understand. It’s only after we understand what it is we’re up against, that we can start to work strategically to fight back.

With the awareness of the challenge laid out in front of us, hopefully more people can move into that uncomfortable quietness and get, what I consider to be, a taste of the antidote to the overstimulating pixels.

…And see how, with regular doses, their lives may start feeling less agitated, insufficient, anxiety-inducing, depressing, lonely, nerve-wracking, etc.

So many of our modern day problems can be solved with this, almost too easy, ancient and yet timeless solution—quietness.

And as much as you might want to consume more and more pixilated videos and articles explaining to you how to reduce anxiety, stop overthinking, improve self-image, etc… consider the idea that it’s the pixels themselves that are at the root of the cause of the negative symptoms.

My prescription to you is this: practice making uncomfortable quietness, comfortable again—and watch as your life slowly starts to improve and feel better.

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P.s. Thank you to Samantha who inspired this post. Your email reply was refreshing to read.