I write 1-minute insights daily. Below are my latest. Like? Enter your email to get updates.
Helping busy people do inner work.
I write 1-minute insights daily. Below are my latest. Like? Enter your email to get updates.
I got an email from a local yoga studio today.
They’re hosting a yogathon which features a two hour yoga class.
At first thought, two hours might sound like a really long time—and you might think back to the times when you took a 45 minute or 1 hour class and were deaddddddd.
And because of that you might count yourself out and resolve to do things that are more within the ol’ comfort zone.
But towards the end of the email, they included this line: “Before you count yourself out, consider what might be possible if you didn’t!”
…And what a powerful line that is.
Before you turn up the volume on your self-limiting beliefs, consider turning up the volume on this other, just as easily accessible, channel.
The channel that asks you to consider what might be possible if you didn’t count yourself out… what might happen if you did show up and try your best… what you might learn about yourself and how your life might change if you stepped into this extraordinary opportunity…
…And I’m no longer talking about the yogathon.
I’m talking about every extraordinary opportunity you’re offered in life.
P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.
Today, Verizon lost me as a customer.
The short of it is that they made promises they didn’t keep.
They promised certain deals, promised easy corrections, promised fixed bills… and broke those promises over and over and over again.
And it eventually got to the point where I gave them an ultimatum: either we fix this today or I’m going to another company.
After an hour of re-explaining the situation for the tenth time, the manager gave me a number to call… for the tenth time… and said that’s the best he could do.
So I left.
And so should you.
And I’m not talking about Verizon anymore.
I’m talking about businesses, services, and people in general who make promises they don’t keep.
And I’m not even just talking about “I promise” promises… I’m talking about people who don’t follow through with their word. People who say they’re going to do something and don’t.
The foundation of all relationships—be it business, service, or personal—is trust. And trust is built one made and kept promise at a time.
Don’t keep trying to build a house when what someone is giving you is sand for bricks.
Trust those who give you bricks to build houses with.
I had a rough day playing basketball today.
I missed almost every shot I took.
But, you know what? I successfully executed a drive-to-the-basket-move for the first time in a live game that I’ve been practicing. And of that, I left feeling proud.
It’s important to remember that success is actually more of a lagging indicator that reflects the work you put in prior. And if you’re not finding success inside of a day, to focus less on forcing it and focus more on setting yourself up for tomorrow.
Because successfully learning and executing new moves in today’s game is precisely the kind of thing that’ll stay with us and lead to the types of successes that both you and I want in our games now—today.
…But we have to be willing to put in the work and suck before the today successes can come.
You will never love the same person twice.
Why? …Because the person you love now won’t ever be that same person again.
Don’t take your love for granted. Don’t take their love for granted. And don’t assume “forever” based on a snapshot.
Always assume the opposite.
Look at people with fresh eyes. Nurture a healthy curiosity about their soul. Rediscover the love you have for others anew, each day.
Because not only have they changed… but so have you. And for love to last, both parties need to honor change and align with an energy that’s on the same trajectory.
P.s. I also published: 18 Kahlil Gibran Quotes from The Prophet and Insights For Fulfilled Living.
This type of busy is meant to describe being so busy… that it’s awful.
Being busy is tough enough… it relentlessly sucks you out of the present moment (where life is lived), can fill you with anxiety (about how you’re going to get everything done), and makes it really hard to get important work done (because the urgent stuff keeps nagging for your attention).
But, there’s another perspective to busy.
…Being busy can also be a blessing.
It means you’ve filled your day with tasks and activities that you get to do—versus being left homeless on the street with no family, no connections, no resources, and no life options…
And rather than being awfully busy—eliciting a type of misery that follows you throughout your day into and out of every task… what if you tried being happily busy instead?
All those tasks you have to do for your family…? You get to do.
All those chores you have to do at home…? You get to do.
All those projects you have to finish at work…? You get to do.
All you have to do now is slow down, add a little deliberate to your day, and fill yourself with gratitude along the way.
Happily busy is an exponentially more beautiful place to be.
One of the most exciting things about our path is that we can choose to change it at any given moment. It only takes one proper decision.
There’s an adult student in the martial arts school I teach at, for example, who just a few months ago was only that—a martial arts student.
Today, I just had a conversation with an associate of mine about potentially hiring this student to become an employee.
What caused this drastic shift in their (and our) path?
…A decision this student made to become a leader.
…Followed by another decision to come in early and stay late.
…Followed by another decision to ask to help other martial arts classes.
…Followed by another decision to ask for a job.
…Followed by another decision to earn it.
If it were up to our comfort zone, we would keep running back the same type of day over and over again. We would do the least we needed to do, we would settle for less, and we would rush to get it all done as fast as possible so we could get back to doing more settling and less.
But, if we can keep our highest version in mind… and we can channel the type of thinking that that version of ourself would hold… we can deliberately choose to take a different path… and step into our higher power instead.
…I got this question emailed to me a few days ago and I’ve been thinking about it on and off ever since.
I can tell you that I feel a general sense of accomplishment at the end of most of my days. I’ll usually have exercised, published one of these short articles, taught some martial arts classes, interacted with great people, and have read a little bit before bed… give or take.
…But, a deep sense of accomplishment?
At least for me, this doesn’t really come from the daily grind tasks… it comes from things that required more from me than I was used to giving. And as I reflected on it, the realization was that the more the thing required, the deeper the accompanying sense of accomplishment.
Which makes sense.
…And brings about an important realization for living life: if we want to feel a deep sense of accomplishment, we must do hard things. Things that require more from us than we’re used to giving… not all of the time (burnout city)… but certainly some of the time.
Because those occasional deep pushes become life highlight reels that you quickly share with people when they’re wondering about your life—when you’re wondering about your life.
And so when was it for you?
…When’s the last time you felt a deep sense of accomplishment?
And how can you get more of that from your life?